How Many Hours Should Be Aquarium Light Be On For And What Type Of Lig

[joyboy]

I was just wondering how any hours i should leave my aquarium light on, my tank is 50 gallon and is planted but not heavily or anything. I leave it for 2-3 hours but i read in a lot of places people say they leave it for 9-12 hours. How many hours should it be left on??
My light is like this one http/www.ebay.com.au/itm/AQUARIUM-FISH-TANK-GROW-LIGHT-FLURO-TWIN-T5-4-FOOT-/110853875620?pt=AU_Pet_Supplies&hash=item19cf67e7a4
But you can only put 1 light tube in my one.
I dont know how many watts my tube is but it says aquarium plant light so i think that should be ok.

 

[Judgejudy]

6-8 hours.

 

[KittyKat]

I get best results with 10-12, but it is really down to what works for *you*. For some people, 2-3 hours is ideal, for me nothing under 10 works in the long term. Usually, the advice is to start with 6 hours and adjust from that. If you adjust, then I recommend by no more than 1 hour per week.

I very strongly recommend that you keep your lights on a timer because an irregular lighting period can increase likelihood of algae.

 

[Dazzler666]

I generally do main light for 8hts (midday to 8pm) then evening lighting (LED's) for an hour or two on an evening
Fish seem fine & no algae problems!!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I have my lights on for about 8-10 hours.

 

[OldMan47]

It is almost never possible to get good plant growth at less than about 6 hours each day. If your lighting is too intense, you will find that anything over 8 hours promotes lots of algae growth. I always start between those numbers and adjust based on how the plants in the tank respond to the light they are getting. All of my timers are set different to each other.

 

[KISSfn]

My main lights are on 8 hours and my blue moonlights are on 2.5 hours.