Lightiing for discus aquarium

[Darryl]

I am after some advice RE: lighting for my discus aquarium. What sort of lighting is best, and, how long should the lights be left on?

[weird]

Gee I can tell you , you are going to get a "broad spectrum" of answers with this one ... opps really bad bad joke :oops:

[Aurora]

Depends on if you have plants, and if you you do, what sort of plants they are.

If you dont have plants, then you dont even really need a light, just the room light would do. Except that then they dont look their best.

I have two fluros on my 4ft. I put them on in the morning when I get up and turn them off when I go to bed, so they could be on between 12-16 hours or so, but be prepared to man the battle stations against the oncoming algae invasion :)

Heres a question:

The 5,000/6,500/10,000 is the spectrum that light gives off isnt it? So what is the best spectrum to use to avoid getting the algae problems?

I have a 6,500 and a 10,000.

[Proteus]

6500-6700 is the closest kelvin rating to the sun.

once you get to 10,000 the light is too blue (good for corals though), 5,000 is too yellow.

having a mix is good.