Chris,Eric and J are making valid points about the odd footprint(surface area)of your tank.Your tank is 150gal with a 44"x15" footprint.That gives you 660 inches^2.For comparison,my 40 breeder has a footprint of 36"x18" giving me a total surface area of 648 inches^2.So i have 16.2 inches^2 per gal -vs- your 4.3 inches^2 per gal.
Surface area in a tank is crucial as it is where most of your gas exchange takes place.Besides gas exchange,A wide(18"+)tank has the benefits of allowing for a spacious aquascape.I feel with your 15" of width and 31" heigth/depth to overcome(build up your aquascape),it is going to be very difficult to build an open/spacious aquascape thats not relying on the sides of the glass/acrylic for support.A spacious open aquascape that's at least 3-4" off the sides/back of the tank is crucial in a reef tank.This allows the water current to flow behind and through the LR much easier than if you were to just start stacking LR aginst the back wal/sides of the tank.
Another point i would like to make is maintenance.I've always owned shallow tanks(18") so its pretty easy for me to reach down in there to do work on the tank.I recently drove to a guys house i met to trade some corals wth.The guy had a 300gal tank that was 34" deep.I had to sit there and watch him for an hr while he used his "rock clamp tool" to reach down in there and try to remove my corals then place his back in.ONE HOUR to remove 3 little frags and place 1 frag back in.After seeing that,I would never buy a tank deeper than 24",LOL.