Blackout method?

[Bradsreeeftank]

So i have 29 gallon biocube and am doing the black out method from today too sunday too remove green hair algea. i also just got a skimmer and chemi pure elite! Im hoping all this together will kill this algea and keep it away! What do you think? Will this method harm coral and fish when i turn lights back on? tips?

 

[SABOB]

Will not hurt corals or fish, let us know how it looks after the 3 days

 

[RKLion]

Thats not the way to deal with hair algae....

 

[RKLion]

You have other issues that cause algae...high nitrates and high phosphates. So when you turn the lights back on, the algae will grow back the same way it came the first time. You have to work on your systems balance. Water changes, GFO, Bio pellets, Herbavores and manual scraping are legitimate options.

 

[Bradsreeeftank]

GFO and biopellets all cost me money $$$$$ ill try this way first.

 

[goodtimes]

I think the answer has already been given. It may look good on Sunday but the excess nutrients still need dealt with.

 

[Reefing Madness]

3 day lights out will not harm the corals nor the fish. Your skimmer will be working overtime on the third day, watch the nasties get removed from the system. But, unless you find out where your nutrients are coming from, it will return, its only a matter of time.
You also don't need bio pellets and GFO. Try just using Vodka and Brightwells Phosphate E Remover, thats all I use. Works for me.

 

[Bucks149]

A few quick tips to help control your nutrients:

- Blow off rock work just prior to a water change. It suspends all of the particles that may have settled on your rocks
- Vacuum your sand bed as thoroughly as you can (if you have sand) at each water change
- reduce frequency of feedings
- The chemipure elite will help. I would also recommend grabbing some phosban.
- The skimmer will help, but there will still be heavier proteins that will settle into the rocks

You will find the sweet spot in tank maintenance soon enough. Just be sure to make one small change at a time. If you make all of the changes at once, it will take that much longer to figure out how much each change affects the overall chemistry and maintenance in the tank.

 

[Mike J.]

One innate problem with doing a three day black out is what I call the "vicious cycle". Dead algae = detritus = more algae. After your black out removing all the detritus that you can is key.