Turning the lights off

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Blakskall

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
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Im leaving for vacation saturday and ill be gone for a week, my lights need to be replaced, and im not going to replace them untill i come back, i think my lights are really making some algae grow.. my question is, how long can i keep my lights off without it effect my fish? I have no coral, anemones, nothing that depends on light
 
It wont bother you fish at all. If you had some corals I would say you`ll need some lights. Lights off for that period of time should put a dent in the algea growth. You will need to figure out what`s fueling the algea when you get back.
 
The fish do not really care about the lights, they are really only used to make the aquarist happy :). This is true only for FOWLER tanks and for un-planted freshwater tanks. I am currently on vacation and have a planted tank's light on at all times wile I am gone, there are no fish in the tank. On my main display, I only have the lunar lights on now and there are no plants in it. Hope this helps!
 
Im trying to narrow it down, the lights need to be replaced, i run carbon and gfo, the filter cartridges in my RODI unit need to be replaced, and i need to get a tds meter to make sure it runs at 0, so.. if i have replaced lights, 0 tds water, good water flow, good protein skimmer (which i do), and good filter media, technically i should kill the algae.. Does this sound right?
 
This is true.....there is a lot that is involved with algae growth do you feed your fish a decent amount? how often do you feed? I tend to feed my fish like once every 3 days. The algae should stop growing with the lights off. If your TDS is still zero that is fine then. Just some thoughts. Hope that Helps!
 
Its been a big debate about feeding.. with everyone i ask.. I have a pufferfish that needs a shellfish food, so for my normal fish i feed once a day every other day, and on thos off days i feed one mussel on the half shell to my puffer. I only feed enough food that they eat in maybe 2 minutes. Is this considered to much food?
 
This is a huge debate between all of us. With me personally and idk your experience, I have had many arguments with people about this. I would recommend lowering your feeding cycle, NOT now though. This is to close of you leaving your tank to change anything. Maybe you should try feeding once every three days, (just my opinion and suggestion) and then go from there. In response to just the tank, I would say only feed everything once every three days. So keep your traditional food and mussel for that third day. Does that make since? Hope this helps!
 
I appreciate your advice, i know that theres many factors in beating algae, i think im going to change it by feeding every two days for right now, and then try three days when i get back, the combination of no lights and slightly reduced feeding should hault growth, thank you uve helped alot, when i come back im replacing alot of things to try and kill this off... Im tired of looking at a green tank lol
 
HAHA yah I would be annoyed with that. Could you kindly keep be posted? I would really like to finish with any advice you have left! Just a little side note, make sure not to change to much before you leave.
 
Starting the no lights tomorrow lol everyday its growing... But when i get back from vacation im kicking its *** lol
 
Ok so theres been a couple of advancments, my water runs 0-1 tds thanks to new filters and my tds meter. My new lights look amazing. But i cant seem to shake this **** algae.. Test kits read zero, but i cood be the algae consuming them before my tests read it. The main problem is on my sand ill include pictures, it looks like diatoms but it really doesnt make sense for them to be in my tank... Any suggestions?
 

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