What corals do best under LEDs?

glb · Jul 16, 2015

I have a 12g nano with Steve's LEDs retrofit kit. I've noticed that certain corals, such as acans, don't seem to do as well with LEDs. My mushrooms are doing very well, along with a Hollywood stunner chalice. My zoas are ambivalent. What other corals have all of you had success with under LEDs? Water quality isn't an issue. I'm on top of that. Thanks for your help!

saltyphish · Jul 17, 2015

Zoas seem to do well

jasonandsarah · Jul 17, 2015

Almost anything that'll do good in captivity will do good under leds. By that I mean more then likely if your tanks got the right conditions for the corals then they should thrive no matter what your lighting is, as long as it's set up right and you acclimate properly.

hart24601 · Jul 17, 2015

I have had softies do well - zoas, pally, devils hand, mushroom, cabbage, singulara and all sorts of mushrooms and rics. For LPS I have had different euphyllia do fantastic, gonis, acans, various brains, plate coral, different chalices, bubble coral and a few more I am forgetting do well. SPS I have had, acros do fantastic, branching and encrusting monties are good, Pavona, Pocillopora, different birdsnests, Leptoseris, merulina, psammocora and I'm sure a few others I can't think of. Those are the guys I have had great results under LEDs with.

What I have not done well with:

Elegance coral.

kendavjac · Jul 20, 2015

Unless you get a LED light that's spectrum is really off, you can grow just about anything (assuming they are the correct PAR for the coral). Stability, keeping all of the parameters in check, and flow are more important.

glb · Jul 20, 2015

kendavjac said:
Unless you get a LED light that's spectrum is really off, you can grow just about anything (assuming they are the correct PAR for the coral). Stability, keeping all of the parameters in check, and flow are more important.

Thanks. Is there any way to estimate par without a meter? I have a 45w system with 8 blues and 5 whites, luxeon bulbs I think. I run 40% blue for 8 hours and 10% white for three hours. Are my lights powerful for a 12g? They're about 6 inches above the surface of the water. It's hard for me to tell if my settings are too low or too high.