Light Upgrade

[gasguzzler]

Ive had a Current Nova Extreme fixture (220W total) on my 55 for about 10 months now. I love it, but want to keep more demanding species. I was hoping to upgrade to the Outer Orbit fixture with 2 150W HQI's along with 4 24W actinics. Ive never run halides before and was curious on a few things.
First, will there be a significant temp increase in the water?
Do the corals need to be acclimated to the stronger lights slowly? How?
Should I keep my light duration the same (7 hours)?
Will be an algae growth?
Lastly, has anyone used this fixture firsthand? It seems popular, but Im interested in real-world proof. Thanks everybody.

 

[chilwil84]

yes there will be more heat but depending on your house conditions it may be or may not be a problem, you do need to acclimate for light, the use of window screen in a couple layers and weekly removing a layer will let the coral adjust, if you mean sps you probably are going to need to increase your flow dramatically wich should also be done slowy as possible, depending on your wants if you go for the 8 bulb nova extreme you could keep many sps without the heat issue or a 4 or 6 bulb retro with an overdrive ballast (like icecap)will get you most sps, the 4 bulb tek will also give you a lot more sps possability also

 

[gasguzzler]

I'll look into them. Thanks for the help.