marineland LEDs

[agwats]

Was thinking about getting a marineland LED hood for the 10 gal im setting up in my sons room to make it a cool night light. I've heard some people say they really liked them and others say that they burn out fast and often. Just wondering if anyone here has any experience with this hood, good or bad id like to hear your opinions.

 

[40galreef]

I have never used them on a tank, but I have used them in stores, and they seem cool. I have LEDs on a 1.5 gal tank and they would make a great nightlight!

 

[eco23]

I have a set of them that came along with a 10 gallon kit I bought to use as a QT. To be honest I've only used them a few times on the smaller tank since it's rarely set up.

What I actually ended up doing was using 3M Velcro to turn them into a makeshift lunar light on my 46 gallon. I basically attached them to the brace, and on the larger tank it has a very mellow effect.

In my personal opinion...on the smaller tank the blue is WAYYYYYY too blue. It looks absolutely artificial to me. It's quite bright and really lights up the room with the blue tint. On my larger tank it's much more subdued and works better. Just my opinion though...your son might love the vibrant blue color.

As for durability...I'm in VA and when that earthquake hit it sloshed half the water out of the tank as well as knocked the strip directly to the bottom of the aquarium (while it was plugged in as well). I thought it was a goner, but after drying it out in the tub it worked like nothing happened.

So....too artificial looking IMO...but earthquake proof

 

[agwats]

That's awesome, at least I know that getting it wet wont hurt it. I'll have to think about how bright it may be... how long have you had yours?

 

[eco23]

That's awesome, at least I know that getting it wet wont hurt it. I'll have to think about how bright it may be... how long have you had yours?

Yeah...I wouldn't recommend giving it a bath, but mine survived a natural disaster, lol.

I've had it for a couple months now. What I do with it on my large tank is basically use it as a buffer. In other words, before switching on my main lighting (which are duel T-5 HO's...so pretty bright) I turn on the normal Marineland LED's for a half hour or so. That way the fish aren't suddenly shocked by bright light. In the evening I basically do it backwards where I shut off the big lights and run the LED's again for a bit. Later on I turn on the blues and let them run until lights out to give the mild moonlight effect.

So my situation is different since they're on a much larger tank than designed for. It's cool though because it kinda let's my fish have a natural day / night light cycle. I spoil them if you couldn't tell

But IMO they may be too bright for a bedroom if they're gonna be run all night. The room will be bathed in blue. They do sell little blue LED lamps at the chain stores which I think are made for those crappy little Betta houses. I think those are more like a clip on and should be much more mellow.

Here's an idea of what I'm talking about-
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753104

 

[agwats]

Thanks for the link, I will look into those. A moor subtle blue would be preferred since its main function would be as a night light and then I could just get a normal florescent hood.

 

[agwats]

Thanks for the link, I will look into those. A more subtle blue would be preferred since its main function would be as a night light and then I could just get a normal florescent hood.

Edit: gotta love double posts. This is what happens when your phones 3G goes out while sending a post lol

 

[Retired_AF]

.... What I do with it on my large tank is basically use it as a buffer. In other words, before switching on my main lighting (which are duel T-5 HO's...so pretty bright) I turn on the normal Marineland LED's for a half hour or so. That way the fish aren't suddenly shocked by bright light. In the evening I basically do it backwards where I shut off the big lights and run the LED's again for a bit. Later on I turn on the blues and let them run until lights out to give the mild moonlight effect.

I just put in my new quad 6500K t5ho system that has 4 blue LED's on my 37-gallon tank to support my plants that need high light. I turned it on for the first time last night. I used one pair of lights, then turned on the other pair about an hour later (wow, BRIGHT!). They stayed on for a couple of hours then I turned off the 1st pair, then an hour later turned the 2nd pair off and the blue lights on.

I left the blues on all night and this morning (I get up about 4:30) I went in and looked. The light from the tank wasn't too bad from a brightness standpoint. I could see well enough not to kick the coffee table. The coolest thing was how my fish looked. My albino tiger barbs and my gouramis fins were glowing blue!

As a night light, I guess it depends on how sensitive your son is to lights. I have one son that has to have the room totally darkened to sleep and another that could sleep with a spotlight on him.

My plan is to put timers on each set of lights and pattern them similar to eco's, with a day/night cycle. Hopefully, they will last because I really like the way they looked, both last night and this morning.