Tank black out for algea...

[canyon15]

How long should I black out (leave lights out) to ensure the algea prob is gone? The reason for the prob is my sump cracked on a sunday and I used tap when I rebuilt it and there are phosphates in my tap water. I know, I know ...... . Any ideas? Should the visible cyano be gone before putting my lights on? TIA.

 

[angelscrx]

Aim powerheads at the cyano. I have heard four days max. Do water changes to rid the tank of the phosphates.

 

[ntswift]

I'd be careful how long you black your tank out with your corals. How bad is your algea problem?

 

[melosu58]

I`ve heard of others blacking their tanks out but I`m not much of a fan of that at least not all day. I would take care of the excess nutrients first and some PWC`s and some shortened light periods first.

 

[FishFrik]

IMO, cyano is really hard to manually remove. If you don't remove it "all", the small/tiny pieces that are left in the tank will multiply rapidly by the seconds when the light is on. The only thing helped me removed all my cyano was blacking out. I tried more water movement, 0 PO4, 6 hours light period (only took cyano 2 hours to expand from a .25in piece to a 5in patch on the sand bed) and nothing really worked. I think you have to get rid of it first before trying to maintain a cyano-free tank and "any" amount of light will keep it alive.

Your corals will do fine for up to 4 or 5 days, IME. Out there, reefs get all kind of bad weather and corals don't get light for maybe a few weeks.

HTH

 

[aquazen]

Aim the powerheads at the cyano. It usually get airlifted away. Improved circulation with help prevent it from regrowing. Worked for me.

 

[FishFrik]

Aim the powerheads at the cyano. It usually get airlifted away. Improved circulation with help prevent it from regrowing. Worked for me.

That kind of worked for me but the cyano that got blown away just settled somewhere else so i just helped it spread quicker

 

[weemanpow3]

That kind of worked for me but the cyano that got blown away just settled somewhere else so i just helped it spread quicker

same with me FishFrik

 

[weemanpow3]

[No message]

 

[angelscrx]

I siphoned it out, aimed the powerheads and did water changes. I never blacked out my tank and this worked for me in my 55g.

 

[aquazen]

Your cyano sounds more aggressive than what I previously had. Much luck to you.

 

[roka64]

canyon15, what kind of filter are you using, if you are?
I agree with the rest, I just wiped out my cyano problem. The phs didn't seem to work for me, very well.