marineland led a solid choice for softies???

sharkks · 12/27/2012, 07:53 PM

I have a 27 cube I am setting up and plan to have primarily mushrooms and softies. I plan to build the rock up to varying levels throughout the tank so I can have as much variance on light levels as possible in a small tank like this.

Right now I am running the marineland doublebright led that came with the tank as I cycle. I actually really like the look and color of the fixture. Obviously that is not enough light once I get up and running so contemplating my options. My first choice would be to simply add a second marineland, the reef-capable version, as it would look nice on top of the tank and allow me to create quite a bit of different lighting schemes between the two fixtures. Of course across the web there is pretty universal that these are not a good choice but nearly every review is based on their inability to allow SPS to grow or thrive.

My question really comes down to this. Would soft corals actually prefer the lower PAR ratings of the 1w fixtures such as this or would they just "get by". I am having trouble separating whether this class of corals actually thrives more under lower light or are they simply more tolerable of low light? I can easily go to a higher output light but I don't want to do this if I am actually doing more harm than good given my plans.

Any thoughts?

jarrodsanborn · 12/27/2012, 08:08 PM

Adding a marineland reef capable to your existing double bright would allow for softies....growth won't be amazing.
I actually like those lights, but the cost vs power is bad for what you get

12/27/2012, 07:53 PM	#1
sharkks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Posts: 59	marineland led a solid choice for softies??? I have a 27 cube I am setting up and plan to have primarily mushrooms and softies. I plan to build the rock up to varying levels throughout the tank so I can have as much variance on light levels as possible in a small tank like this. Right now I am running the marineland doublebright led that came with the tank as I cycle. I actually really like the look and color of the fixture. Obviously that is not enough light once I get up and running so contemplating my options. My first choice would be to simply add a second marineland, the reef-capable version, as it would look nice on top of the tank and allow me to create quite a bit of different lighting schemes between the two fixtures. Of course across the web there is pretty universal that these are not a good choice but nearly every review is based on their inability to allow SPS to grow or thrive. My question really comes down to this. Would soft corals actually prefer the lower PAR ratings of the 1w fixtures such as this or would they just "get by". I am having trouble separating whether this class of corals actually thrives more under lower light or are they simply more tolerable of low light? I can easily go to a higher output light but I don't want to do this if I am actually doing more harm than good given my plans. Any thoughts?

12/27/2012, 08:08 PM	#2
jarrodsanborn Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 110	Adding a marineland reef capable to your existing double bright would allow for softies....growth won't be amazing. I actually like those lights, but the cost vs power is bad for what you get