LEDs for coral growth?

[Nubz]

With Christmas fast approaching, I'm looking to upgrade my reef tank!! I'm thinking of going from a 10 to a 20 gallon long. My only barrier, is lighting, I'm using PCs on my 10, works great on softies, if I went 20 I was thinking about getting a t5 or halide, but LEDs caught my eye, the light gives the crispness, and harshness of the halide, minus the heat, but are they just for supplement? Or can I use LEDs as my primary light? Will I be able to grow lps? Clams? Do the "watts per gallon" principles apply,? I'm researching, bur hearing first hand from other reefers rather than the guy selling them, thanks guys!!!!

[soymilk]

there are countless threads on reef central, about how to build, what type to buy, growth and etc. i've been using leds for the past 6 months, growing lps, sps, and clams. So in short yes they work. But there are certain guidelines. Not just any leds will work. You need high powered leds to get enough penetration thru the water column to provide enough par.

here's my topic link from marsh
http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php...er=asc&start=0

here's my build thread on hfb
http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...New-55g-Setup!
LED lit since day one. Currently supporting 50+ frags.

[Nubz]

Wow that growth is impressive, LEDs seem to be the way to go!

[myjohnson]

Yup!

There are a number of things you can do.

If you get the 10g and you short on money I would get the LED PAR30/38 bulbs.

If you go with the 20g and money is short you can try DYI kits.

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/StoreFront

If you want to get the 20g and be a baller get the AL or maxspect.

http://www.aquaillumination.com/

Both the nano and the sol would work.

http://maxspectusa.com/

g1-60w or the g2-110w would be perfect.

You could basically grow any coral whatever you wanted with these led set ups.

[soymilk]

watt per gallon is and old saying and doesn't apply anymore. one of the first 20g nanos that started the whole nano trend was a 20H, It had a 400w MH... But with that said, expect to dish out a decent amount of cash for a led system. In the long run it could save you money.... (not buying bulbs and electricity savings) but has an extremely high start up cost.

For the price of a nice led fixture, you could get a decent MH fixture and possibly a decent chiller. Something to keep in mind.

[myjohnson]

For me it was the bulbs.

t5 bulbs are not cheap if you want good growth.

Resale value on LED fixtures might hold value too b/c they are design to last lighter.