lighting?

can you leave the lights off for about 3 days with corals?
i only have xenia.
i want to get rid of the bubble algae. so i want to know how long i can go without lighting?

 

Yes you can. The xenia will most likely make it through just fine. Unfortunately, killing the lights won't kill the bubble algae either. If it's just affecting a few pieces of LR, consider removing the rocks in question and nuking them, then returning them to the tank.

 

I had good luck getting rid of bubble algae by removing the rock, getting an old toothbrush and scrubbing the rock thoroughly in saltwater. It never came back after that, and was only on one rock to start with.

 

oh ok but i just started the tank about 3 weeks ago
some one called it dino or something like that and i want to get rid of it

 

those may be diatoms if they just showed up. buuble algea is green and grows rather slow. the diatoms will go away, ur tank is still cycling. you shouldnt have n e coral in there to begin with.

 

i know.
but my friend was selling his tank and no one wanted it so he gave it to me for free.

 

Xenia should make it throu the cycle just fine! Theres always mirthax crabs(emeralds) which tend to eat the bubble algea but im pretty sure thats not what u have. Is the algea u have a reddish brown color?

 

yea it is a redish brown color
i really dont like the look of it so im like getting mad

 

Three days is fine. I left the lights off in my 10g tank for a month and forgot a piece of Xenia in there. By the time I noticed, it had expelled it's Zooxanthella and was albino white. It died soon after. So don't increase your 3 day downtime by a factor of 10.

The toothbrush idea is a good place to start. I wouldn't nuke the rock until all other avenues are explored. I would do a water change, save it, and use that as your wash and rinse water. I have done this several times myself. Now, to control algae, I do frequent water changes and actually power down the tank's lighting for two or three day stretches every other week. Just an experiment. Working out very, very well.