Best lights for an 8 foot tank?
 

Currently tank is a FOWLR but will soon be turned into a reef and want to know the best lights to get for replacement. Want to get something as low as possible so the hood doesn't have to be as tall. The tank is 29"or 30" deep and acrylic. I've looked and can't seem to find anything 8' long so suggestions as to the best combo of smaller lights to combine or if their is some kind of do it yourself setup that can still sit very low. We like the ones with built in moon lights, MH, and fans but like I said, can't find it long enough so need suggestions on what other people do. I was thinking for our depth we'd need about a 250W (3?) - is that about right? Thanks.

How tall is the tank? Being an 8 foot tank, I would think pretty tall, so you will need halides if your doing reef.

Do you know how many gallons the tank holds? Or if you plan on doing softies, LPS or SPS? Those all affect lighting decisions greatly.

The tank is about 300gallons and 30" tall. I'm still very new to reefs so not sure all we're going to be getting but for sure some anemones and soft corals. Maybe some hard ones too if they work with the lights but mostly like the soft stuff.

Che3ck here for some lighting info Coral lighting and acclimation and Lights Continued

Thanks for the links..very interesing info there.

Does anyone have any suggestions for specific light sets that would work with our tank?

Would 2 four foot sections have enough space or is there a better alternative?

i recommend a few metal halide retrofits and an LED retrofit as well since you like the moonlights. you might even want to add 2 (maybe even 4) 4 foot PC/VHO tubes for actinic supplement. retrofitting is cheaper then those prebuilt nicely enclosed light fixtures and you get to make it how you want it, since its going in your hood you wont see it anyways.

i HIGHLY recommend more research and to ask more questions. Reefs are an entire new can of worms compared to FOWLR.