Starting seeds under a 400w MH, is it safe?

Hey everyone i'm going to germinate my 15 seeds tonight and was wondering if its safe to put them under a 400w MH when I plant them?

What would be a safe distance for the light? Should I still use 18 hours of light?

seeing as you don't need light for seeds to germinate it would be safe.

I plant my seeds underneath a MH, and I usually keep it about 2 1/2 -3 feet away to prevent burning.

Thank you Lowkster thats all I needed to know!

i'm currently germinated 10 seeds in rw under a 600w mh so i think you'll be fine

yeah stick with the 3 feet man, i torched one of mine and thats the same thing i used. 400w MH i also had them in a cut off 2liter bottle for the humidity. poor girl was like 1 foot away from that.

during germination plants dont need light until they break the surface of the soil. when the do sprout be careful and keep the mh light far away. hids are not usually recommended for seedlings and clone as they are extremely powerful lights and can burn your smaller plants very quickly. personally i would grab a fluoro or two or some cheap cfls for the seedlings and then switch to mh. if this is not an option then i would keep that mh at least 2-3ft away as to not kill your plants.