lighting question

[Magdelaine]

I have a 10 gallon I'm cycling that is not planted yet. I live in the desert where the ambient temp inside the home is likely to be in the 72-74 (if not sometimes warmer) degree range for the duration of the summer. I've noticed that when I have the lights on for 6-8 hours the temp in the tank will rise to 78-80-82 degrees easy (which is just a little warmer than I would like it to be).

My question is, can I time the lights so that the 8 hours necessary for plants is in the afternoon/evening, say from 1 to 9pm? It's cooler in the evening and it may help regulate my temp problem. The room where the tank is located stays fairly dark all day...but I don't want to mess up the plants' cycle.

I have a flourescent hood fixture I bought at Walmart and I have no idea what the wattage is on the bulb.

[DavidDoyle]

Yes you can. I run 14 tanks with plants. They have anywhere from 11-13 hour lights on cycles that begin between 10:15am and 11am and go off between 10:30 and 11:15pm. I have been doing this for a number of years.