Marineland single and double bright lighting

1630 Views 15 Replies 7 Participants Last post by paradigmsk8er, May 22, 2011

G

Discussion Starter · Apr 20, 2011

Hi everyone, I just had a few questions about the Marineland single and double bright lighting. My first question is can they grow plants? I have a planted tank and want to know if these provide a good light source for the plants. Secondly, when it says 36"-48" does this mean it can fit both 36" long tanks and 48" long tanks? And thirdly, if these do work for plants which is better the single bright or the double bright? Thanks and sorry for the long post.

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dotbomb

· #2 · Apr 20, 2011

I wouldn't but a single bright on anything taller than a 20g long tank.

I have single brights on my 20g long and I'm growing plants in it very successfully. I have double brights on my 100g that is 22" tall.

I have plants in my 100g but my mbuna are snacking on them. I think if you have fish that don't view plants as salad the double brights can grow plants fine.

One thing to note about the double brights is they give off a sort of spotlight effect that is noticeable in a darker room.

G

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 21, 2011

Thanks for the reply. My tank is 16" high so just to clarify would you suggest single or double brights? And do you know about the fitting lengths? My tank is 36" long so should I get 24"-36" or 36"-48"? There is a possibility that I will upgrade to a 48" at some point so if i go with the 36"-48" would I be able to use it on both tanks?

dotbomb

· #4 · Apr 21, 2011

Get the 36"-48" double bright. The actual light is 36" long and has legs that extend to 48".

G

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 21, 2011

Alright, thanks for all the help. I will definitely get the 36"-48" double brights for my tank. Also, what did you mean by spotlight affect? Does it look very natural?

dotbomb

· #6 · Apr 21, 2011

Led lights are very directional so in a dark room it looks like mini spit lights are lighting the tank. Only noticeable at the top of the tank.

rgr4475

· #7 · Apr 21, 2011

dotbomb said:
Led lights are very directional so in a dark room it looks like mini spit lights are lighting the tank. Only noticeable at the top of the tank.

That's the one thing about the LED lights that I don't like. The edges of the tank looked real dark in pictures that I saw as well.

dotbomb

· #8 · Apr 21, 2011

Argh... spit lights? seriously my phone makes me look like an idiot sometimes lol

jkulysses

· #9 · Apr 21, 2011

dotbomb said:
I wouldn't but a single bright on anything taller than a 20g long tank.

I have single brights on my 20g long and I'm growing plants in it very successfully. I have double brights on my 100g that is 22" tall.

I have plants in my 100g but my mbuna are snacking on them. I think if you have fish that don't view plants as salad the double brights can grow plants fine.

One thing to note about the double brights is they give off a sort of spotlight effect that is noticeable in a darker room.

Do you have any pictures of your 100g tank with the double brights on it?? I'm setting up a 90g which is 24"'s tall and I'm not sure if the double brights would cut it.

713J

· #10 · Apr 21, 2011

Here's my 180 (6x2x2) with a single 36-48 double bright. You can see the spot light effect clearly (tanks cloudy) as well as the dark spots of the cross member supports on the tank. I keep deep water species so I need less lighting than most...keep in mind also that the room is completely dark other than the aquarium lighting so there is no light coming in from external sources. With the lights on in the room it looks much brighter

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dotbomb

· #11 · Apr 21, 2011

100g with 2 24" double bright fixtures.

Tank is 60" long and 22" tall.

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cantrell00

· #12 · Apr 26, 2011

dotbomb...

is that a slimline background?

dotbomb

· #13 · Apr 26, 2011

Yeah. I sent you a pm with details.

samorama

· #14 · May 20, 2011

Could you please post a picture of the 20L with the single bright? I was thinking of getting one for my 10. What plants are you growing? Any co2? Thank you.

jkulysses

· #15 · May 20, 2011

dotbomb said:
Yeah. I sent you a pm with details.

I would also like some details about that background for the 90g I'm currently setting up please!!

paradigmsk8er

· #16 · May 22, 2011

Somethign you might be able to look into if you want to save money but avoid the spot lighting setup...

Look for 90 or 120 degree lenses from a DIY led place like rapid LED or some of the others...

You could high-heat epoxy the lenses (permanent) to the case...lensing effectively disperses the light. Although the Marineland fixtures run a "flood" type non-lensed LED, they still end up spot lighting...an actual lens can disperse it more evenly and also allow you to focus/spread the light around the edges of the fixture..this can effectively eliminate light leaching out of the tank so much as well as spreading more light on the ends of the fixture. That being said, I am not sure how 1w LEDs like the Marinelands will interact with them compared to the 3w setups most high end fixtures run.

Just for an example...I am only running 2 AI sols...they are only 12" long each..but are lensed 40 degrees on the inner LEDs (cree XP 3 watts) and 70 degrees on the outer around the edges of the fixture. These two fixtures provide more or less even coverage over my 60" 100 gallon tank since they are lensed

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