quick light question

Question
Hi I'm about to inherit a custom built 90 gallon tank for my 2 schneider skinks. I know really really big. And I was wondering what wattage would you say is good? I was thinking maybe 150 or 175. they are desert.

Answer
Hi Jordan, Well, that will be a luxurious amount of space for two Schneiders! One of my favourite species, by the way. Of course, a thermometer is going to be your final judge on what wattage you need but there are other external factors that will affect it. You will need to take into account the ambient temperature of the room, is it highly air conditioned? How tall is the enclosure and will the light be sitting on top or is there some way to adjust the distance to the basking spot.Being able to adjust that distance will give you some flexibility in choosing the wattage. Schneiders will climb a bit up onto rock surfaces so you can always bring the basking surface up closer to the light by using a few pieces of slate or some bricks. Just remember to place any thing like that on the bare surface of the tank bottom first and then build the substrate up around the rocks, especially if you are using sand. This will prevent the rocks/slate from settling down on your skinks if they choose to burrow under them.
If it were me I would start with the 175W, assuming the basking spot is around 24 inches or so from the bulb. I've got a couple enclosures with that basking distance for which I use 175W. It keeps it in the 97 - 105 F range.