Best Light for growing hard corals, mainly SPS?

679x · Mar 5, 2017

Looking for the best light for my upcoming first saltwater tank. I can fit 4 foot, not sure height or depth because I still haven't decided on whether I'm buying a tank alone or getting a Red Sea set. I wanted the Red Sea Reefer 350 or 425 Deluxe, but then I saw the price of the Deluxe. That's when I realized that lights are expensive.

I wanted to keep hard corals, but SPS seem to need more quality lighting to thrive, among other things, of course. But right now I'd like to know what kind of light is best for growing these corals. Of course, I care about the price, but I'd also like to know what to look for in a light and which light would be minimum for keeping the corals healthy long-term.

Here's my light criteria as of now:
-can grow corals well, not sure what kind of light is best for this
-does not produce heat, or at least heat is minimal
-does not need to be replaced often
-needs to be reliable (e.g. is not known to malfunction regularly)
-needs to not cost thousands of Canadian $

The Red Sea Reefer 350/425 Deluxe come with 2 AI Hydra 26™ HD (90W) lights, but it adds like nearly 1000 Canadian dollars to the price (I don't have the prices up in front of me, this is just me trying to remember what the prices were). Are these good lights? What is the minimum amount of money I would need to spend for a light that will follow all or most of my criteria? And which lights are best for following my criteria?

I am very excited about getting this tank, but ever since I started looking at lights I'm getting discouraged by the price. I'm a kid living with my family which doesn't help, because I don't want to have them worry about the amount of money I'm planning on spending on my 3rd fish tank. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: forgot to change the title after adding the criteria other than a light that is simply good at growing corals. Looks like you can't change the title after posting a thread though :S

Fritzhamer · Mar 5, 2017

In my experience, you will have to prioritize your criteria to find out what will be best for you. If you want tried and true and inexpensive, metal halide is the way to go. If that much heat is a deal breaker T5 would be the next choice. If cost isn't as much a factor as the others I'd get a whole bunch of led fixtures call it a day.

Frop · Mar 5, 2017

Chinese LED (https://www.amazon.com/MarsAqua-Dim...034&sr=8-4-fkmr1&keywords=Aquamarine+led+165w). They're like $100/piece and give out a ton of light. I don't have them because I dislike the spotlighting and color. But it sounds like you want LEDs if you're saying it's cool and doesn't have to be changed.

surgeon1 · Mar 5, 2017

this is like asking what is the best religion. to address your criteria I would say the following. first all the main lighting types will grow corals including sps. back in the early 90s I grew corals under regular output t12 bulbs. second all the lights will produce heat, and the difference in the amount of heat is less than most make you believe. mh,t5ho, and leds differ in efficiency by just a few percentage points. all the rest of the electricity makes heat. the leds have the advantage of having that heat on the heatsink to radiate away from the tank, the t4ho seem cooler than mhs but put out almost the same amount just over a larger surface area. the general thought is that t5ho needs the most replacement, followed by mhs , with the leds having the longest service life. the cheapest option at the start up is mh especially if you buy used fixtures and ballasts. t5ho are normally next but when you figure in bulb replacement the costs add up quickly. leds will normally have the highest initial cost but if you keep the fixture long enough and if you have a high cost of electricity the savings will normally over time make up more than the cost of the lights. for what it is worth my 700 gallon reef tank is lit by 400 watt mhs with radium bulbs. I do plan on adding diy leds to tweak the spectrum. if I went to all leds in the beginning I would lose a lot of the electricity savings on heating the tank for 6 months of the year. I am in Wisconsin and the tank is in my basement. waste heat is much less of an issue here than in florida for example. starting with a 4 foot tank size is ideal as it is a common size that will have lots of used units of all 3 types available. in my experience the mh fixtures seem to not fail with age but the t5ho fixtures start to have problems with ballasts and fans as they age, so I would avoid a used t5ho. I don't have any experience with manufactured led fixtures as I am irritated by the price point. hope this is of some use to you in making a decision.

surgeon1 · Mar 5, 2017

I do have one mars aqua fixture that I have over part of my frag tank. it gives out decent light but I wouldn't like the look over my display tank. if I was to go with a prebuilt led over a tank I would definitely use one that have a dense array to cut down on the disco effect.

679x · Mar 6, 2017

Thanks for the replies. I was under the assumption that certain lights (metal halide) produced so much heat that it affected the temperature of the tank, which frankly sounds dangerous lol. I also thought that some lights were better than others for growing corals. I haven't done much research on lighting yet because I had no idea what I wanted/needed, so I decided to ask here.

I like the idea of LED the most but not the price. I'll have to do some more looking around online.

zsuzsu · Mar 6, 2017

I have and use all 3 lights. I use t5s with radions, I use my radium bulbs supplemented by t5s on my big reef, and t5s on 1 frag tank and a radion on another frag tank. If I were to choose only one light source it would be mh with radium bulbs, nothing works better period. Good luck. Zsu

679x · Mar 6, 2017

After much thought, I think I will go with a 3-foot Red Sea Reefer 250. I wanted a larger tank, but that means much more $$$ in equipment and the tank itself, along with more $ spent on rock and coral to fill the space. Honestly, I don't think I will be able to spend enough money for enough coral to completely cover the tank anyway, so I don't mind going with a smaller tank.

Unfortunately that means I probably can't keep a Tang because the tank won't be long enough to provide enough swimming room. Even with a small tang like a yellow eye Kole tang, a 55g is just too small, right? (I know the Tang Police would agree with me.)

So right now I'm looking at my LFS website at LED lighting for around 36" saltwater tanks. Here is what I found:

---Aquatic Life EDGE Reef Aquarium LED Light - 36"
Looks good, says it has 'LEDs specific to growing corals'. Costs a bit more than other lights I found, this one seems suitable, but it doesn't particularly stand out next to the:

---Current USA Orbit Marine PRO LED Saltwater Reef Lighting System - 24" to 36"
This one looks more promising. Although it's twice as expensive as the other light, it can be used on rimless aquariums like the Reefer, and literally the first thing it says is:

Produces the parameters to support SPS and LPS corals

That's what I want. Its material dispels heat, it's waterproof (good if there are any splashes), and it says it has full spectrum output. It can be programmed for gradual sunrise and sunset, or can turn on and off on a timer. I found a video on youtube and a few comments said something about it being good for soft corals only, but I don't know if that was for the regular one or the 'Pro' version.

So, are these lights good? Should I get one of these, or keep looking? Keep in mind I don't want a light just for any coral -- I want it for pickier corals too so that I will have flexibility in what types of corals I want without having to get another light in the future. And I'm leaning towards mostly hard corals right now anyway.

dtimerunner · Dec 20, 2018

Current loop pro 48 inch are the lights that I run in my reef tank. I have been told that they are not a good par rating for acropora coral if this is helpful to your decision.

Michael Llabona · Dec 20, 2018

In order to have SPS you will need 2. At that point you might as well get something else that is proven to work. Since buying on a budget. Look into SB reef lights and Reefbreeder Photons LEDs. They both have a lot of support and will be cheaper than going with kessil, AI, or Radions. I've also heard a lot of positive things on the ocean revive leds.

jda · Dec 20, 2018

Call Hamilton and get a 2x 175w MH fixture with T5s.. or a single 250w model. Cebu Sun model. You won't be able to get better light than this for the corals.

If you must do LEDs, then I would get Photon V2, SB or the Orphek Atlantik V4... I do not like the puck lights as much as the panels. Panels or pucks both have advantages and disadvantages, but coverage and shadowing is my main concern since I have colonies.

T-5unsystem · Dec 20, 2018

I think combining multiple lighting options gives you the most diversity and corals seem to get what they need. T5 and Halide, or T5 and LED IMO is the cats meow. If not T5 only is the most forgiving since you can't really screw it up. LEDs are great but usually require a bit more knowledge to get the appropriate amount of light.

dbjonesjr · Dec 20, 2018

Uhhhh little late to the party guys!

DesertReefT4r · Dec 20, 2018

Best lighting for sps is going to be a toss up between MH and T5. If you want to go all LED the best is Radion XR-30 Pro and Orphek Altianic. Next imo is Kessil then AI. You could run a few Hydra 26s or a360we with some T5s and have a pretty nice lighting system.