Guys, thanks for the replies - I now have my 16F887 pwm ramping an led just the way I want it !!

A follow-up question...

Keeping in mind this is for an aquarium, I would like to be able to have the pwm start at a specific time every morning and turn off at a specific time at night (probably with a ramp-down, prior to shutdown). The timer on/off times will be coded in the program (and not require external input).

I have read close on 20 different timer-related threads and I'm struggling to see how you can have a timer running concurrently with the pwm code.

Any help, much appreciated.