Going dark to cure algae

Emma1234 · 08/18/2018, 09:53 AM

Hi everyone,

I have a 55 gallon tank with no detectable phosphates (hanna checker) or nitrates (Salifert and Red Sea). I have only two little fish (clown and royal gamma), which I feed a very small amount of flake food once a day. I have about 40lbs of live rock. The tank is about 4 years old. I have a protein skimmer (which probably needs to be replaced. I have to soak it in vinegar every couple weeks or else it will start to randomly overflow or underflow). I do a four gallon water change (RO/DI water with Instant Ocean Reef salt) every week. I have a lobo (growing doing well), mushrooms (these are doing very well) some zoas, softies and LPS. No SPS corals. I use filter socks, which I change every couple of days. I have a good lighting system. MAXSPECT Razor. Corals really started to grow more when I changed over to this light. It turns on about 1:00pm, ramps up gradually to about 70-75% intesity at about 7pm. Stays at that intensity for a couple hours. Then ramps down and shuts off at midnight.

My problem is algae. It really grows between the weekly water changes. I "harvest" it every week. But it is very difficult to remove some types. I have at least two different types. The ones I notice are green. One type I can remove. It is a soft velvety type. The other type (on a different rock) is impossible to remove by hand. It is more of a short stub green algae that is not soft but something like a crew cut that seems to be growing out, and embedded into, the rock.

I use GFO and Phosguard.

I saw this video on BRS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zft6lJraRg

They recommend going dark for a few days. My questions are:

What do you think/recommend that I try?

If I try going dark would going dark hurt the corals?

How long should I go dark?

Thanks

Daddi0 · 08/18/2018, 10:33 AM

Perhaps get a sea hare or snails
Cheers! Mark

Joe0813 · 08/18/2018, 10:59 AM

I've gone up to 5 days with no lights . All my coral was perfectly fine.

mcgyvr · 08/18/2018, 01:18 PM

Going dark for a short time is really just a waste of time for an algae problem.. Its just going to be temporary at best..

Simple fix is to use Fluconazole... It works wonders.. OR as stated increase your natural algae predators.. urchins/sea hares/turbo snails,etc..

I recommend the Fluconazole though.. It will easily take care of your hair/turf algae..

And why gfo and phosguard?
IMO undetectable nitrates and phosphates isn't a good thing.. Both are beneficial nutrients.. Too little is just as bad as too much..

hkgar · 08/18/2018, 03:12 PM

Quit the filter socks and the GFO. Tuxedo Urchins get after algae. I might have missed it? What fish do you have?

Joe0813 · 08/18/2018, 03:44 PM

I might have to try the Fluconazole or an urchin

Emma1234 · 08/18/2018, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkgar

Quit the filter socks and the GFO. Tuxedo Urchins get after algae. I might have missed it? What fish do you have?

Two little guys/gals. Clown fish and a Royal Gamma

lapin · 08/18/2018, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Going dark for a short time is really just a waste of time for an algae problem.. Its just going to be temporary at best..

as stated increase your natural algae predators.. urchins/sea hares/turbo snails,etc..

And why gfo and phosguard?
IMO undetectable nitrates and phosphates isn't a good thing.. Both are beneficial nutrients.. Too little is just as bad as too much..

This is great advice.

Did the problem start when you added your new light?

Emma1234 · 08/18/2018, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lapin

This is great advice.

Did the problem start when you added your new light?

The problem got worse after I added new lights. But it was there before.

Uncle99 · 08/18/2018, 09:17 PM

Your photoperiod is too long, 8-9 hours total is enough.
Your intensity seems a bit high to me.
Do the blackout, then crank those lights down man.

Emma1234 · 08/19/2018, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Going dark for a short time is really just a waste of time for an algae problem.. Its just going to be temporary at best..

Simple fix is to use Fluconazole... It works wonders.. OR as stated increase your natural algae predators.. urchins/sea hares/turbo snails,etc..

I recommend the Fluconazole though.. It will easily take care of your hair/turf algae..

And why gfo and phosguard?
IMO undetectable nitrates and phosphates isn't a good thing.. Both are beneficial nutrients.. Too little is just as bad as too much..

I use the phosguard and gfo because I've heard/read that the tests might not detect phosphates and nitrates. Something about the algae consumes the phosphates so fast that it doesn't show up in the test. So, the thought is that putting in the GFO and phosguard will consume the phosphates/nitrates before the algae. But I am not seeing a decline in algae.

mcgyvr · 08/19/2018, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emma1234

I use the phosguard and gfo because I've heard/read that the tests might not detect phosphates and nitrates. Something about the algae consumes the phosphates so fast that it doesn't show up in the test. So, the thought is that putting in the GFO and phosguard will consume the phosphates/nitrates before the algae. But I am not seeing a decline in algae.

Gfo and phosguard do the same thing...They reduce phosphate levels..They do not work against nitrates at all..
As they both serve the same purpose I just don't understand why you would run both..

saveafish · 08/19/2018, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daddi0

Perhaps get a sea hare or snails
Cheers! Mark

^^^^ this

When your algae eaters poop you can pull it by export.

Emma1234 · 08/19/2018, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Gfo and phosguard do the same thing...They reduce phosphate levels..They do not work against nitrates at all..
As they both serve the same purpose I just don't understand why you would run both..

Oh, I see what you were asking now. The reason I used both is that I've been using the GFO for years and still had the algae problem. My local fish store recommended I try the Phosguard at double the recommended dosage. But that hasn't worked either.

Emma1234 · 08/19/2018, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saveafish

^^^^ this

When your algae eaters poop you can pull it by export.

I've had a blue tuxedo urchine. He was beautiful but didn't clear up the algea. I have turbo snails. I bought about half a doze a while back. No luck getting rid of the algae with them either. I also tried nudibranches. I bought them the same time I bought the mexican turbo snails. You guessed it. Still have the algae. I've stayed away from the sea hares because I hear they are toxic. I've tried dosing with Hydrogen Peroxide. It worked for a while but the algae came back after a month. And I lost my blue tuxedo urchin and a yellow leather toadstool after I dosed.

Emma1234 · 08/19/2018, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daddi0

Perhaps get a sea hare or snails
Cheers! Mark

I've had a blue tuxedo urchine. He was beautiful but didn't clear up the algea. I have turbo snails. I bought about half a doze a while back. No luck getting rid of the algae with them either. I also tried nudibranches. I bought them the same time I bought the mexican turbo snails. You guessed it. Still have the algae. I've stayed away from the sea hares because I hear they are toxic. I've tried dosing with Hydrogen Peroxide. It worked for a while but the algae came back after a month. And I lost my blue tuxedo urchin and a yellow leather toadstool after I dosed.

Daddi0 · 08/19/2018, 11:10 AM

I have had a couple Hares die with no issues.

mcgyvr · 08/19/2018, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emma1234

Oh, I see what you were asking now. The reason I used both is that I've been using the GFO for years and still had the algae problem. My local fish store recommended I try the Phosguard at double the recommended dosage. But that hasn't worked either.

Because you don't have a phosphate problem

Emma1234 · 08/25/2018, 10:06 AM

For anyone suffering from algae problems in their tank here is some information.

1) I've heard that "going dark" can cure the algae outbreak. I shut off the lights on Sunday and covered the tank with towels to keep light from getting in. I turned the lights back on on Friday. The algae is still there. I don't see much of a difference.

2) Next I'm going to try the Fluconazole as recommended by mcgvyr above (thanks!). You can find out more abouot Fuconazole here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ht=fluconazole

3. This is after trying hydrogen peroxide and various algae eaters (see above).

I'll update after I see how things go with the fluconazole. Figures are crossed.

FamilyTank · 08/26/2018, 12:33 PM

Hydrogen peroxide has worked for me. I did however pull the rock for about 15 mins. Pulled it and let it sit for 5min then spray and let it sit like 10. Rinsed it in my dirty tank water after a change.

Emma1234 · 08/26/2018, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FamilyTank

Hydrogen peroxide has worked for me. I did however pull the rock for about 15 mins. Pulled it and let it sit for 5min then spray and let it sit like 10. Rinsed it in my dirty tank water after a change.

I took the rocks out and dosed in a bucket with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and RO/DI water. I killed the algae temporarily but lost a yellow toadstool and a blue tuxedo urchin died. Did you lose any fish/corals?

FamilyTank · 08/26/2018, 06:51 PM

I didnt loose a thing. Nothing but turf algae on the rocks I pulled. I rinsed heavily after. It killed the algae but good husbandry keeps it away.

Emma1234 · 08/26/2018, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FamilyTank

Hydrogen peroxide has worked for me. I did however pull the rock for about 15 mins. Pulled it and let it sit for 5min then spray and let it sit like 10. Rinsed it in my dirty tank water after a change.

Interesting. You said you pulled the rock from the display tank and let it sit for 15 minutes. Five of those minutes it just sat out in the open air. And then you sprayed it. Do you spray it with pure hydorgen peroxide? Or was it a mix ofwater and Hydrogen Peroxide? Was there any corals on the rock? I'm wondering if that would be dangerous to the corals on the rock to have them out of the water that long.

Thanks!

FamilyTank · 08/27/2018, 01:16 PM

I didnt loose a thing. Nothing but turf algae on the rocks I pulled. No corals.
I sprayed it straight outta the bottle.

MTF7 · 08/29/2018, 10:49 PM

hello! I have a nano tank rn 13g and like you I battled algae forever, finally I figured out how to beat it so let me reccomend what I did.

1. Up your flow
2. I would increase your 4g WC to at least 10g once the algae is gone you can work back down to 4.( in my 13g I do 5g ever 8-10 days)
3. Decrease lighting photo period (possibly intensity too)
4. Add seachem matrix/ marine pure in a high flow area
5. Vacuum your sand in very small areas to begin with
6. Snails snails snails a few hermits more snails, turbo snails, and a emerald crab or 2 ( I had a really good one that just passed ��, he eliminated my bubble, and the crew cut algae)
5. With the Phosguard the most important thing to remember is that you must change it out!!! I too didn’t change mine all that often but once I was determined to beat the algae I changed it every 4days then gradually every WC and now every 2 weeks.

Good luck!

08/18/2018, 09:53 AM	#1
Emma1234 Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: New Jersey Posts: 167	Going dark to cure algae Hi everyone, I have a 55 gallon tank with no detectable phosphates (hanna checker) or nitrates (Salifert and Red Sea). I have only two little fish (clown and royal gamma), which I feed a very small amount of flake food once a day. I have about 40lbs of live rock. The tank is about 4 years old. I have a protein skimmer (which probably needs to be replaced. I have to soak it in vinegar every couple weeks or else it will start to randomly overflow or underflow). I do a four gallon water change (RO/DI water with Instant Ocean Reef salt) every week. I have a lobo (growing doing well), mushrooms (these are doing very well) some zoas, softies and LPS. No SPS corals. I use filter socks, which I change every couple of days. I have a good lighting system. MAXSPECT Razor. Corals really started to grow more when I changed over to this light. It turns on about 1:00pm, ramps up gradually to about 70-75% intesity at about 7pm. Stays at that intensity for a couple hours. Then ramps down and shuts off at midnight. My problem is algae. It really grows between the weekly water changes. I "harvest" it every week. But it is very difficult to remove some types. I have at least two different types. The ones I notice are green. One type I can remove. It is a soft velvety type. The other type (on a different rock) is impossible to remove by hand. It is more of a short stub green algae that is not soft but something like a crew cut that seems to be growing out, and embedded into, the rock. I use GFO and Phosguard. I saw this video on BRS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zft6lJraRg They recommend going dark for a few days. My questions are: What do you think/recommend that I try? If I try going dark would going dark hurt the corals? How long should I go dark? Thanks

08/18/2018, 10:33 AM	#2
Daddi0 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Redwood City Posts: 1,354	Perhaps get a sea hare or snails Cheers! Mark __________________ 2x 65g displays with a 30g cryptic refugium and 30g sump - 55g reef 30g Bio-cube reef - I.M. 30g reef - 45g freshwater

08/18/2018, 10:59 AM	#3
Joe0813 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Boston strong Posts: 2,766	I've gone up to 5 days with no lights . All my coral was perfectly fine. __________________ Joe and Jenny Current Tank Info: 180 reef

08/18/2018, 01:18 PM	#4
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Going dark for a short time is really just a waste of time for an algae problem.. Its just going to be temporary at best.. Simple fix is to use Fluconazole... It works wonders.. OR as stated increase your natural algae predators.. urchins/sea hares/turbo snails,etc.. I recommend the Fluconazole though.. It will easily take care of your hair/turf algae.. And why gfo and phosguard? IMO undetectable nitrates and phosphates isn't a good thing.. Both are beneficial nutrients.. Too little is just as bad as too much.. __________________ Who me?

08/18/2018, 03:12 PM	#5
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	Quit the filter socks and the GFO. Tuxedo Urchins get after algae. I might have missed it? What fish do you have? __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

08/18/2018, 03:44 PM	#6
Joe0813 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Boston strong Posts: 2,766	I might have to try the Fluconazole or an urchin __________________ Joe and Jenny Current Tank Info: 180 reef

08/18/2018, 09:17 PM	#10
Uncle99 Crab Free Zone Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,906	Your photoperiod is too long, 8-9 hours total is enough. Your intensity seems a bit high to me. Do the blackout, then crank those lights down man.

08/19/2018, 11:10 AM	#17
Daddi0 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Redwood City Posts: 1,354	I have had a couple Hares die with no issues. __________________ 2x 65g displays with a 30g cryptic refugium and 30g sump - 55g reef 30g Bio-cube reef - I.M. 30g reef - 45g freshwater

08/25/2018, 10:06 AM	#19
Emma1234 Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: New Jersey Posts: 167	For anyone suffering from algae problems in their tank here is some information. 1) I've heard that "going dark" can cure the algae outbreak. I shut off the lights on Sunday and covered the tank with towels to keep light from getting in. I turned the lights back on on Friday. The algae is still there. I don't see much of a difference. 2) Next I'm going to try the Fluconazole as recommended by mcgvyr above (thanks!). You can find out more abouot Fuconazole here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ht=fluconazole 3. This is after trying hydrogen peroxide and various algae eaters (see above). I'll update after I see how things go with the fluconazole. Figures are crossed.

08/26/2018, 12:33 PM	#20
FamilyTank Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Downriver,Mi Posts: 226	Hydrogen peroxide has worked for me. I did however pull the rock for about 15 mins. Pulled it and let it sit for 5min then spray and let it sit like 10. Rinsed it in my dirty tank water after a change.

08/26/2018, 06:51 PM	#22
FamilyTank Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Downriver,Mi Posts: 226	I didnt loose a thing. Nothing but turf algae on the rocks I pulled. I rinsed heavily after. It killed the algae but good husbandry keeps it away.

08/27/2018, 01:16 PM	#24
FamilyTank Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Downriver,Mi Posts: 226	I didnt loose a thing. Nothing but turf algae on the rocks I pulled. No corals. I sprayed it straight outta the bottle.

08/29/2018, 10:49 PM	#25
MTF7 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Illinois Posts: 285	hello! I have a nano tank rn 13g and like you I battled algae forever, finally I figured out how to beat it so let me reccomend what I did. 1. Up your flow 2. I would increase your 4g WC to at least 10g once the algae is gone you can work back down to 4.( in my 13g I do 5g ever 8-10 days) 3. Decrease lighting photo period (possibly intensity too) 4. Add seachem matrix/ marine pure in a high flow area 5. Vacuum your sand in very small areas to begin with 6. Snails snails snails a few hermits more snails, turbo snails, and a emerald crab or 2 ( I had a really good one that just passed ��, he eliminated my bubble, and the crew cut algae) 5. With the Phosguard the most important thing to remember is that you must change it out!!! I too didn’t change mine all that often but once I was determined to beat the algae I changed it every 4days then gradually every WC and now every 2 weeks. Good luck!