How Long Must Tank Light Be On For Plants?

HI I'm using the dual pro T5 6.5 k and 10k day lights I swapped out the Actinic light because it seemed to make my water cloudy but my question is how long do I leave my light on each day

 

I have mine on for 10 hours(basically the same lights)You got to experiment try 10 and see how much algae you get. You can also go 4 hours on 1 hour off(to build up CO2 )and 4 hours on.

 

In my planted tank I'm running 5 on, 4 off, 5 on. I'm getting really good growth but of course there's more to it than just light. Just one opinion.

 

I run my lights from 3pm to 3 am.

 

I'm running a Beamswork 6500k LED bar.
I run mine 7 to 10 AM, off from 10 AM to 3 PM, on from 3 PM to 11 PM.
Around 8 PM I manually switch the light over to moonlight mode.

 

I have a Satellite LED Freshwater + that I run from 9a to 1p, 4p-9p. When I had it on from 9a-9p I had algae issues.

 

Its one of those things that depend on how tall your tank is,what kind of plants you have, what kind of lights you have. You just kind of have to start with a schedule and adjust according to plant growth and algae growth and your life style. My son wanted to use his tank as a night light so it was on from 8 pm till 6 am.

 

8 hours is optimal. Seems like you have a green water problem. What is the ammonia reading of this tank?

 

I run my lights for 16 hours, from 6am to 10pm.

 

I run my lights for 16 hours, from 6am to 10pm.

I'm genuinely confused why that's been marked as funny.

 

To combat algae but still allow my plants to grow I have my finnex 24/7 planted+ SE on 6 hours a day on max setting. 8 AM - 11 AM... then 4 PM - 7 PM

I'm genuinely confused why that's been marked as funny.

Probably because you run your lights for 16 HOURS. Seriously though... do you have really low intensity lights or have you discovered a miracle method for preventing algae growth? XD

 

I have low light plants and low intensity lights. Run mine 2 hours in the am, then another 6 hours afternoon to 8 pm, but I have a fair amount of natural light in a few tanks so I still get algae. Experimenting with less light to see how it goes.

 

Probably because you run your lights for 16 HOURS. Seriously though... do you have really low intensity lights or have you discovered a miracle method for preventing algae growth? XD

The lighting over my tank has varied over the years depending on how many tubes/bulbs were burned out. It was a bit on the low side recently but I've since replaced it with 60 watts of DIY LEDs. Anyway, most of the time was in the 150-200 watts of T8s and CFLs over a 4 foot tank. I'd say that's probably in the high low to low moderate light range.

 

Ive got LED strips in my tank canopy, with a 12v supply not to sure about the watts but is fairly bright, I never have aldea problems or even cloudy water problems I do have a plain filtration system (medium pump) in a 72 Litre aquarium. I only have green moss as plants.........maybe your tanks is exposed to sunlight that could cause water to go green. I just change my water (1/4 of tank volume) every 2 weeks and I must say my water is clear and fish seems happy........