Lots of questions about BLACK-OUTS!!!

I have a ton of questions about black outs. If you know the answer to one, please tell me!!

1. How long of a black out can i go with killing the hair algae and not the corals (Mixed reef)?

2. Can coral still grow during black outs?

3. What is the recommended time for black outs (70 gal)?

4. Will this effect the fish (stress)?

5. What are some tips on black outs if you have done one?

6. Can you still add fish during black outs?


Thanks for the help! I have been doing a black for 4 days and the algae is still there! What do i do?????

 

1) The longest I have gone is 7 days and it didn't hurt anything. Never tried longer.

2) Non-photosynthetic coral definitely can still grow.

3) See #1

4) It shouldn't bother them much, if at all.

5) I'd recommend removing as much of the hair algae by hand as possible. If any dies off it will release it's nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) back into the water. As soon as you turn the lights back on, the remaining algae will just absorb it and grow like mad.

6) I wouldn't recommend it as you need to beat the algae issue before dealing with the increased bio-load of the tank additions.

 

A black-out is intended to get rid of cyano bacteria, not hair algae.

 

+1^ as mentioned you need to deal with the cause in order to rid your tank of the algae. The blackout alone without other methods of nutrient export i.e. reduce feeding, checking bulb life, changing out old media/filters, increasing flow etc.
What are your water params?
What equipment are you running?
What kind of lighting?
What is your feeding schedule?
What livestock do you have?
Answers to these questions will likely reveal the cause and then we can suggest a course of action.

 

running a phosphate removing media should help do the trick..also make sure your rodi is 0 tds, or if your not using rodi you need too..

unless you get rid of the problem its just gonna come back..getting a hob fuge, or an old hang on filter and running some cheato will also help, also make sure you have enough flow to keep particles in the water column to get removed with skimmer..

 

I have been running the BRS GFO Reactor for 2 weeks. I had .25 of phosphates and now i have .13. Never put a drop of tap in my tank!

 

change the media, it may be all used up, depending on how much trates and phates you have it can go pretty quick, then the cleaner your water is the longer it lasts..also your lights being old can cause the spectrum to change and cause algae..

 

and yeah the blackout wont kill hair algae. Depending on what your feeding them, some people drain the water from the frozen cubes to help with nitrates and phosphates..Also you may be overfeeding..

what kind of skimmer do you have..and is it pulling out a blackish green color skim mate

and another thing, even tho your tests are showing low numbers, you have alot of nitrates and phosphates, theyre just using them before your tests can show them..pretty much if you have any kind of bad algae its cuz you got alot of trates or phates, so you gotta get eliminate them, not cover them up with additives and stuff..As soon as you stop using the media and liquid phosphate removers the bad algae will return..

i would look into a fuge, either diy or one of the hang ons, cheato sucks the heck out of nitrates and phosphates, almost so much that its crazy for everyone not to be using it..

 

]+1^ as mentioned you need to deal with the cause in order to rid your tank of the algae. The blackout alone without other methods of nutrient export i.e. reduce feeding, checking bulb life, changing out old media/filters, increasing flow etc.
What are your water params? Perfect..... .13 phosphates though
What equipment are you running? The usual and BRS GFO phosphate reactor
What kind of lighting? 2x250 metal halides 9 hours
What is your feeding schedule? twice every other day
What livestock do you have? blue, purple, and yellow tang. sailfin bleeny, royal grama, tons of snails and hermits and starfish ect.... to much to name! i know its over stalked but they have been perfectly fine for a year now.
Answers to these questions will likely reveal the cause and then we can suggest a course of action.

 

could you post a full tank shot..you might have a bunch of dead spots, i just changed my scape completely to a more open look and increased my water flow, after i changed it i had piles of detrius all over the place, now everything is white and clear and perfect..