Blackout...

[TheNamelessPoet]

how long do I do it for... i am having algae issues... all over just about all of my plants...

Also... should i take my co2 out durring the blackout...

[Joker741]

This is the third day of my blackout and I will continue till it gets better.

[meegosh]

I would think you would turn off the CO2 since the plants aren't as 'active' during the night. I could be wrong, I'm not a big planted tank guy but, I think your plants would use the CO2 more when the lights are on since they are photosynthesizing. After the blackout I would do a PWC to get everything back to normal.

[Smitty]

I finished a blackout myself because of blue-green algea. I covered the tank and had the lights out for 3 FULL days. I didn't peak to see how things were and didn't let the kids look either. Yes, you need to turn OFF the CO2 during this process. Adding a air stone may also help with the fishes (I did for mine).

After the 3rd full day take it down and do a complete cleaning scrubbing down the walls and pulling any loose algea you find if any was left over (I had a VERY bad infestation and 99% was gone after the 3 days). Then do a 50% or so water change and also change the filters in whatever style filter you have.

It has been about 3-4 weeks since mine and I'm still going strong with no algea. I have converted to presurized CO2... I had DIY and that may be what caused my algea problem to start with.

Good luck!

[jsoong]

Depends on what algae you have .... 2-3 days works for the green algae, but it took 7-10 days to make a dent in my BBA!

[mgamer20o0]

what kind of algae? i had some green hair algae i did a 3 day black out when i was out of town. it really depends on the algae like jsoong said. BBA tends to be easily killed off by excel.

[Yellow Eye Tang]

BBA being the green hair algae? I've been reading up on the hair algae (I've got it breaking out) and I have been using excel. Problem with excel is it says in HUGE letters not to overdose. Maybe I could add more?

[mgamer20o0]

black beard algae = BBA

yes they do say that because too much can kill off your fish. you really have to be careful. i did a double dose in my 85 to kill off the bba i had. i redid the tank and left the plants out side for too long. i would add a extra air stone or two when using excel to keep it aerated or a power head breaking the surface.

[TheNamelessPoet]

its a mess also seams to be little "hairs" floating in the water thru out the tank... pretty bad.. im going to feed now then put the blackout on my poor little guys are gonna starve I just hope my plants are ok too...

[Joker741]

They can go up to a week without food. They will be fine.