Light system for 40 gallon tank

[Sesaig77]

Hello! Im almost finished on building my 40 gallon tank and i have no idea about the light system. My tank dimensions are: 82 long X 52 tall and 35 depth. I want to know how many watts my lights should have, how many bulbs it should have and what type of light(LED,t5, etc) I will be keeping some corals
Thanks in advance

 

[Sesaig77]

Bump

 

[Gatorbait]

What kind of corals? SPS, LPS, softies, clams?

 

[Bigsteve]

40 gallon? a 40b is usually 36x18x16

 

[kenc87]

I'm g

 

[kenc87]

Sorry bout that, phone slipped. Anyway ya, I think you have a typo on the dimensions, or it's possible the dimensions are in cm. if it is a 40 breeder a good 4 bulb t5 or 150 watt mh would work great. If you go mh I'd get two for better coverage. As for LEDs I don't run them so I can't help there.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Typical 40 breeders are 36L x 18w x 17h (approx) generally LxWxH is preffered in that order, in inches. American site, most Americans are stubborn and don't know metric very well.

Now most people prefer 6x24 or 6x39 T5 over 4 bulb fixtures. A 6x24 ATI Sunpower or TEK works well, but if you use a cheap T5 fixture that isn't hang-able a 6x39 fixture is best for high light demanding corals. Good bulbs is a necessity if going T5, ATI, KZ, or GIESSEMAN bulbs are best.

A 150w halide would work well as long as your high light demanding corals are directly under the light and soft corals are off to the sides more. Even 2 150w halides if packing SPS coral end to end, that's what I'd do anyway.

I think Apollo makes a LED fixture made specifically for a 40breeder. I don't run LEDs either.

Get your dimensions straight, figure out what kind of coral you want to keep & look around at different lighting options and see what will work best / look best and go from there to get a better idea.