LED, T5's or what?

Michael Mays · Mar 9, 2019

New to the salt water community. I am currently looking to put together a saltswater set up. My LFS says that LED's may be good enough for fish only but aren't good enough to grow corals. They suggest a HO T5 setup or if I possibly want to add a chiller a metal halide fixture. Can LED's do the job?

Flippers4pups · Mar 9, 2019

Michael Mays said:
New to the salt water community. I am currently looking to put together a saltswater set up. My LFS says that LED's may be good enough for fish only but aren't good enough to grow corals. They suggest a HO T5 setup or if I possibly want to add a chiller a metal halide fixture. Can LED's do the job?

Welcome to reef2reef! I would question your LFS advise going forward. LED fixtures have been proven ( has a lot to do with the fixture) to be highly successful at growing everything from softies to the most demanding SPS corals.

Proven for over a decade.

My tank with cheap Chinese Black Boxes over it.

Flippers4pups · Mar 9, 2019

blackizzz · Mar 9, 2019

LEDs can absolutely grow and color up corals! Personally I'm in favor of the LED + T5 combo, as it's the best of both worlds ;)

GoatmealJones · Mar 9, 2019

LED fixtures are, arguably, the best choice for reef tanks. You just need to make sure the unit your buying has enough light output power and shines in the 10-20k Kelvin wavelength.

Mastiffsrule · Mar 9, 2019

Hello, and glad to meet you.

Quick question. You LFS seem to have a large inventory of T5 or halides?

Bpb · Mar 9, 2019

Not all led fixtures are the same. If your lfs sells nothing but the fluval entry level LEDs suitable for a Glofish tank, then they’re right. Higher quality led fixtures are perfectly capable of growing coral.

Flippers4pups · Mar 9, 2019

Good reputable LFS will be open minded about lighting and will be versed in all types.

Be weary of any LFS employee that tries to push one particular type.

jda · Mar 9, 2019

There is so much in that original post. LEDs can do fine. You don't need a chiller to do Metal Halide. It seems like the LFS browsed through a quick-list of false statements on reefing.

For now, just know that there are good fixtures of any kind and junk fixtures of any kind. What you will want to light your tank with will depend on what you are wanting to keep, budget and your tolerance for ease versus features.