3 day blackout works wonders

[thaitopher]

Wow. Just finished a 3 day blackout and boom! All the algae is completely gone. Wasn't sure if I would see results like this. Now I just need to resurrect my corals from the dark lol. How often can I do this? Crazy thing is my tank is 8 months old and I have a protein skimmer, only feed my fish every other day with minimal feedings and do 25% water changes every week so I am a bit puzzled as to why I even have an algae issue at all.

 

[fishbox]

8mos is still a pretty young tank. Specially if you started with dry rock. So it could be a normal case of the ugly stage.

 

[thaitopher]

8mos is still a pretty young tank. Specially if you started with dry rock. So it could be a normal case of the ugly stage.

It should be, but everything in the tank now came from an 11 year old tank which broke on me so I had to quickly transfer everything over to the relatively new tank but the good news at least is that I didn't have to start the cycling process from scratch since the live rock was already cycled

 

[beaslbob]

now you have data. one datum lights on=algae. Another datum lights off=no algae.

So you need to find a third datum where lights partially on=no algae and coral growth.

try 1/2 duration. increase if no algae decrease if you get algae.

keep adjusting until you find what works for your tank.


FWIW using chaeto to consume the nutrients will allow longer light duration with less algae.


my .02

 

[thaitopher]

now you have data. one datum lights on=algae. Another datum lights off=no algae.

So you need to find a third datum where lights partially on=no algae and coral growth.

try 1/2 duration. increase if no algae decrease if you get algae.

keep adjusting until you find what works for your tank.


FWIW using chaeto to consume the nutrients will allow longer light duration with less algae.


my .02

That's good info. Thanks. The problem is that I have alveopora and zoas in my tank so I can't keep lights off too long. I also don't have a sump for the chaeto which is why I do weekly 25% water changes. I have a 20 gallon nano so it's easy to do.

 

[beaslbob]

could try an in tank refugium which could be just a egg crate partition with some side lights for the macros. or even an in tank chaeto sandwich.

my .02

 

[beaslbob]

That's good info. Thanks. The problem is that I have alveopora and zoas in my tank so I can't keep lights off too long. I also don't have a sump for the chaeto which is why I do weekly 25% water changes. I have a 20 gallon nano so it's easy to do.

Using that water change schedule, the tank will wind up and 4 times the weekly changes plus whatever is in the replacement water. then drop down to three times after the water change and increase to 4 times just before the next change. Because the 25% water change is remove 1/4 the water. The end point is where the amount of change is removed by the water change. So it increase to 4 times to remove the weekly change with 1/4 of the water.

So if your tank is removing 1 ppm calcium per day (7ppm per week) and increasing 1ppm/day nitrates (7 ppm per week) with 400ppm calcium and zero nitrate water, the final values will be:


variable_______before water change_______after water change

nitrates________7*4=28ppm____________21ppm

calcium________400-7*4=400-28=372ppm.__379ppm


With macro algaes nitrates can be 0 constantly

with dosing calcium can be 400ppm daily.

my .02

 

[RyanCSGO]

curious to know what lights your using and how long you are running them as well.

 

[thaitopher]

curious to know what lights your using and how long you are running them as well.

Using Fluval Sea 2.0 LED 9 hours a day on full then a couple hours at night on blue tones. Here is a photo of my general setup.

 

[RyanCSGO]

i agree with @beaslbob i would start with reducing the light a bit and see if that fixes it.
my 24g biocube only has lights running for 6 hours a day, no algae issues at all.

 

[beaslbob]

Using Fluval Sea 2.0 LED 9 hours a day on full then a couple hours at night on blue tones. Here is a photo of my general setup.

FWIW I partitioned with egg crate the back 3" of my old 55g. Then added 2 2 tube 4 foot utility fixtures with 6500k lights. macros and pods took off, nitrates dropped to unmeasureable in 3 weeks, phosphates a few months later and the fish were constantly poking at the macros and pods the poked through the egg crate.

on your system you could do something similar on the back glass near the wall.

just a thought

worth at most .02

 

[thaitopher]

FWIW I partitioned with egg crate the back 3" of my old 55g. Then added 2 2 tube 4 foot utility fixtures with 6500k lights. macros and pods took off, nitrates dropped to unmeasureable in 3 weeks, phosphates a few months later and the fish were constantly poking at the macros and pods the poked through the egg crate.

on your system you could do something similar on the back glass near the wall.

just a thought

worth at most .02

Thanks. Do you happen to have any old photos of that?

 

[beaslbob]

Thanks. Do you happen to have any old photos of that?

actually it was like 10 years ago.

Most thought the egg crate looked crummy.

Will see if I got some pics at home tonight.

meanwhile the tank supported a yellow and regal tang 4-5", 2 clowns, yellow watchman gobie, a 5' coral catfish, the largest banggai cardinal I've seen anyplace like 4-5" top to bottom. plus a few others. Plus some easy type corals. Tap water, no water changes, A home made wet dry filter with crushed oyster shells for media. tank ran for 9 years and was torn down when we moved to a new house.

 

[thaitopher]

actually it was like 10 years ago.

Most thought the egg crate looked crummy.

Will see if I got some pics at home tonight.

meanwhile the tank supported a yellow and regal tang 4-5", 2 clowns, yellow watchman gobie, a 5' coral catfish, the largest banggai cardinal I've seen anyplace like 4-5" top to bottom. plus a few others. Plus some easy type corals. Tap water, no water changes, A home made wet dry filter with crushed oyster shells for media. tank ran for 9 years and was torn down when we moved to a new house.

Impressive

 

[beaslbob]

and no live rock also. used limestone from a local quarry plus decorative rocks from an aquarium shop and lava rock as well.

Similarly no live sand. just play sand from home depot. $3 or so for a 50 pound bag.