Blackout Questions

[lel]

I am doing a blackout to fight a bad case of green hair algae. Not sure how long to do it though. What would be a good time considering I have a RBTA. Also how long can the fish go without food? Thanks for the help!

 

[bluemon]

You can still feed the fish during a blackout, but fish can go weeks without food given to them if they were healthy before.

as for the bta, I’m sure they can make it through the blackout given that you also feed them

 

[lel]

How often do I feed them?

 

[The_Paradox]

From my experience Fluconazole is far less disruptive and much more effective on GHA than a blackout.

 

[lel]

I don't know the algae is pretty bad, but I will look into it.

 

[The_Paradox]

I don't know the algae is pretty bad, but I will look into it.

That’s the only time I would recommend it. If you catch it early you can deal with it with clean up crew. If it’s just in spots then toothbrush and flow can handle it. If it’s a total mess then chemical treatment makes sense. I have photos of a small tank I dosed that was a mess. I’ll look for them.

 

[bluemon]

How often do I feed them?

Just once a day should be plenty enough. A big chunk of shrimp of something similar based on its size

 

[lel]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Reef.]

A blackout is not going to fix the gha issue imo.

You need to manually remove as much as possible, increase nutrient export and up your clean up crew, also add fish that eat algae if you can, also check your lights are not higher than they need to be… those methods will see far better results then a couple of days of blackout.

 

[blkhawk10]

A blackout is not going to fix the gha issue imo.

You need to manually remove as much as possible, increase nutrient export and up your clean up crew, also add fish that eat algae if you can, also check your lights are not higher than they need to be… those methods will see far better results then a couple of days of blackout.

I just went thru the same thing and this was the ticket for me.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

blackout will work,,,, until you turn the lights back on. Its better to fight the cause rather than the result.

 

[lel]

I have tried manual removal, feeding less, and turning off my lights earlier. my lawnmower blenny didn't eat GHA and just died from unknown causes. Big problem is that I don't have a sump I just use a hang on back filter. Blackout was kind of a last resort option.

 

[exnisstech]

What size tank and can the rock be removed to clean?
I used fluconazole a few months ago and ended up with a terrible case of cyano afterwards. I would have been better off with the gha.

 

[lel]

the tank is 55 gal and I can only take out like 3 of the rocks because I have a nem on one

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

the tank is 55 gal and I can only take out like 3 of the rocks because I have a nem on one

you only have 4 rocks in your 55 gallon?

Maybe you can post a full tank picture in white lights? Water parameters will help too, tank age?
Or better yet, just start a new thread to ask for help with algae control.