Can SPS grow with LED lights ? Or it’s waste of money

[Reefcatch]

Is there anyone successfully growing HIGH END SPS with LED lights ?
I’m not talking about Monti or cheap acro that grow with any light.
I have 240 gallon tank running for 2 years I have different SPS cheap and high end all cheap ones growing like weeds. While the high end like Rocky balboa and angry bird and rainbow fusion and HW and other expensive ones doing absolutely nothing. Almost a year.
From watching most successful SPS keppers on YouTube I see most of them using Halide !?
So are we paying so much money for LED just for the look ???

Or there are people who are successful keeping SPS with LED ?

Please share your thoughts and PICTURES if you growing SPS with LED.

 

[coral reeftank]

I’ve been growing high end acros using leds for the past decade. It works perfectly fine.

While there are some nuances with the coral color I mainly believe that the coloration and health are more dependent on water quality and not lighting. I’ve seen plenty of amazing corals grown under cheap lights

 

[E.R.A.]

I have had T5, Halides, LEDs. From my experience Halides produced better results. I started with Radions then went to a T5 Halide combo.

 

[xiaoxiy]

I’ve run halides, T5s and leds. No discernible difference in growth of either low end or high end acropora. All three options grow SPS fine.

 

[Uncle99]

Is there anyone successfully growing HIGH END SPS with LED lights ?
I’m not talking about Monti or cheap acro that grow with any light.
I have 240 gallon tank running for 2 years I have different SPS cheap and high end all cheap ones growing like weeds. While the high end like Rocky balboa and angry bird and rainbow fusion and HW and other expensive ones doing absolutely nothing. Almost a year.
From watching most successful SPS keppers on YouTube I see most of them using Halide !?
So are we paying so much money for LED just for the look ???

Or there are people who are successful keeping SPS with LED ?

Please share your thoughts and PICTURES if you growing SPS with LED.

Rainbow loom under cheap black box LED.

 

[E.R.A.]

I’ve run halides, T5s and leds. No discernible difference in growth of either low end or high end acropora. All three options grow SPS fine.

I think Par is a big part of it IMHO.

 

[exnisstech]

Don't many vendors selling high end acros run LEDs these days? I've only been growing acros for a bit over a year. What I have discovered, at least in my tanks running led and led /t5 hybrid is that the more expensive the frag the slower it will grow just like the most expensive is always the first to die overnight when everything else is fine. I thought it was what makes growing acros so much fun

 

[jda]

While there are some differences in LED lights compared to mercury based, most of the larger issues is how people run them. Most of these coral still need some amount of daylight or full spectrum and the largest issues with most acros under LED is that people run them too blue. They believe some bunk about blue being the only light that matters and all of that. Some also don't use enough LED - they believed some other bunk that something like an AI Prime or a Kessil can replace a 250w MH when a Radion xr30 cannot even do that alone.

IMO, the best acros under LED that I have seen are therman's who can generally grow any kind, any were and he uses Photon V2 at nearly 100% on all channels (or very high). He also uses enough of them.

To me, MH will always be the best for any coral at any time - this works for me since I have larger tanks that the MH cover better and cheaper. You can do quite well with LED if you use them right.

As for the more national view, I trade acros with 30 or 40 acro people across the country and more than 80% of them use MH of some kind... some of them might be the same ones on YouTube. Most of them have larger tanks too and buying 8 or 10 $1000 Radions every 3-5 years is not a good idea when their current amount of MH will cover that same area for the same electrical cost.

What panels do you have? How do you run them? You might need more. You might need more daylight. Even a few T5s can really help out some LED struggles.

 

[twentyleagues]

Don't many vendors selling high end acros run LEDs these days? I've only been growing acros for a bit over a year. What I have discovered, at least in my tanks running led and led /t5 hybrid is that the more expensive the frag the slower it will grow just like the most expensive is always the first to die overnight when everything else is fine. I thought it was what makes growing acros so much fun

Yeah places like WWC and Cherry Corals (just 2 I thought of off the top of my head) use mostly if not all leds (typically radions). So Id say yeah theyll grow anything a mh or t5 can grow. I think some people touched on it above its how you use it and water quality or lack there of that really matters.

 

[jda]

I was kinda wanting to stay out of the vendor thing, but most of the vendors that people will list cannot grow any coral and any time. They have a few varities that they keep in house and grow, but they also still import a lot and sell those. Folks like Adam at Battlecorals grows all of his own stuff and he still uses 6500k Halides. Tim Herman grows all of his own stuff too and he uses Photon V2, but with lots of light other than blues.

The large shops are not really good to compare. Some of them also get paid to use Radions... as do some hobbyists that talk about how great that they are.

In any case, don't do what vendors do, do what hobbyists do.

I would listen people who are not selling you anything. Abe comes to mind... great videos about acropora.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I think Reefers use halides and t5 because they are much easier to use when adjusting spectrum and par. Just plug and play, and the coral grow. In my experience, sps (including “high end” acros) grow faster with whiter light. The blue spectrum tends to color up sps better though. Flow also has just as much, or more to do with coral growth and color as well. I don’t know if this colony (Walt Disney Tenuis) qualifies as “High End” but it is a slow grower. It is about two years old.

 

[MnFish1]

Is there anyone successfully growing HIGH END SPS with LED lights ?
I’m not talking about Monti or cheap acro that grow with any light.
I have 240 gallon tank running for 2 years I have different SPS cheap and high end all cheap ones growing like weeds. While the high end like Rocky balboa and angry bird and rainbow fusion and HW and other expensive ones doing absolutely nothing. Almost a year.
From watching most successful SPS keppers on YouTube I see most of them using Halide !?
So are we paying so much money for LED just for the look ???

Or there are people who are successful keeping SPS with LED ?

Please share your thoughts and PICTURES if you growing SPS with LED.

IMHO - LEDS can grow anything as well as Metal halides/T5. I'm not sure a 'high end' i.e. more expensive Acro/SPS grows better or worse than a non 'high-end' SPS Acro. When I had my corals, I used halides and LED's and noted no change. However, I think the way many people keep their tanks so blue may not be best for all corals. When you go to the ocean, corals are not fluorescing during the day - suggesting that perhaps the way people keep their lights may be playing a role.

 

[ajremington68]

I think Reefers use halides and t5 because they are much easier to use when adjusting spectrum and par. Just plug and play, and the coral grow. In my experience, sps (including “high end” acros) grow faster with whiter light. The blue spectrum tends to color up sps better though. Flow also has just as much, or more to do with coral growth and color as well. I don’t know if this colony (Walt Disney Tenuis) qualifies as “High End” but it is a slow grower. It is about two years old.

HEY, love your videos keep it up man!!! Thats so crazy I see ya on here!

 

[ajremington68]

This is an opposite side question but what is one thing if you can remember that was the change that made your SPS not brown out and color up and give polyp extension and grow? For example, my tank is about 5 months old and all the "cheap" SPS I have got just browned out like a pocillopora, fire diji, and a blue-green monti, except after 2 months the monti finally has polyps and is coloring up. Is that just how it is, like they brown out for a month or two and then just magically bounce back or not?

 

[Reefer Matt]

HEY, love your videos keep it up man!!! Thats so crazy I see ya on here!

Thanks! I just try to help where I can. I’m not a “YouTuber”, just a regular Reefer.

 

[kindafun]

Here's a grower selling high end acro's, he's using older Radions and some T5s. I've seen his 460 gallon tank, the corals are very healthy. I've bought many frags from him too.

Monster Build - Miracles Do Happen! Bill's (Sawcjack00/Epic Aquaculture) 460 Gallon Custom Miracles Aquarium Build!

If you've followed my RS Reefer 750 XXL build thread here - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sawcjacks-red-sea-reefer-750-xxl-build.369431/ - then you know that I have been planning this build for a while, and you may have also guessed that I'm pretty much out of room in the Red Sea tank...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jda]

Unless something has changed, Jack is using 16x T5s too. That is not quite what the OP is asking about.

 

[ninjamyst]

I was kinda wanting to stay out of the vendor thing, but most of the vendors that people will list cannot grow any coral and any time. They have a few varities that they keep in house and grow, but they also still import a lot and sell those. Folks like Adam at Battlecorals grows all of his own stuff and he still uses 6500k Halides. Tim Herman grows all of his own stuff too and he uses Photon V2, but with lots of light other than blues.

The large shops are not really good to compare. Some of them also get paid to use Radions... as do some hobbyists that talk about how great that they are.

In any case, don't do what vendors do, do what hobbyists do.

I would listen people who are not selling you anything. Abe comes to mind... great videos about acropora.

So you are saying all the huge acro colonies in WWC in store tanks are fake? LoL. Same for top shelf and living reef....

 

[RudeDawg]

Pardon my newb question, but what makes an sps "high end", and how is it able to distinguish light source when it's "high end"?

 

[Troylee]

So you are saying all the huge acro colonies in WWC in store tanks are fake? LoL. Same for top shelf and living reef....

Not fake… but not aqua cultured either.. mostly imports and chopped up! Very few farmers out there that have home grown corals and sell… I mean think about how long it takes to grow out a nicer tenius colony? You’d only have inventory at best every 4 months or so..