How much light for a tank with bettas and live plants

[thegameksk]

I have a 10 gallon tank with a heater and filter. It is split., One side has a betta and 3 catfish. The other side has a king betta. There are two amazon plants in them. How much light per day should I give them? I was doing about 12 hours a day but I now have a bad algae problem. I just purchased a timer to help with the lighting.

I also have a 5 gallon with 2 bettas in it and 2 amazon sword plants. How much light should that tank have? Thanks.

[Adastra]

I would cut back to about 8 hours a day--amazon swords can get very big and they are primarily root feeders. You might want to consider adding some fertilizers, such as Seachem Flourish root tabs, and Seachem Excel. Excel really does wonders for killing algae and promoting good plant growth--I love that stuff. Less hours of lighting and Excel should knock it out. You might also consider adding nitrate sponge type plant, such as java moss, hornwort, anacharis--these are weeds that should eat a lot of your excess nitrates that the algae is thriving on.

[thegameksk]

I use excel in both tanks and root tabs in the 10 gallon. I dont use them in the 5 gallon because I dont want the swords to grow too fast and over take the tank. I want to postpone trimming as much as possible. I think I will buy one of the plants you mentioned. If I have the tank on from 10 am-8 pm will that be a good time? Im not rally sure what time to set the light till.

[Lion Mom]

I have VERY easy plants - java fern, java moss & anubias. Should I be using Excel?

Thanks!