# Doublebright LED for low tech??



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

The LEDs are fine for low tech, that what I am using.


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Thanks so much for the response..i'm a total noob here so any help is greatly appreciated.

Are the shoots growing down indicnative of good lighting/ environment?
Do you think that 20 inches is too deep for the 6 1-watt leds?
On some websites the product description says 'Appropriate for fish-only tanks as the main light ' like this site: http://www.marineandreef.com/Marineland_LED_Double_Bright_Lighting_Systems_24_p/rml32990.htm


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## NickS (Oct 9, 2009)

I have the same fixture on a 10 GL and it is not enough light. Granted, I'm doing a medium tech setup here (EI Dosing w/Excel). I added an Ecoxotic Stunner Strip and it's still not enough light in my opinion.

Even for a low-tech 29 GL I would say this isn't enough light.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

thats weird, I am running one over my vivarium/planted system and all the plants both aquatic (though i am always changing the aquatic flora) and terrestrial do amazing, i don't even dose


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Well, I've been looking around and I see a lot of conflicting opinions on these LED lights...I saw one article that said LED only need about .22 watts per gallon...I guess we will see!


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

i have had really good luck with them, but i think you should try to get your own results.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

One of our Michigan Aquatic Plant Group has a double bright on his tank, with CO2. 
It's a long, not deep tank.
The plant growth is amazing for such a small low power consumption fixture. I'm saving for two now, for my 48" tank.


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## NickS (Oct 9, 2009)

dbosman, I think he's got the next step up from the 18". That would probably work well for a 29 GL.

The reason I don't think the 18" is enough for my tank is that the light just doesn't spread enough. Too many dark spots.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

F22 said:


> thats weird, I am running one over my vivarium/planted system and all the plants both aquatic (though i am always changing the aquatic flora) and terrestrial do amazing, i don't even dose


Wouldn't that be alot different. How many inches of water are we talking about?


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I am waiting for the next generation of Marineland LEDs which have even more emitters. Right now they are just for saltwater, I think. I tried the double bright but it just seemed kind of dim on my tank.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

F22 said:


> The LEDs are fine for low tech, that what I am using.


Got a link to a pic of it?


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Well, almost 3 weeks in and I have some water wisteria and amazon swords..The wisteria seem to be growing but they do seem a little thin on leaves near the bottom..the swords are a mixed bag...one large one is doing ok, some shoots coming out the leaves..two other small ones are not directly under the light and they did have some leaves turn brown and i removed the brown leaves...I just added a java fern and anubias barteri nana and anacharis..so we will see how those do..

I think these lights will work but I'm thinking my tank might be a bit too deep (20inches) for some plants near the bottom


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Your plants will probably be fine. 
LED lighting is different. Most of us are not used to seeing objects or tanks lit with LEDs yet and it takes some getting use to.


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## kleankord (May 13, 2010)

What do you think on a 125 gal, 23 inches high, 2 of the 48 inch units? 
plants: jungle val, and crypts


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

kleankord said:


> What do you think on a 125 gal, 23 inches high, 2 of the 48 inch units?
> plants: jungle val, and crypts


Hoppy says T5HO are best for a high tanks, 20 in above I believe. Those plants are low light thus I think a T5NO would work. I don't believe that light from that unit will even reach half way down.


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Well, another update...most plants doing well! Anacharis is actually growing, although it is directly under the led beam..the java fern is doing good although anubias barteri nana did not do well, all the leaves fell of the plant? it may have been my fault though..I tried rubber banding the anubias to a rock and may have damaged or stangled in the process? 

but anyway, the led's do seem to be a good fit for my low tech set up...also the tank has been running for almost a month and a half and no a bit of algae (fingers crossed)


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## Madfish (Sep 9, 2007)

I have the same tank as you do with the same light. I have alot of stems growing in there that are growing like crazy. Like what was said before. It just takes some getting use to how the lights look after getting use to all of the other types.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

kleankord said:


> What do you think on a 125 gal, 23 inches high, 2 of the 48 inch units?
> plants: jungle val, and crypts


Height or depth would probably be a problem for LEDs on that tank. 
I know that LEDs will work on a 12 to 15 inch tank. I've seen the results. 
23 inches is pretty deep, But, reef keepers could probably answer the penetration question.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Read this statement and what's in bold at Marine and Reef. Although not black and white I think you get the meaning.

EDIT: Actually this is the statement regarding the Marineland LED DOUBLEBRIGHT:

*"Appropriate for fish-only tanks as the main light or for reef tanks or planted tanks as a night light" *


http://www.marineandreef.com/LED_Aquarium_Lighting_LED_Aquarium_LED_Light_s/111.htm


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

> *"Appropriate for fish-only tanks as the main light or for reef tanks or planted tanks as a night light" *


 This LED fixture is not great for coverage in a planted tank, bot to say it's for fish-only tanks is a stretch. I use one over my shrimp tank and like it. HC carpets with no CO2 and limited ferts in some areas.


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Madfish said:


> I have the same tank as you do with the same light. I have alot of stems growing in there that are growing like crazy. Like what was said before. It just takes some getting use to how the lights look after getting use to all of the other types.


LOL, just saw your thread and the same thing happened to me, I just loved how the tank looked...:hihi:


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Hyzer said:


> This LED fixture is not great for coverage in a planted tank, bot to say it's for fish-only tanks is a stretch. I use one over my shrimp tank and like it. HC carpets with no CO2 and limited ferts in some areas.


Which tank is this? Link please. What wattage are the LEDs? 

Is it this one from Petco, or this one show at Dr Foster that you have?


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Mine is the petco one but it also has 3 blue led's i think..i've never seen the tank anywhere though...the tank also comes with a nice black stand/cabinet..


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

> Which tank is this? Link please. What wattage are the LEDs?
> 
> Is it this one from Petco, or this one show at Dr Foster that you have?


 The tank is my rimless LED 10g in my signature. I have the double bright with 6- 1 watt whites and 3 moonlights. It's fairly bright in sections, but the edges of the tank lack intensity. That being said, I'm still happy with it for a low tech secondary setup.

If you are going to get an LED fixture however, it might be worth it to wait. I think I've heard rumors about a new, more powerful fixture coming out soon from Marineland... just don't remember from where. You may want to research that to verify.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Does this look like the plants are suffering?
Does it look like the Marineland Double Bright is just a night light?
It belongs to an acquaintance in town.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> Does this look like the plants are suffering?
> Does it look like the Marineland Double Bright is just a night light?
> It belongs to an acquaintance in town.


To be completely honest, other than the lowlight plants in the foreground the others are not in top shape.


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## Madfish (Sep 9, 2007)

[email protected] said:


> Does this look like the plants are suffering?
> Does it look like the Marineland Double Bright is just a night light?
> It belongs to an acquaintance in town.


Oh man all of them plants just look like they are on the edge of death to me. You better pack them up and send them to me so I can place them in my tank with the same set up. Just kidding I think they look good for a low light tank.


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## StriderTB (Aug 15, 2010)

Here's my 36" Marineland Double Bright, I have a Hagen DIY CO2 canister and Flourish tabs in the substrate.


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## deleted_user_6 (Jun 19, 2010)

houseofcards said:


> To be completely honest, other than the lowlight plants in the foreground the others are not in top shape.


They look perfectly healthy from what I can see. You must have magical image upscaling eyes, to be able to see something wrong with these plants.

It definitely doesn't look like a night light.


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## Satirica (Oct 3, 2005)

onefang said:


> They look perfectly healthy from what I can see. You must have magical image [STRIKE]upscaling[/STRIKE] *downscaling *eyes, to be able to see something wrong with these plants.
> 
> It definitely doesn't look like a night light.


Fixed that for ya!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

onefang said:


> They look perfectly healthy from what I can see. You must have magical image upscaling eyes, to be able to see something wrong with these plants.
> 
> It definitely doesn't look like a night light.


I think he's referring to the leggy stems.

IMO time will tell if that LED is enough to support good stem plant growth.

My own suspicion is that after a few more months it will prove to be too little light for them. That's just guesswork on my end, though, so I'll keep following these LED threads to see how they work out for people.

StriderTB- how long has your tank been planted? Did you add all the plants at the same time? I'm asking b/c it doesn't look like the sword on the far left has converted from emersed to submerged growth yet. And is that Eleocharis in the background on the right?


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

onefang said:


> .. You must have magical image upscaling eyes, to be able to see something wrong with these plants.


Let's keep it about the tank and not about one's personal attributes, but since you brought it up, I'm not sure how you knew that. 

As lauraleellbp suspected from that pic it looks very obvious to me the plants are stretching for what little light there is to try and survive. Good 'growth' is somewhat subjective, but stems when healthy from sufficient light/ferts are lush and full those certainly are not. 

Marine and Reef as a general aquarium retailer can't list all the plants that the light might work for so they post the warning so people won't be disappointed. Kudos to them. :thumbsup:


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## deleted_user_6 (Jun 19, 2010)

houseofcards said:


> Let's keep it about the tank and not about one's personal attributes, but since you brought it up, I'm not sure how you knew that.
> 
> As lauraleellbp suspected from that pic it looks very obvious to me the plants are stretching for what little light there is to try and survive. Good 'growth' is somewhat subjective, but stems when healthy from sufficient light/ferts are lush and full those certainly are not.
> 
> Marine and Reef as a general aquarium retailer can't list all the plants that the light might work for so they post the warning so people won't be disappointed. Kudos to them. :thumbsup:


Sorry. It was meant as a joke. But hey, where can I get a set of those? 
They do look a little spindley, but they don't seem to be dying.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Ok, not to derail the thread here, but would a light like this be appropriate for a low light set up?

P.S. I apologize in advance if this question has been answered. I did not look at any pages previously posted.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

msnikkistar said:


> Ok, not to derail the thread here, but would a light like this be appropriate for a low light set up?
> 
> P.S. I apologize in advance if this question has been answered. I did not look at any pages previously posted.


That's part of what's being discussed.

Personally, I think it's falling on the VERY low end of low light. Just based on the growth patterns I'm seeing under them in tanks thus far.


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

There is not a uniform amount of light all throughout the tank, so classifying it under a specific intensity may be difficult. I think this fixture has medium intensity straight under the LEDs, then the intensity is reduced the further away from you get from this spot. This also explains the legginess, or stretching of the plants towards the bright spots. I base this on my observations of growth while using this fixture on a 20g high and a 10g.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

lauraleellbp said:


> That's part of what's being discussed.
> 
> Personally, I think it's falling on the VERY low end of low light. Just based on the growth patterns I'm seeing under them in tanks thus far.



What if they are used on shallow tanks though?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Sounds like shallow and narrow would be the best tanks for this light, for a moderate light level?


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

> Sounds like shallow and narrow would be the best tanks for this light, for a moderate light level?





> What if they are used on shallow tanks though?


It's kind of a trade off. The higher you raise it, the more uniform the lighting gets, but, the intensity is reduced as well. I personally would rather have this fixture raised up a bit more off of my 10g.

Hoppy may have some useful par data on LEDs we could use, but he is probably more into making his own LED fixture. The type of lens on his 1w LEDs would most likely be different from the Doublebright as well.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I actually thought about getting one of these for my custom 12G since it is long and shallow. And I may still get it as a 96W fixture is well over what I wanted, but with it being 36", I am limited. So we will see


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## boringname (Nov 11, 2010)

I noticed some of the pictures seem to be of lidless tanks. I wonder if the reason there is so much disagreement here is that the people unhappy with LEDs are using lids which are blocking some of the light and the people who are happy with the LEDs are going topless.


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## NickS (Oct 9, 2009)

No lids here.


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

Been running a new 33g tank with this fixture. Two weeks and all plants are doing fine...crypts, Vesuvius, hygro Kompact, vals. Only the lily melted, but it didn't survive shipping well, so not the light's fault.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

So it's been several months, and I'm curious- how are everyone's Marineland Double Bright LED fixtures working out?


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## jeffvmd (Apr 16, 2010)

Everything seems to be doing fine in mine since I got my Double bright for my 10gal.
Here it is more or less 4 months since it was set up and after sevral trimmings done on tank.


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## tydas (Sep 16, 2010)

Have not logged on in a while but the double brights are doing well..the swords are growing, the wysteria grew out of control and had to be cut back and the java fern look healthy.

so far i have to say i like them a lot and keep in mind i have a deep tank (20 inches)


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