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View Full Version : Just put my tank under a blackout (algae)


vessxpress1
11/24/2006, 12:46 PM
I hate to do it but I don't know what else to do right now. If I didn't have so many corals, many of which are attached to rocks and my BTAs, I'd just put the rock in a tub. I have a lot of rock and it fits together like a puzzle to make it all work in there. Hate to do this to my fish but I don't know what else to do. I don't know how many days to go without light but I'm going to push it depending on how this works. I know I'm going to have a mess but I plan on doing a large water change after this is done.

GregEMT
11/24/2006, 01:05 PM
Wouldn't the algae just feed off the nutrients in the tank while it's in darkness? I think micro algae can survive being shipped almost dry for days and days, it can take 3-4 days blackout in a reef tank. I think you will stress your corals without needing to.

crny1
11/24/2006, 01:29 PM
Just a fair warning..... we did this to one of our tanks and lost 2 fish in the process. We covered the tank for 3 days but the problem was that we didnt check it and the hair algea started to die off and floated around till it got sucked into all the pumps and stuff and plugged them up and we had no flow going in the tank. With no flow you can guess what happened from there! We lost a bat fish that was almost 20 inches (must of weighed about 10 pounds) from top to bottom and a snowflake eel that was well over a foot long!
Only good note was that the HA died off and has never returned.

Wes

flyhigh123
11/24/2006, 01:50 PM
have you seen the mollie thread? they say that mollies do a good job eating at the HA

vessxpress1
11/24/2006, 02:18 PM
Greg: It may feed off some nutrients but based on what people have said here, the stuff really relies on light and it will die off if you keep it in darkness. My main problem are the dinos with a minor green slime algae problem.

crny1: Thanks for the warning. I'll be checking it often.

flyhigh: I've heard about the mollies but I don't know if I want to add more fish to my tank. I may check into them.