Hi All,
I recently got a Marineland 18" -24" double bright LED light for a standard 10 gallon 20" wide freshwater tank. The tank is populated as follows:
1. one golden loach, about 4" long
2. two small, slender black loaches, around 3" long each
3. three bandit corys
4. 5-6 otocinclus catfish
This is a mature, planted tank with 2-3" of fine sand substrate. The plants consist mainly of large, mature amazon swords, an anubias, java moss, and other low light freshwater plants.
So far the new Marineland LED is holding its own on a timer and is on about 9 hours a day. I wouldn't say that the plants are growing better than before, but they aren't dying either.
Even though this is the "double bright" LED fixture with 450 lumens of light output, I would have to say that it doesn't seem as subjectively bright as the single 18" 15 watt T8 type grow bulb that it replaced. I'd say that the quality of the light for fish viewing is a bit better, however, being less harsh and surprisingly evenly dispersed, despite the fact that the LEDs are arrayed in rows and emit light straight down into the tank. The light fixture itself is very low profile and sleek and makes the entire tank itself seem a lot less bulky.
Assuming it holds up well, I would probably get one again, though I wonder if Marineland's new "reef capable" or 'aquatic plant lighting system' light fixtures would work better for planted tanks:
http://www.marineland.com/MLCatalog.aspx?taxid=1912149
Has anyone been able to compare any of these lights?
I recently got a Marineland 18" -24" double bright LED light for a standard 10 gallon 20" wide freshwater tank. The tank is populated as follows:
1. one golden loach, about 4" long
2. two small, slender black loaches, around 3" long each
3. three bandit corys
4. 5-6 otocinclus catfish
This is a mature, planted tank with 2-3" of fine sand substrate. The plants consist mainly of large, mature amazon swords, an anubias, java moss, and other low light freshwater plants.
So far the new Marineland LED is holding its own on a timer and is on about 9 hours a day. I wouldn't say that the plants are growing better than before, but they aren't dying either.
Even though this is the "double bright" LED fixture with 450 lumens of light output, I would have to say that it doesn't seem as subjectively bright as the single 18" 15 watt T8 type grow bulb that it replaced. I'd say that the quality of the light for fish viewing is a bit better, however, being less harsh and surprisingly evenly dispersed, despite the fact that the LEDs are arrayed in rows and emit light straight down into the tank. The light fixture itself is very low profile and sleek and makes the entire tank itself seem a lot less bulky.
Assuming it holds up well, I would probably get one again, though I wonder if Marineland's new "reef capable" or 'aquatic plant lighting system' light fixtures would work better for planted tanks:
http://www.marineland.com/MLCatalog.aspx?taxid=1912149
Has anyone been able to compare any of these lights?
