Marineland Reef Capable LED for 29g

[Shelby2012]

It's too late because I already bought those lights for my new system that I will start to build within next couple of days after I get all the shippments but what is your opinion? My tank is only 18" high so I think I should not have any problem with most of the corals. What I read about the Marineland, if the light are defective they will exchange it etc, that's why I wanted to avoid eBay.

 

[subielover]

They are not strong enough to keep corals.

 

[RUGDOG]

They are strong enough to keep coarals in a tank that size. I have seen it done long term. Also with marineland if you do have problems you can get support as well as warranty replacement help. Some of these "inexpensive" no name imports that might not be the case. Dont sweat your purchase....enjoy.

 

[Shelby2012]

Thanks. From what I read some people don't recommend it for the tanks around 20-22" high bare bottom. Mine is 18" and I will have around 2" of sand. I was curious if there is anyone who actually have those lights in similiar tank as mine.

 

[subielover]

They are strong enough to keep coarals in a tank that size. I have seen it done long term. Also with marineland if you do have problems you can get support as well as warranty replacement help. Some of these "inexpensive" no name imports that might not be the case. Dont sweat your purchase....enjoy.

I would like to see some pics of that. I know more than one person who couldn't keep zoas alive in a 40 breeder with these "reef capable" marineland lights. Not saying it isn't possible, but I would like to see the success that you have seen.

 

[cdness]

I had one on a 10G tank that was loaned to me by the LFS for my local club meeting and frag swap. It barely lit the 10G so honestly I wouldn't touch them. Great for a FO or maybe even for softies and shrooms, but stay away from LPS and SPS as you are probably not going to have much luck.

If you can return the fixture, do it and look into the Evolution line. They are good pre-built fixtures with Awesome service. I have one on my 125 to fill in the last 2 feet of the tank and I am seriously considering 2 more.

 

[Shelby2012]

CDNESS, could you please confirm that we are talking about the same lights. The ones I have were those: Reef Aquarium Lighting & LED Lights: Marineland Reef Capable LED Lighting System

 

[RUGDOG]

The one that I am refering too is at a LFS it is on a cube style tank that isnt real big but deeper than you are talking about. He has a variety of different coral in there and has for a long time (I know this tank has been running around a year) He does have some easy SPS in the upper portions and zoas, leathers, as well as some LPS in this tank. I am not saying you are going to be able to fill it up with high light demanding sps but a nice mixed reef with some easy cap type sps in the top is obtainable.

 

[cdness]

Yes, the 18-24" one was donated for use during the meeting to "showcase" the new lights he was carrying. There wasn't one person there who was impressed with the lights and all thought it would be good for maybe a super shallow frag tank, but not much more. I wish I had a PAR meter to prove with numbers, but All I have is about 16 or 17 people from the meeting who didn't really think it was sufficient for a full blown reef. I used it for a day and took it back to the store.

On the other hand, I do like the style of the light being so thin. It is also much cooler than my T-5 setup or other's MH setups. If you are going to stick with softies you may be ok. If you want to go down the road of SPS corals you need something better.

Like I said if your main reason for these lights was customer service, I think you will find that the sponsors on here are also really good with customer service. Some are better in this area than the big box companies as well. So if you even have the option, return the lights and get something different. Remember when cycling the tank you don't need lights so get the tank filled with water and save up some extra cash to go with something that will work.

 

[Mr. Limpid]

I have run the Marineland Reef fixture on my 20gal long, now going on 9 months; I have hammers; polly's; Xina and plate coral. All are doing great, the Xina have actual gotten thicker bases and continue to spread. The plate's after 3 months started turning brown and in the last 3 months have turned back to the colors in the picture. The only things I didn't like about the fixture is that it mount to close to tank, which makes the foot print small (manufacture claims it to be 10" spread); the LED's are not water tight can be put over open tank and the length of the bulbs are set in on actual width of the fixture about total of 6" less than smaller fixture dimension listed. Other than that I'm pleased with the fixture and you can not beat the price.

The fixture is inside of a old PC fixture to get it raised up and to protect LED's pucs.

 

[Shelby2012]

After so many negative posts about those lights I am glad there is someone who is actually satisfied since I am decided to give it a try. I already have all the components of the tank but my wife decided to place the tank in the dining room so it will have much more exposure than in the bedroom so I am shopping now for a different stand. I hope to start everything tomorrow.

 

[clarofaro]

I have been running Marineland LED'S for six months and am very happy with them. I have a 46B and it keeps my corals well. Personally, I don't want to spend a thousand bucks on lights. They work for me.


Sent from Mark's using Tapatalk

 

[Shelby2012]

Old thread and some things changed. I have Marineland Reef Capable LEDs but I rewired them so I can control blue and white leds separately. I also added Ecoxotic Panorama Pro modules, 2 x 445nm and 1 x 12k/445nm. The color of corals is enhanced and I have lots of growth.

 

[Mr. Limpid]

Old thread and some things changed. I have Marineland Reef Capable LEDs but I rewired them so I can control blue and white leds separately. I also added Ecoxotic Panorama Pro modules, 2 x 445nm and 1 x 12k/445nm. The color of corals is enhanced and I have lots of growth.

I'm glad they worked out for you. I thought the fixture had a seprate on off switch for blues and whites. I have mine mounted inside of an old PC so I can't turn them of or on just have a timer on them.

 

[Shelby2012]

I rewired the Marineland and it is controlled by Apex Jr. It is really an easy job. I'm not an electrician and I was able to do it and I'm very glad I did it. Here is the link I found on the Internet. It lacks the pictures but I was able to figure out how to do it without them. There are however a few changes I made. If you want, let me know I will help you with this.
DIY Marineland LED Fixture independent from switch - The Reef Tank

 

[Steelerfan747]

Welcome shelby. I don't have experience with then so all I can say is good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Newb73]

Old Thread but i want to point out the new models have built in timer to control day evening modes. Very nice, plenty of shimmer one is enough for soft corals up to 18 inches if they are directly under light I am almost positive the one CD was talking about was a "DOUBLE bright", not a reef ready. Most of the negative around the net is either talking about the early models with only one cord, no timer and a faulty plug....or they were talking about the wrong model completely. They look similiar. If you want more dept or have a tank wider than 12 inches, you will need two units however.

I wont be a good tester though because my tank also has a 6bulb nova extreme pro running 5 hours of the twelve hour cycle.

I will say this is an ideal FOWLR light and its just beautiful in the evenings when the T5s are off.

Best thing about these is almost zero footprint over tank, no noisy fans ans built in timer. New models also have new diffusers over actinics that evenly turn whole tank blue...(even a 18 wide 28 deep). No more spot light effect. Ill post pics if anyone wants to see. The 48 inchers are now 399 and would be in my top pics for fowlr or to supplement other lights.

 

[Newb73]

I can now confirm the MarineLand LED puts out more light at 12inches debt than the 6bulb T5 system.

There are however, some caveats. 1) Its not an apples to apples comparison, as the LEDS are right aross the tank and my T5s are on a stand about 10 inches from the top of the tank. 2) The bottom of the tank (about 24 inches) is about equally lit between the two fixtures (again, remember the T5s are 10 inches higher). 3) The non-direct lighting around the T5s are better lit then the non-direct areas around the LEDs. None of that comes as a particluar suprise, but i am truely suprised that even taking into consieration the T5s are on a stand, the LEDS do have more light penetration at the 12-15 inch debts (after all the bad press these things got).