blacking out the tank

[jomatty]

I set up a 150 gallon aquarium approximately 2 months ago. It was progressing as they normally do I got brown algae and then green and all of my tests were coming back good and the tank to seemed to be nearly cycled as my nitrites got down to zero and my nitrates were very low. I added a pair of perculas and a few mushrooms and some frogspawn from mg other tank. Then the entire tank exploded with green algae. I believe the cause of this is the fact that I used the di water and was possibly running the lights a bit too long. Anyways I've decided to turn the lights off on the tank for 3 or 4 days to try to get most of this algae killed off.
My questions ar whether I can still run a single actinic bulb for a few hours each day for the Frog Spwhn and also because the fish seems to fer if I should leave the tank completely dark?also should i think about moving the frogspawn into my other tank or will it be ok for a few four days? Everything I havee read says that the fish will be fine although they do not seemas active with the lights off. Is there anything I need to look out for or be aware of with the fish for 4 days without lights?e
thank you all very much in advance for any help ou can be with this

 

[andrew reeves]

hello, i have helped a few people here locally with green algae, first, im assuming all of your parameters are still okay? if thats the case, bad ro/di filters can leech phosphates and cause it, did you tds the ro before adding salt? and what kind of filtration, flow, and lighting do you have?

 

[andrew reeves]

sorry, just read where you only used di water, that would be the problem in my opinion. as far as turning the lights off, the frogspawn would not benefit a whole lot from one actinic on, i really dont think it will hurt it for 3-4 days being turned off besides it may lose some color..... just watch the parameters during this time especially due to all the die off of the algae. What i would do is if you have another tank to put the corals and fish in i would do so and then scrub all the algae out possible and do a large water change with rodi water. then keep testing the water just to make sure all is well.........hope this helps

 

[JMSKI333]

Hello,

I just did a 3 day tank black out with a sheet covering my tank to not let in any stray light with great results.

Lights out as normal Sunday 12/9
Actinics only back on 12/13
Full light cycle as normal 12/14).

It killed all cyano and hair algae from my tank. I do not reccomend leaving your actinics on during the black out period. Your corals and fish will be fine.

I also left my refugium light on 24/7 during this black out to keep my PH stable.

 

[Alabamareef]

+1. If your only using DI water your going to have the same issues

I set up a 150 gallon aquarium approximately 2 months ago. It was progressing as they normally do I got brown algae and then green and all of my tests were coming back good and the tank to seemed to be nearly cycled as my nitrites got down to zero and my nitrates were very low. I added a pair of perculas and a few mushrooms and some frogspawn from mg other tank. Then the entire tank exploded with green algae. I believe the cause of this is the fact that I used the di water and was possibly running the lights a bit too long. Anyways I've decided to turn the lights off on the tank for 3 or 4 days to try to get most of this algae killed off.
My questions ar whether I can still run a single actinic bulb for a few hours each day for the Frog Spwhn and also because the fish seems to fer if I should leave the tank completely dark?also should i think about moving the frogspawn into my other tank or will it be ok for a few four days? Everything I havee read says that the fish will be fine although they do not seemas active with the lights off. Is there anything I need to look out for or be aware of with the fish for 4 days without lights?e
thank you all very much in advance for any help ou can be with this

 

[jomatty]

I have AR of the eye system on order. The LFS guys sold me on a di filter maKing it some more environmentally conscious. I have since regretted the decision

 

[jomatty]

Sorry ro di system on order. I dont know how to edit this post

 

[jomatty]

Also how will the algae dying of affect my water parameters? Will this cause nitrates to spike? What should i look for?

 

[Nemoose]

Yes any major die off like that can cause nitrate spikes. But, the big problem will be the initial ammonia and nitrite spikes that could occur if your bacteria isn't sufficient to handle it. Those can wipe out the tank very quickly.

 

[Trex]

Unless you fix the root cause, blacking out the tank won't do anything in the long term.

Fix the root cause and the algae will go away, without blacking out the tank.

 

[andrew reeves]

+1 on fixing the root cause, i was thinking about it and without a good water change..........maybe even a few water changes........ it may return unless all the hair algae took out what was feeding it while it was in there....if that makes any sense

 

[jomatty]

I agree that fixing the root cause is key. Hopefully a series of large water changes using rodi will help that. I am hoping that i can get back to normal, where the cuc will have a chance to keep the algae at bay while i fix the problem.

 

[Alabamareef]

Don’t think you’re going to get the die off from your algae problem. The problem is what this alga is already filtering out. Just from the amount of algae in your tank I'd say it has a food source and it's usually us putting in too much food. Now when you kill off your algae your levels may spike because there is nothing consuming them. My thought would be to have water, rodi water, and ready and after you've killed off your algae, black out, do a large water change and try to really watch what you’re putting in your tank. We are usually the number one cause of high Nitrates and P04.

Yes any major die off like that can cause nitrate spikes. But, the big problem will be the initial ammonia and nitrite spikes that could occur if your bacteria isn't sufficient to handle it. Those can wipe out the tank very quickly.

 

[jomatty]

Its possible but with only 2 small fish in the tank I am feeding very little considering how large a tank it is.

 

[Alabamareef]

Just make sure to look at the basics. RODI water changes every 2-3 weeks. Good mechanical and biological filtration and change filters on a regular basis. Good tank husbandry, cleaning glass, cleaning sand bed, blowing off rock........... This is a great start.......Even with two small fish food that’s not eaten will build up over time in any system. Epically if you’re nitrifying bacteria is not well established in your tank, something that happens in time.......Best of luck