New Build 150 Gal

[Salt mom]

Hello everyone,

I just received a 150gal reef tank from my wonderful husband that I had found on craigslist. It need a little work but I will be building it from the bottom up. First thing I want to replace is the lights and was worderning what everyone recommends. It has T4 fluorescent fixture on it now but I want to upgrade it. The new tank is 31" tall 48"wide, 24" deep. so I need good lighting that will reach the bottom. Thanks for all the feed back I need all the help I can with this.

 

[Airgoose2222]

Lighting depends on what you're keeping. LEDs do great for both corals and fish. I'd buy those. Toatronics dimmable LED lights on amazon or eBay are great

 

[Salt mom]

Thanks for the advice. I plan on keeping corals and fish. I have been looking at the LEDs and the price of them. I like the dimmable lights also.

 

[Airgoose2222]

Definitely get the dimmable ones. There are threads on here that talk about folks running them 100% and killing their corals. I have some and have only ran them at 50% the whole time and corals (softies) are doing great with them. Still research as much as you can on here. Lot of experiences and expertise is available to keep you successful with them. Have fun!!

 

[MacDracor]

Dimmable dimmable dimmable! Lol
I recently upgraded from dual T5HO to LED and have been running them at 25% white/35% blue because any higher and my soft corals looked shriveled.
One thing to remember with LEDs is that they penetrate water better than fluorescent so more of the light output is directed down. Same number of watts means more wattage directed at the corals. I'll be turning them up slowly as things get acclimated. But they are SO worth it. Beautiful colors, great light, and low power consumption.