So, what are the advantages of LED reef tank lighting? To be sure, the low wattage and long life of the LED bulbs (some manufacturers claim up to 50,000 hours) are definite selling points. LED users have also raved about the low amount of heat produced, which helps to keep tank water temperatures down as well as the "shimmering" affect produced by the LEDs.
What are the disadvantages? One possibility might be the purchase price, but if you factor in the long life of the bulbs and the low amount of electricity required to drive the lights, you might even be saving money over the long haul. The light intensity may be another drawback for a reef tank with hard corals.
An comparative example would be the 24" Marineland Pro Lighting 24-Hour Lighting System with a total of 246 watts (1 150W 14,000K HQI lamp, 4 24 Watt T-5 lamps) and 2 1 watt lunar LEDs. Compare Prices for about $560 and the 23" ecoxotic Panorama LED with 54 White 8,000°K LEDs and 18 Actinic Blue 460nm LEDs with a total of 73 watts Compare Prices for about $760.
The LEDs last up to 50,000 hours) (11 years @ 12 hours lighting/day), while the HQI's and T-5s last about 1 year. The replacement cost for the HQI replacement bulbs is about $60 and the replacement cost for the T-5's is about $16 each ($64 /yr). Even if you don't take into consideration the cost of the power savings, the LED package is just about break even with the HQI & T-5 fixture over 3 years.
Many LED light users have noted an almost immediate reduction in nuisance algae growth in their tanks.
The Future for LEDs
Presently, there aren't too many LED bulbs which are designed specifically for reef tank use. What normally happens is: a bulb with specific properties (CRI, CCT) is developed for another use, then are adopted for aquarium use. At the time of this writing, there are LED bulbs in the 8000K range which are being used for reef tank lighting. There is no doubt that higher powered bulbs will be developed in the near future which will work even better for aquariums.
