Are you really growing coral with LED's?

[FISHRIPROCK]

Just curious if you are having real growth using LED light vs. T5 or metal hi..

Have heard of tremendous growth and have also heard LED is simply for effect. I lean to the effect but welcome your opinions before I pull the trigger.

[zeemofree]

Just curious if you are having real growth using LED light vs. T5 or metal hi.. Have heard of tremendous growth and have also heard LED is simply for effect. I lean to the effect but welcome your opinions before I pull the trigger.


Not actually growing yet, my corals are doing very well under my kessil at half I tensity. LEDs are great, at least this one because I can make a number of different Kelvin are available in a single light.

[vhuang168]

Yes, I am actually growing sps with only LEDs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Greybeard]

Yup.

Can't say it's growing as fast as corals I used to keep under MH, but it's certainly growing. Colors are far better than I was getting before. I'm not yet convinced that the slow growth is due to lighting... there are a good many other factors that could be impacting growth.

[Ron Reefman]

Ask any of 2 or 3 dozen guys in my local club that are always buying coral from me because I have corals growing into each other. And that's leds only for almost 4 years now.

[BeanMachine]

This tank is all LED. Amazing tank. http://166.78.194.232/forums/showthread.php?t=2125739&page=17

The really nice all led tanks I've seen have a lot more fixtures than what the manufactures traditionally recommend.

[mcgyvr]

yes its entirely possible and proven that LEDs alone can grow coral..

But not all LED fixtures are created equal either even though they may be marketed towards "corals/saltwater".. Some simply don't have the power to support corals but are just fine for fish only..

Do your research here first before you pull the trigger..

[Wazzel]

Just curious if you are having real growth using LED light vs. T5 or metal hi..

Have heard of tremendous growth and have also heard LED is simply for effect. I lean to the effect but welcome your opinions before I pull the trigger.

Yes I grow SPS with LED only.

[VoiceInTheDeser]

There are a lot of bad LEDs out there, but quality units exist and I've had success growing all kinds of coral under them for 2 years now.

[GimpyFin]

I also have only led. I have 2 montipora and a purple acro that were just tiny frags when I got them about 2 years ago and they are quite large now.

[WaReefer458]

Some people just seem to have great results but I didnt... I have 2 kessil 360's on my 40b and my LPS and nem look amazing... after all my sps slowly dying and trying numerous times, I threw in the towel... I wont be doing any more SPS without some t5 supplements...

[ca1ore]

LED only for two years (LED/MH mix before that) ......

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r680/ca1ore/IMG_9927_zpsopxbtkfs.jpg

[d2mini]

Yes I grow SPS with LED only.

Says the current Reefer of the Month. :thumbsup:
That's gotta hold some cred.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2587492

[FISHRIPROCK]

I'm just not seeing it with what I have read about LED. For the one's growing great corals, could there possibly be a secondary reason? Residual sunlight from a window possibly? Light from a nearby tank?

Switching to non Chinese made LED IS not an inexpensive route. Just want to be reasonably sure that I won't need the t-5's I have now..

[billdogg]

My 120d DT has used LED only from the start. 2 x AI Sol Blues, set to 45W/65B/65RB, on from 10AM to 10PM.

You be the judge.

On the left, Sept 2013, tank was about a month old, on the right, Sept 2014

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/Coral%20comparison%20-%20after%20first%20year/FullTankShot9-15-2013to8-10-2014.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/Coral%20comparison%20-%20after%20first%20year/FullTankShot9-15-2013to8-10-2014.jpg.html)

And March 2016

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/Aquarium%20Shots/FTS%203-6-2016.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/Aquarium%20Shots/FTS%203-6-2016.jpg.html)

I just set up a 60g frag tank about 2 months ago - I filled it up with frags after just 1 pruning session and you can hardly tell I took anything form the DT!

[Kies1]

Yes 90 gallon with a 300 watt maxspect razor.

[djbon]

Solely on DIY LED. Quite new by the way

[zeemofree]

Some people just seem to have great results but I didnt... I have 2 kessil 360's on my 40b and my LPS and nem look amazing... after all my sps slowly dying and trying numerous times, I threw in the towel... I wont be doing any more SPS without some t5 supplements...


Two 360s is way too much lighting, one is way too much your 40 gallon.

[vhuang168]

Two 360s is way too much lighting, one is way too much your 40 gallon.



They ARE dimmable and adjustable.

I'm running an AP700 over my 40b. Haven't killed an sps from too much light yet. I did have to arrange LPS around till I found the sweet spot for them but everyone is happy now.

Started at 35% and now at 50%.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RynoParsons]

I have personally seen a friends tank that is still running. started january last year. growth is insane. i want to flil my lid with people still under a rock thinking leds cant grow corals.

I snapped this pic in the week. most corals been grown from 2inch frags. lps corals atleast 5times the size they startes out with. this tank been running for one year and 7 months just radions

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh532/Rynoparsons/Mobile%20Uploads/20160713_095001_zpsikf0wvjt.jpg (http://s1250.photobucket.com/user/Rynoparsons/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160713_095001_zpsikf0wvjt.jpg.html)

[Uncle Luke]

I was also skeptical of LED until I saw two top tier tanks loaded with SPS and thriving. I'm thinking about switching out from T5 to all LED now.

One of them is Top Shelf Aquatics. All Radions from the onset of tank setup.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DKLdGfEmiLM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The tank looks way better in person and there's more coral and growth since that video.

[zeemofree]

I have personally seen a friends tank that is still running. started january last year. growth is insane. i want to flil my lid with people still under a rock thinking leds cant grow corals. I snapped this pic in the week. most corals been grown from 2inch frags. lps corals atleast 5times the size they startes out with. this tank been running for one year and 7 months just radions


Nice tank! Did you grow them under that daylight spectrum? It is really easy to over do LEDs, I also like that Kessil lets me view from the top because it small.

[RynoParsons]

its a friends tank it only uses lots of blue in the morning and afternoons further its mostly whites

[Ron Reefman]

I'm just not seeing it with what I have read about LED. For the one's growing great corals, could there possibly be a secondary reason? Residual sunlight from a window possibly? Light from a nearby tank?

Switching to non Chinese made LED IS not an inexpensive route. Just want to be reasonably sure that I won't need the t-5's I have now..

I don't know what you've been looking at? In my local club of about 150 tanks, about 1/3 are chinese leds and another 1/3 are expensive leds. Most have great coral, and the ones that don't... have other issues, it's not the lights.

And leds with t5 addon work even better. The t5 basically just fill the shadows.

[Wazzel]

I'm just not seeing it with what I have read about LED. For the one's growing great corals, could there possibly be a secondary reason? Residual sunlight from a window possibly? Light from a nearby tank?

Switching to non Chinese made LED IS not an inexpensive route. Just want to be reasonably sure that I won't need the t-5's I have now..

People experiences with LED are all over the board. The first generation were not all that good and I suspect left some people sour on them. Also, a lot of what you hear is preference as opposed to actual issue. There are enough nice LED tanks out there to back up that they work just fine.

This is mine over the last 2 years, as of May.

Two year progress
May-14
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other-2/Reef-19-May-14/i-szQsVGb/0/L/left-L.jpg
May-15
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other-2/30-April-2015/i-btQ2T6v/0/L/DSC_0591-L.jpg
May-16
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other-2/Reef-1May16/i-JV4c2BH/0/L/image-L.jpg

[Bent]

Growth has many more factors than just lights dog.

[FISHRIPROCK]

I agree dog..

There is so much information, pro and con that it is very difficult to make a informed decision.

Wasn't accusing anyone of not being honest about whatever growth. Just looking for legit answers.

[Ron Reefman]

How can you tell a legit answer from an out right lie here on a website?

What you need to do is go look at other people's aquariums and see what they have and how well it works for them. I don't know where in the world you are, but I'd look for an aquarium club and start looking for myself.

When I bought my led fixtures in 2013 I was part of a Group Buy getting them direct from China. Ten reefers buying 24 fixtures for $5200. Of those 10, 7 have great looking tanks using the same fixtures. The other 3 are out of the hobby!

[FISHRIPROCK]

Well I would hope that the people who share this hobby would be truthful in the things they say. If not then what's the point of this board? If you consider everything people say as dishonest then why even bother asking???

[rvareef]

lol did leds just come out?

[FISHRIPROCK]

In my world they may as well have. Been out of aquariums for a long time. Just getting back in it. So all that has changed in technology is new to me.

[blasterman789]

I've been reefing since the 80's and can tell you without absolute certainty that:

(1) As long as the LED units are delivering the same PAR (centered on 450nm) and have the same lighting angles as other light sources your corals won't care and will grow the same. The absolute mots stunning SPS tanks I've seen in person that past few years all all 100% LED. For that matter some of the most dismal reef tanks I've seen in the same period are running LED.

(2) There is always *some guy* claiming LEDs can't grow corals because he's blaming a water quality issues on his lights.

An example of #1 is the common problem of high wattage LED units using narrow angle optics because it looks cool and dramatic to light a tank with what are essentially spot lights. Net result are corals that may bleach and wash out on top, and have dead spots underneath because of the directional light. This may seem common sense, but this hobby seems to lack common sense. More lower wattage units spread around your tank will work much better than fewer higher priced units blasting coral from a 50 degree angle.

Example of #2 is the manager at the local reef shop who informs every customer who walks in the store that LEDs can't grow coral and having all his SPS show tanks lit with multiple 400watt MH and state of the art reflectors. Yet he insists on using Kessil 160's and low powered LED units with highly collimated optics as comparisons. He's basically setting his LED lit tanks up to fail.

Plenty of bad urban myths in this thread. First, the only real difference between American LEDs and chinese is most of the American units *are* Chinese, but with a different label and a 150% mark-up. Those few american units using top of the line Cree or Philips Royals will simply be about 50% more efficient. Spectrum is the same.

[djbon]

We are answering the question whether LED will grow coral, and the answer is definitely yes. Of course light alone won't make your tank looks fantastic. You can buy top notch lighting system, but if your water parameters sucks, don't expect your coral will grow. We have to look at foods, nutrient export, good husbandry, flow etc.

[biecacka]

Yes LEDs can grow coral as many here have stated. I think one of the larger issues ppl have when trying LEDs is not getting a "proper spectrum" and enough par. What looks good to our eyes aren't always the best for corals.

Corey

[CaptiveCoral]

Yes LEDs can grow coral as many here have stated. I think one of the larger issues ppl have when trying LEDs is not getting a "proper spectrum" and enough par. What looks good to our eyes aren't always the best for corals.

Corey

I would agree that the "common" spectrum in LEDs might not be as good as the "common" spectrum in MHs. LEDs give off a very narrow spectrum compared to MHs. I like to think of it as feeding your coral a very specific diet that might be less nutritious than the wide spectrum offered by MHs.

In full disclosure I have been running LEDs for about 4 to 5 years with about as much success as I had to T5s or MHs.

[FISHRIPROCK]

+1 Blasterman.

Great info. Thanks..

[aquamann183]

Late on the thread..but I originally had t5's..they were always very hot, and extremely bright..and having to buy new bulbs wasn't fun either..
I switched to leds and within a month I had coraline algae everywhere.

Definitely like leds more from my experience! 😊

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[TheGodParticle]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160718/2f0fe32a94e4c4c15bfe9bfded3d49c4.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160718/57e160842309c8af76a1185a883af81a.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160718/e44fec4a886b346b04b4c9dd1c7d666c.jpg

This is my buddies tank. It's been grown out under Apollo Reef LEDs since the day he setup the tank. And they're only blue and white channels. A couple years back I was a fairly big skeptic of LEDs. Now I just laugh when people ask if LEDs can grow coral.

[FISHRIPROCK]

Agreed. T-5 lighting is very hot. That is one of the reasons I want to switch to LED. Energy savings being another.

[Ron Reefman]

Agreed. T-5 lighting is very hot. That is one of the reasons I want to switch to LED. Energy savings being another.

I have 4 tanks (180g, 75g, 65g and 25g) and all had MH & t5 fixtures. I live in SW Florida so I have a 1hp and a 1/3hp chiller (one for each system of 2 tanks). 3 years ago I spent $1300 on 5 led fixtures.

The first full year my electric bill went down $400+. The lights use a little less, my chillers hardly have any work to do now and my house A/C runs less in the hot 6 to 8 months because the leds run so much cooler. I also replaced all 8 t5 bulbs every 12 months, that's $200/yr. And I replaced 9 MH bulbs every other year, that's $300/yr.

So $400 in electricity, $250 in t5 bulbs and $300 in MH bulbs each year is $900/yr. So in well under 2 years my 5 led fixtures paid for themselves! I'll never go back!

[FISHRIPROCK]

Yeah Ron. Just north of you on the same coast. Hot doesn't really describe what we go through 10 months of the year.

Going to pull the trigger on LED's. Now to research what kind, how many, ect.

[aquamann183]

Right there with you fellas. East Central Florida. No chiller with my LEDs. 😊

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[Ron Reefman]

Yeah Ron. Just north of you on the same coast. Hot doesn't really describe what we go through 10 months of the year.

Going to pull the trigger on LED's. Now to research what kind, how many, ect.

What size tank?
What 'features' do you want in your fixture?
If you don't mine my asking, what is your budget for lighting?
So how far north of me?

[FISHRIPROCK]

300 gallon tall. 96x24x31

Don't want to spend 5k on lighting but not opposed to spending $1000-1200 if it warrants the need.

Sarasota.

[Ron Reefman]

300 gallon tall. 96x24x31

Don't want to spend 5k on lighting but not opposed to spending $1000-1200 if it warrants the need.


Nice!

The ReefBreeders Photon 32 or 48 V-2. I think (not 100% positive... I'd ask Logan at ReefBreeders) that 2 of the 32" will cover 8' OK. That's within the budget at $1150. I also think 2 of the 48" will fit. I think they are just under 48" long. It's just outside the budget at $1300.

I have 2 of the old Photon 32 fixtures over my 180g (only 6' long) and I can grow anything. I'd love to buy a couple of new V-2's but my old originals are 4 years old and have worked perfectly running 24/7. So until I need new, I'll stick with my old stuff. Maybe in another 3 or 4 years I'll be ready and they'll have a V-3 ready! :lolspin:

You ever checked out SWFMAS.com? It's got a good forum with local buy and sell abilities. We have some members in Sarasota, North Port, Port Charlotte... but most are Ft Myers and Cape Coral. We do a nice Frag Auction (spring) and a great Reef Conference (fall) every year.

[Squidmotron]

Not only do my SPS/LPS grow amazingly under Radions, but their colors are excellent. I'd been hearing rumors that they produced drab colors, but I think they are incorrect.

I was also told by someone here that I couldn't have a magnificent anemone under LEDs. That person was mistaken. I've had mine for several years now and it's thriving.

[madweazl]

I stumbled across a video Mr Saltwater Tanks 450g setup and he installed MH, T5, and LED over separate sections of his tank. Didn't see any detailed shots of the different sections of this video but the lighting has been on about a year I think now and he stated growth and color were the same under all of them. Also stated he was going to leave it up a little longer to observe long term but missed all LED.

[smatter]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160718/2f0fe32a94e4c4c15bfe9bfded3d49c4.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160718/57e160842309c8af76a1185a883af81a.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160718/e44fec4a886b346b04b4c9dd1c7d666c.jpg

This is my buddies tank. It's been grown out under Apollo Reef LEDs since the day he setup the tank. And they're only blue and white channels. A couple years back I was a fairly big skeptic of LEDs. Now I just laugh when people ask if LEDs can grow coral.

Thanks for sharing! We need more pictures in this thread.

[FISHRIPROCK]

Thanks for the info Ron Reefman.

Checking out the lights you suggested and also hitting that website.

[LowHangingFruit]

I plan on using 4 80W T5s with three Kessil 360WEs on a 180 gal in the Florida panhandle. I really hope a chiller won't be needed...

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks for the info Ron Reefman.

Checking out the lights you suggested and also hitting that website.

You're welcome. I'm just trying to share what I have learned and experienced over 12 years in the hobby with 4 tanks.

[karimwassef]

Yes. I have to add something though... The kind of light has not been the critical factor for me. I struggled for years with poor growth and tried all kinds of light.

I only started growing corals when I got my calcium chemistry and feeding right. Measure your calcium and alkalinity daily. Maybe even at different times on the same day. Unless you can keep your alkalinity steady and above 7 and your calcium above 400 constantly, nothing else matters as much.

Alkalinity is the key. IMHO