Lights out - how long?

[HumanIMDB]

How long do you leave your lights off as part of your nuisance algae battle plan? 3 days, a week, two weeks...

We're battling a huge bloom of bubble algae and green hair algae is starting to bloom everywhere as well.

We've reduced the feedings from 2-3 times a day down to once a day. We have also reduced the amount that we feed.

We've performed a 30% water change, cleaned out all the detritus from the sump, and set the skimmer to produce very wet skimmate.

This morning I adjusted the light cycle so that the display light (250w 20,000K Reeflux in Coralvue Lumen Bright Wide) is only on for 4 hours a day and the refugium light is on for the other 20. I'll also do a lights out period depending on the responses I receive. We're also going to setup a schedule where we'll leave the display lights off for 3 days every other month based on this <a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532" target=_blank>thread</a>.

We're also going to start running phosphate remover and carbon some time tomorrow. I need to pick up some new test kits as the ones we have are beyond their expiry dates. We're also considering ordering a Foxface Rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus) as well.

Depending on how the tests go, we're also considering starting dosing with the ESV B-Ionic Two Part Calcium Buffer System.

Any suggestions/thoughts?

[SaltyDr]

I wouldn't leave your lights off for more than three days unless you don't have any coral. Have you looked into dosing a carbon source (ie vodka or sugar)? Try to manually remove as much of the bubble algae as possible. As long as they are not mature bubbles, don't worry about popping them. Do you have an adequate CUC?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

IMHO changing photoperiod or keeping the lights off altogether is a controversial way of controlling nuisance algae.

From your post, it sounds like you understand the real enemy (nutrient buildup) and are taking the correct measures to control the source of the problem. So, in essence, it sounds like you are already working on solving the problem in the long-term sense, and only need a short-term tool to eradicate the current colony of algae.

Given that, I would not recommend reducing or eliminating photoperiod beyond what you already have. Sure, it'll kill the algae, but it'll also potentially kill beneficial life in your tank. Instead of turning the lights out to kill the algae off, I prefer to manually remove it. This accomplishes the same goal (gets the algae out of the tank) but also helps with nutrient export, and does not harm beneficial life in the tank. In contrast, if you turn the lights out, you'll kill off some beneficial life, plus when all that algae dies, it'll just release nutrients back into the water as it decomposes - so you'll still have to find a way to export or process those nutrients.

[HumanIMDB]

Okay, thanks. We don't have any coral yet. We were waiting for the new light and now are waiting until we get the algae issues under control. (We're also going to wait until the anemone quits roaming around the tank.)

I've only just started researching "carbon dosing"...if you have any links that you would recommend, please let me know.

We took out almost all of the rocks and scrubbed them in <a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14233900#post14233900 target=_blank>January</a>. It was a PITA to get them all back in the way we had them originally.

We may add some snails to the order with the Foxface to augment the CUC.

We thought that the reason they were coming back was that we were still running the stock NO florescent strip light that came with the AGA92 but matters have only gotten worse since switching to the new light. To be fare, we have also added a Royal Gramma, two large Tomato Clowns, and a huge Green Bubble Tip Anemone in that time and have been feeding (probably too much food) two to three times a day since adding the new light.

So I'll leave the light schedule as is for the next week (Display on for 4 hours, refugium on for 20 hours) and do the other steps I've mentioned above. Hopefully all of those things combine with more critters to eat the algae will get rid of it so that we don't have to manually remove it.

We'll also do the scheduled lights out period every couple of months once we've got things under control. :)

Thanks again,
Chris

[Alexzor]

I would manually remove it and get it into the water column and do a 20% water change to get out all you can. While following the reduced feeding strategy and use RODI.