no, when you switch anything to 12/12, they will flower, not too sure what you mean haha
but yea man, i have about 10 extra CFL's in my cab, there 23 watters, so thats why i need so much, but obvisouly, the biger wattage, the less lights you need, if you scroll thru my thread a lil bit back, i show my set up. I have these clamp fixtures, which arn't the hard to find, and a "Y" socket, so i can have two bulbs per fixture.
you gotta read up man, cant just jump into this, its harder then it looks, if you dont kno how to correct somthing, it can bite you in the ass.
i ordered this for pH
http://www.amazon.com/pH-Control-Kit-General-Hydroponics/dp/B000BNKWZY/ref=pd_rhf_p_img_1
for the first week, it would be ok not to checc, untill you have proper tools, like that kit, or somthing similar
you want the pH to be between 5.5 and 5.8 6 being the highest it should go