Marineland Double Bright LED Questions

Hello. I am helping my sister plan out her first reef tank. This is supposed to be a relatively inexpensive tank just for her to get her feet wet and try the hobby out for herself. She has decided on a 24" L 6.6 gallon aquarium (9" deep) and we are now considering what would be appropriate lighting for this tank.

On the Marine Depot website, the Marineland Double Bright fixture is compared in a video to the Marineland Reef Capable LED. But the exact Kelvin temperature of the Double Brigth fixture is not given (aside from just "whites" and "blues"). Could you please address this and give us a bit of info on it?

Your help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

My friend has a Double Bright on his FW tank. We called Marine Land and asked about converting his FW to a Planted FW using his current Double Bright LEDs and they said it was not possible and to purchase their new LEDs coming out in late march.

If it can't support green plants I don't think it will support reefs.

Sorry bud.

 

Their Reef Capable LED is over twice the cost. Do you have any alternatives to this light that might work for this book shelf aquarium then? We would like to with LEDs.

 

Email Mike from Rapid. I bet you only need a few LEDs to support fish with softies. Shoot you can even gut out the current light and mount the heat sink and leds in there.

Would look pretty sick IMO.

 

I use to have the dual bulb AquaticLife T5HO fixture. I think the 24" one is about $120. It isn`t LEDs like you are looking for, but most complete LED fixtures are just so expensive still. The cheapest way to go when it comes to LEDs would be DIY. Other than that I would probably go with a dual bulb T5HO fixture if she will be sticking with the softies and LPS corals. SPS corals would need something more intense.

 

See, the tank is only 9" deep. So most fixtures are going to be way more than what is needed for soft corals in this tank. It is also only 8" wide, front-to-back. But I am just trying to find the kelvin temperature for the lights. On Amazon, it says it is 6000K (probably more like 6500K in reality). Not sure if it is the same one.

Amazon.com: Marineland ML Double Bright LED Light, 36-Inch, 48-Inch: Pet Supplies

 

Can i just jump in and say be VERY careful with that aquarium. I almost purchased it because i like how shallow and long it is.....then i touched one. The ones i've seen locally are thin plastic. Not acrylic or glass. Thin plastic. Personally i wasn't brave enough to go through with it, i'd be terrified of rockwork tipping over onto the plastic and breaking the whole thing. Just thought i'd mention it in case you were purchasing it online and hadn't had a chance to touch one. If you have and still want it, ignore this cautionary message

also: for the same 40$ my local petco had an aquarium sale, and a glass 15gal, with a cheapo filter and heater package was 40$. thought i'd throw that in there.

 

LED Aquarium Lighting

Hello Seano,

While the Marineland Double Bright would work, it would not be ideal for your reef tank. This light is intended for a fish only freshwater system as it would be yellowish white, but many people have used this fixture on a saltwater aquarium without issues. We would recommend a more bluer light around the 14000K range which will give you more of a hint of blue that looks more natural for a reef tank.

We would recommend the Innovative Marine Skkye Light Single Strip 24 Inch 15 Watt 14,000K LED Fixture. One unit would provide more than enough lighting for your aquarium.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to call at 1-800-566-FISH (3474) or email us at [email protected], and we will be happy to further assist you.

Dan