For the start of your growing you can either run the light at 18/6 or 24/0 time period, but I would recommend 18/6 to help let the room cool down cause a 1000 watt light can produce a lot of heat after a while I am sure. There is probably no set distance from your plant, just make sure that is far enough away that it isnt burning the leaves and it isnt causing too much heat build up around the plant.