Marineland leds

lisa28 · Mar 31, 2014

I don't want the LED vs t5 vs mh debate i'm looking for anyone with experience using the marineland reef capable lighting system, growth, growth etc.

Bad Company · Mar 31, 2014

I've read a lot about them not being very powerful. I just got a Reef Radiance DM-155e that I love.

Rob&Gab · Mar 31, 2014

i would not get them to use over a reef tank. there not powerful at all. ive had them a while ago and wish i never spent the money on them.

lisa28 · Mar 31, 2014

10k is not powerful? what length was yours?

Rob&Gab · Mar 31, 2014

you need different wave lengths of Leds to Grow Coral, 10k is not Bad. But you want Different LEDS in your fixture some 12k, 14k, 10k, 6.5k, 3.5k, + 450nm Blue ,455nm blue, Reds and Green, violet, warm white, natural white, so many type of LED chips too . some are good some are bad.

anyways what type of tank are you trying to put thsi fixture over? maybe a few people can Chime in and help you out as well as me to Pick a good fixture for you in your budget range. there are allot of experienced reefers out in this community im sure thell chime in as well.

kschweer · Mar 31, 2014

Kelvin (k) doesn't necessarily have to do with brightness or how powerful a light is. It's more the color (temperature) of the light. 10000k is on the whiter side of things with 20000k being bluer. To determine how powerful light are you want to look at wattage and number of LEDs as well as a few other things. I have no personal experience with the marine land LEDs, but have read on a bunch of forums that they are not quite enough light for many corals.

Mr. D · Mar 31, 2014

From my experience, you get what you pay for in Leds. I've only had cheaper (100-200 roughly in price) leds in the past several years. I recently bought a Kessil fixture and the difference is very noticeable compared to other leds that I have owned. Pay for quality is what I'd recommend. Marineland isn't exactly known for their quality.

P3FE · Mar 31, 2014

I had this lights before, they work well with FOWLR and softie tanks no deeper than 18" anything other than that they will not keep alive. If you are planning on having LPS or SPS I would recommend to save your money and get a Top brand LED fixture like Radion, Kessil, AI, ect. I know the price seems high but they are worth your money and won't have to worry about having enough light in the future.

FLipp · Mar 31, 2014

marinelands suck, dont waste your money.

SloppyJ · Mar 31, 2014

We had a couple donated for our swap. They would be good on a FOWLR system like stated above.

lisa28 · Mar 31, 2014

I generally agree you get what you pay for but with the LED craze I think it's super inflated, the lights every one is saying are bad retail 300-400 i'm getting a metal halide from one of our other members for cheap but there's so much debate over leds. It's going over a 55Gallon reef, I don't have a single fish in it yet just corals lol I think I'll keep both and get 2 equal frags cut from the same colony and put them on opposite sides of the tank. I bought the leds from Amazon, I can use them forever and still return. How long should I let them.grow before making a call? Has anyone done an experiment like this?

RLM60 · Mar 31, 2014

I had one of these lights and if you can return it, I recomend you do so. The leds are 1 watt, too weak for most reefs except softy only and you would need 2 units over a 55gal to get good coverage. The cost of 2 units would buy you a decent 3 watt led unit you can grow anything under. One last thing about my marineland is that it only lasted 6 months before one bank of lights quit working and into the trashcan it went.

760mason · Mar 31, 2014

I had them when they first came out 8 years. My tank had an anemone and some mushrooms. They worked well for that but that was all. I supplemented them with diy LEDs and ecoxotic stunner strips. Only then would my corals stay alive and show signs of growth. I saved my money and put the Kessil a360w over my tank and the corals took off. Buy a quality LED. Also the quality of the marineland is not good they sent me 3 replacements in the first year.

ReefLEDLights · Apr 1, 2014

Rob&Gab said:
you need different wave lengths of Leds to Grow Coral, 10k is not Bad. But you want Different LEDS in your fixture some 12k, 14k, 10k, 6.5k, 3.5k, + 450nm Blue ,455nm blue, Reds and Green, violet, warm white, natural white, so many type of LED chips too . some are good some are bad.

anyways what type of tank are you trying to put thsi fixture over? maybe a few people can Chime in and help you out as well as me to Pick a good fixture for you in your budget range. there are allot of experienced reefers out in this community im sure thell chime in as well.

My personal experience is rather simple...450nm to grow coral...All else is looks.

On one of my frag tanks, 450nm LEDs grew SPS at the same rate or better than a 250 watt 10K MH....Back then I never kept them long enough to document exact growth nor did I measure weight or calculate watt per gallon and PAR values...All I did was ensure the frag plug was covered with SPS growth...

As an old school MH guy and yes vendor here is my experience.

You dont need a mix of different wavelengths to grow coral...

10K 12K 14K Cool Whites are just for marketing...I would really like to see the spectrum chart and intensity per watt for these Chinese LEDs...You can try to contact Bridgelux for this information...

Cree LEDs do bin their LEDs but good luck trying to find any XT-E, XM-L or XCA cooler than 8K...You really dont need to...But the XT-E 7.5K looks a lot better over a reef than the XT-E or XP-G 5.5K Cool White...

Start with enough 450nm then add the rest like a spice...Everyones taste is a tad different on what looks best.

The Cree Cool White is for the most part Full Spectrum less the Red and Blue...Their Warm White adds plenty of Red but dont do too much per watt for coral growth compared to their Cool White...

I look back at Sanjays MH spectral charts for my personal reef.

EBAY LED Fixtures are what they are. Some and now most do grow coral well...Quality and warranty are only now being discovered.

You just have to decide the best look and reliability. Not to mention controlability to tweak the look perfectly while at the same time providing optimal intensity and spectrum.

This is why the higher end fixtures offer the complete controlability DIY fixtures do...

Bill

ReefLEDLights · Apr 1, 2014

lisa28 said:
I generally agree you get what you pay for but with the LED craze I think it's super inflated, the lights every one is saying are bad retail 300-400 i'm getting a metal halide from one of our other members for cheap but there's so much debate over leds. It's going over a 55Gallon reef, I don't have a single fish in it yet just corals lol I think I'll keep both and get 2 equal frags cut from the same colony and put them on opposite sides of the tank. I bought the leds from Amazon, I can use them forever and still return. How long should I let them.grow before making a call? Has anyone done an experiment like this?

Hey gotta say it...

LEDs from Amazon???What Type, Bin, Drive Current,& optics to say the least...

Look at LEDs like car engines...

Are all V-6 engines the same horse power, or do all V-8s offer the same gas mileage.

Bill

lisa28 · Apr 1, 2014

ReefLEDLights said:
Hey gotta say it...

LEDs from Amazon???What Type, Bin, Drive Current,& optics to say the least...

Look at LEDs like car engines...

Are all V-6 engines the same horse power, or do all V-8s offer the same gas mileage.

Bill

the specifics of the leds have already been mentioned, the only reason i mentioned buying them from amazon was for the fact that i can return them at any point.