Question about lighting

[Sunshine29]

Hi everyone! I have a question for you all. I have a 180 gallon tank that is just finishing its cycle and I wanted to ask about lighting. I want to keep every kind of coral I can find and I want to make sure that my lighting is up to PAR (pun intended). If everyone can give me their imput that would be awesome :D

And also, is it possible to run LEDs and still achieve the correct amount of light to have hard and soft corals?

No haters plz

 

[ErinCahir]

Welcome to the site!
I do not know much about LEDs, so I will wait for someone else to chime in.
We are a very friendly site, though. No need to worry about haters here. :D

 

[Northstar24]

Sunshine, I also have a 180, I've got 3 Aqua Illumiunation LED modules on order. They're currently on backorder - I should have them the first week of April. It is definitely possible to light a tank with LED's and keep corals, you just need to do some research and get one of the better LED fixtures - there are a lot of knock offs out there right now.

Depending on your budget, you could look at LEDs (the three AI modules set me back $1700) or you could look at some sort of combination Metal Halide / T5 Fixture. ( I have the MarineLand Pro 24 hour lighting module - it was $1400 new, I wish the second generation AI LED's were out when my tank started up, I would have gone with LEDS from the start)

When deciding, keep in mind the cost to run the fixtures and bulb replacement.

With my LED's I expect to save around $25 a month in electic, and no more $300 bulb replacements every 6 months - this was the justification I used for switiching over to LEDS.

 

[fastrd400]

Hello and welcome. Lighting is the single biggest investment you will make in this hobby. Do your research, view some lighting, and see what effect it has on coral. With enough LEDs you can keep all corals alive and healthy. Same for Metal Halide and T5.

 

[Sunshine29]

Thank you all for your input :D! I guess what I really wanted to ask is can I keep hard coral with LEDs? I was looking at the Marineland Reef Bright LED Light Fixture. I was thinking about getting three (one for in between each brace). I'd love to hear more opinions on this :)

 

[fastrd400]

:D! I guess what I really wanted to ask is can I keep hard coral with LEDs? I was looking at the Marineland Reef Bright LED Light Fixture. I was thinking about getting three (one for in between each brace). I'd love to hear more opinions on this :)

Yes, you can. But like I said earlier, look at some fixtures, find some tanks runnig them and view them as well.

Personally, they are not for me. I know a few people running them, and I am not impressed by the coloration of the corals at all. Yet I have met many people that do run them, and swear by them.