# Marineland Double Bright vs Single Bright



## ADA (Dec 31, 2010)

Hi, I have searched all over, google and her for answers, and I must have missed it IF it's out there!

Can someone pls tell me which light is better/brighter out of these two

Marineland Double Bright LED

Marineland Single Bright LED

I hear that the SINGLE bright is newer, and brighter, but then, it's called SINGLE.. so it's confusing.

Also, will either of these work on a mid/high light tank? (tank is very shallow, only about 8 or 9 inches of water to shine through.. )
Will it be too bright for my CRS? I mainly want to get this light because it's so pretty, and runs cool.. Shrimp like cooler water, so it makes sense.

Thanks!


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## neumahrs (Jan 12, 2010)

Single bright uses an array of low wattage .06 watt LEDs. The brightness is equivalent to a single t8 fluorescent.


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## jotape65 (Sep 14, 2010)

I have both, and can say the double bright is brighter than the single. They both run cool. On a shallow tank like yours I would choose the double for medium light.


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## ADA (Dec 31, 2010)

Thanks.

I have a 36" tank, but it's very shallow (only 9".. so, with 2 inches of substrate, the light will only have to shine through about 7 or 8 inches of water to hit the bottom.

Would you think the Double Bright 36" strip would be enough for medium/high light in such a tank? My tank's dimensions are 36x8x9 (long, shallow, skinny!)

Here are the specs for the light: http://www.marineland.com/sites/Marineland/products/productdetail.aspx?id=2054&cid=5457&mid=5528


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

get a coralife 36" T5NO single bulb fixture, i assume from dims you have the mr. aqua bookshelf tank, the double bright is too much light for such a shallow tank and at that short distance from light to substrate you will get major spotlighting problems. i found mine at coral fish hawaii. two bulb version will be too much light.


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## ADA (Dec 31, 2010)

dhavoc said:


> get a coralife 36" T5NO single bulb fixture, i assume from dims you have the mr. aqua bookshelf tank, the double bright is too much light for such a shallow tank and at that short distance from light to substrate you will get major spotlighting problems. i found mine at coral fish hawaii. two bulb version will be too much light.


Really?? Wow.. I was worried that it wouldn't be enough light.. (Yes, I have the Mr Aqua)

The thing is, I really want a LED light because of how cool they run. I want colder water.. So if the double bright is too bright, the single bright should be perfect? They say that the single bright is comparable to a single florescent strip. Also, I believe the Single Bright is the newer one, and they improved a lot with the spread of light, (less spotlight effect).

Would this work? 

So would you say the double bright would be too much light, even for high light plants, and pressurized Co2?


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## fish h20 (May 5, 2009)

The problem with these lights is the leds are spaced out and put out a focused beem of light. At 6 or 7" it will just be some spotlighted areas and the rest will be dark. You could raise it up but it may have to be pretty high up to even out the light.


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## ADA (Dec 31, 2010)

fish h20 said:


> The problem with these lights is the leds are spaced out and put out a focused beem of light. At 6 or 7" it will just be some spotlighted areas and the rest will be dark. You could raise it up but it may have to be pretty high up to even out the light.


I know that's true of the double bright, but I heard they fixed that problem on the single bright, which is the newer one. Is this not the case? The nature of my tank may allow for the "spotlight" effect, as I want parts of it to remain plantless. And in the lighted areas, it sounds like the double bright will be enough for high light carpet plants? I ordered the double bright, and will post my experience with it here. 
Thanks for your help.


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