[Rakaal]

Forgive me if this is a dead horse subject, but I am having trouble.

I have recently set up my Marineland 60 gal cube (24x24x24). I have one Marineland Aquatic Plant LED. This is my first high tech tank. It has pressurized CO2 and is fertilized using EI. ( Full disclosure it is 4 days old).



Obviously, one is not enough as the shadowing is apparent. I cannot seem to find a relevant thread of anyone using this light for a high tech tank (which may be telling in of itself). Nonetheless, I have one. I am trying to successfully grow HC atm.

After setting this up and seeing the light disparity, I began doing research and found that I really liked the aquaticlife Halo deluxe with a Halo basic for my 24x24x24. The two lights plus the attachment arms are not cheap. I explained this horrible situation to my wife. I did my best to sell it but alas I was shut down, while giving me the look of....ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR ......MIND.

So, Here I am in a quandary. My options as I see it are 1) buy a second Marineland Aquatic Plant LED to maintain the aesthetic look with the same light and keep the timers and moonlight, or 2) scrap the current Marineland and go with a Finnex Ray2 and a Finnex Monster ray combo losing the timer and moonlight.

The cost for either option is almost identical as Marineland is very proud of their product.

I know the Finnex combo has had success based on other posts but has anyone had any luck using the Marineland?

 

[steveo]

Yes- you will need two. I really like my Marineland aquatic plant lights on my 56 gallon column. I use two of them due to the 18 inch front to back. It also has a depth of 24 inches. My Flourite is between 2.5-4 inches from front to back. I am using a 'high tech' approach and inject C02. I fertilize daily using the PPS Pro system. Plants are doing great (check my amazon album under profile). The lights provide a PAR rating in the 80's. Don't be quick to get rid of he Marineland light. They are high quality and I really like the timer features too.

Personally, I'm not keen on the Aquaticlife Halo plants. By their design, I believe they would cast way too much light into the room.

 

[Rakaal]

I went ahead with the second Marineland Aquatic Plant LED. All of my plants seem to be doing well, with the exception of the "pearl grass", Fissidens nobilis, and African water fern...I just havent seen any "new" growth. I'm not seeing any melting either so it may just need some time.

My HC seems to have taken off, even at 20 plus inches below the lights. Its only been about two weeks but there has been obvious growth. I have not noticed an algae bloom as of yet...I'm still waiting for that challenge.

The lights are on for 6 hours per day. So far I'm pretty pleased. I do have the "white fuzz" on my driftwood. From what I've read, I'm hoping it will go away in time.

Feedback, positive and negative is welcomed.

Thanks

 

[Jamo33]

I don't believe there is any need for negative feed back, keep on with the steady frets and co2 it will pay off. I really like this tank, just be patient and it will all pay off

 

[steveo]

FWIW- see additional comments I made under the Planted +24/7 thread. With your lights, using dry fertilizers with the PPS pro system, along with 8 hour light cycles will be greatly beneficial. From the photo of your tank, it looks like your CO2 drop checker is near the bottom of you tank. For accurate readings it should be near the top. Your set up looks really good!

 

[Rakaal]

Thanks for the comments, it is appreciated. The dual Marineland Lights seem to be doing the trick as far as the plants that I have planted. I am very pleased so far with the performance of the lights. I still have some challenges as the tank is still fairly new and is still "cycling" and in the process of doing whatever it is it is doing.

I have a double bright on a "low tech" tank that is my daughter's tank. The aquatic plant light is in a class far above the double bright. I am still pretty new to this hobby but I can say without fear of reprisal that the Marineland Aquatic Plant LED can hold its own, at least with the plants that I am currently trying to grow. Which include (HC) that is about 20 inches from the light.

 

[Capecrusher]

I can say that the Marineland is an excellent light. A lot of people don't like it because they are pricey compared to a lot of other brands. The PAR rating of the Marineland Aquatic Plant light is really quite high. I have one 24" on a 37 gallon tank and can grow just about anything. Your drop checker is fine where it is. If you are using a diffuser and have the checker too high you can get false readings from bubbles (seen or unseen) entering the checker. I also have it on the bottom, but in the opposite corner from my diffuser. One word of caution with the light. The "night" feature with just the blue lights will grow algae if left on for too long. I learned this the hard way. It is mentioned on the Marineland website. This is because the red spectrum is in the blue leds. I use it 15 min before and 15 min after the light comes on. For me, the best results are when the light is on for 6 to 7 hours. I currently run it 6 hours. Any longer and algae city. Your tank looks great, best of luck with it.