INSIGHT needed - marineland LED light unit.

what is your take on this unit? im interested in buying it, not for the moon lighting...kinda weak, but the LED luminate quite well.
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I'm going to try and make my own out of a few strings of LED Christmas lights, just have not gotten around to it.

That set up looks very professional, but I would have to see it shine in a tank before dropping a Benjamin on it.

Paintguy wrote:I'm going to try and make my own out of a few strings of LED Christmas lights, just have not gotten around to it.

That set up looks very professional, but I would have to see it shine in a tank before dropping a Benjamin on it.

very true..sierra pets in renton has a 18" unit on display...LED's look bright, not so for the moonlighting.

I have the 36" unit on my 72" 125g tank and love it. I also have a DIY in-hood setup on my 48" 55g and like it just as much. My only complaint about the Marineland unit is that the daylight and nightlight setups run on a single switch and power supply so you can't automate them (or use external switches, which is what I do). But for the price-point they're hard to beat.

One caveat - if you're looking for a very bright light on a very dark tank this may not suit your tastes. Well, two caveats - I'm not sure if it's suitable for planted tanks (other than low-tech planted tanks).

But from me it receives a thumbs up!

I saw a couple of these on another forum. The light output looks weak. Like what Larry said, probably not the best for plants.

Also, aren't they expensive? I still use T-12 shop lights!

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I have 2 of marineland's biggest LED's on my 125g. They're strong enough to grow Anubias plants.
I went this route to save money. Watt use on this lights are really low. They are expensive, I think I found mine for $140. You will save a lot of money in the long run. If you calculate any T fixture's plus the cost of replacing the bulbs every year to make sure the light spectrum is right, you definently save money. Not to mention the power bill savings.

If you plan on growing plants that require med-high lighting, this isn't the way to go.

Oh, I place both LED fixtures in the center of my tank. Didn't want the whole tank lit.

I looked at a small one down at Sierra in Renton tonight. Makes a nice sparkle in the water and looked plenty bright on the small tank it was on. I switched it to the blue night mode and they looked a little to bright for a simulated moonlight, but I can see how the blue leds help the white to appear as a pure bright white. I used to use mix in blue windex when I airbrushed white water based paint as it tricks your eye that it is brighter.

Still deciding if I want to make this a DIY project or after figuring in all the costs to just go get one of these.

Paintguy wrote:I looked at a small one down at Sierra in Renton tonight. Makes a nice sparkle in the water and looked plenty bright on the small tank it was on. I switched it to the blue night mode and they looked a little to bright for a simulated moonlight, but I can see how the blue leds help the white to appear as a pure bright white. I used to use mix in blue windex when I airbrushed white water based paint as it tricks your eye that it is brighter.

Still deciding if I want to make this a DIY project or after figuring in all the costs to just go get one of these.

so, you saw the marineland LED unit on that really small tank?
i might just stick with my DIY of a HID unit from home depot.