After reviewing the lighting threads here, it appears I may have overdone my lights a little

I have a coralight aqualight 4x65 CF 260W 6700K, on my 72 G tank.

3 questions:

1. I simply have the aqualight right on top of the glass top. Is the a problem, would it be better to elevate the light above the tank?

2. Can I get away with varying the lighting and still get the red color from my plants? For example 6 hours at 2x65 and 6 hours at 4x65. Right now I am running 4x65 for 12 hours. Running pressurized CO2, fert regularly no algae probems.

3. I have read and been told that light penetration is a problem for flourescents, my tank is about 24" tall. Based on what I have been reading here I should be ok with my lighting setup correct?

Thanks

Fred