Ahh sweet, 24on / 17off temps is fine, and yeah I'm conscious of power bill too for heating. I think water temp is equally if not more important to dial in, I've read that 22deg is the "Happy place" where the girls will be sure to take up all the nutes needed to thrive, as too hot (Like my recent summer grow hitting 29) means less oxygen in the water and a playground for pathogens and flipside to that is too cold (15 or less) will shock and halt growth and prevent certain nutes or micro-nutes like magnesium (noticeable under 18c) from being taken up leading to deficiencies, stunned and sickly plants.
Based on this and the colder days setting in for the Aus winter I put in the aquarium heater to avoid the above.
I was over cautious at first with defoliation, not to mention it's a long debated topic, however with all that congested leaf matter, especially in bushy Indica plants it gets humid, forrest like (As seen in my BigBud journal) it had to be done and the difference was great, lower humidity, much better light penetration through to lower bud sites and much better air flow that keeps mould at bay (especially if you lollipop the bottom 3rd). I didn't notice any reduction in yield, in fact the lower buds that usually wouldn't be fully developed were as good as the rest IMO.
They're surprisingly tolerant so you look well on track to get a healthy sizable outcome, anyhow that more than my 2c worth and I'm keen to see end result.
