Can LEDs keep coral alive long term?

[Cahooligan]

on a 125g, can 330watts of 3watt Cree LEDs keep coral long term without color loss? the fixture would be a mix of Cree RB and CW. ive read that LEDs cause color loss long term, and would like to know if thats true or not. i would like to hear from people who have kept coral under LEDs strictly and had success for long periods of time. im new to LEDs and only have t5s currently. i love the effect that the blue actinics give to coral. i only look to keep LPS and Softies(im not sure this matters much, but most of what ive read concerning color loss has had to do with SPS) thanks for any info, or input.

[b16drag]

Alot of it has to do with people not adequately acclimating their corals to the LED light.

[Cahooligan]

To be honest I have never acclimated my coral or even my anemone to light, nor have any of my lfs's. I know when upgrading a light, you should without a doubt, but I've never noticed anything bad happen from not acclimating. Nothing has ever died right away or bleached. Ill assume I just got lucky? Or maybe its just because my lighing is a 4 bulb t5. I don't know, but if I upgrade to LED ill be sure to do some type of light acclimation...

[redfishsc]

As long as you pick a reasonable color scheme for the LEDs, factors other than light will be what determines your corals color.

Water flow, quality, feeding, stability, etc...


Go with either the old standby 1:1 cool white/royal blue, or the 1:2 neutral white/royal blue and you'll be fine, especially with softies/LPS.

Dimmable drivers will almost be a MUST in this case. Or else you will bleach something at some point.

[b16drag]

Dimmable drivers are not a must. You just have to acclimate the corals whether it be dimming the LED's or putting them higher up etc.

[Felixc395]

As long as you have the correct spectrum, LED's are surpassable. But that's the problem itself...

[Cahooligan]

Im pretty sure the fixture im looking at doesnt have dimmers, but ill be sure to ask about them. other than that, im not sure what ratio ill end up getting. i want a much more blue look so it would be probably at least 1:2 cool white/royal blue. im not sure how id raise thelights higher, b/c id be building a canopy thats only about 1ft from the water.the LED fixtures would end up 6-8 inches from the water. i cant hang from the ceiling... would it make a difference if i were to start corals at the bottom of the tank, and move them up over the course of 2 weeks? or would the bottom of the tank still be too bright?

[Acrotrdco]

OP: Answering your question, I think photos speak a thousand words:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1968168

[Cahooligan]

Yes I ve read that thread and multiple others but its all about sps. I've yet to find a thread that tells abpout lps and softies. I've read a lot about the color scheme, and the whiting out if you do something wrong...but it looks to me like id be able to keep stuff longterm. If they're having success for like 2 years with sps, then it SHOULD be better with lps and softies seeing as they are much easier to keep...but I really do not know...