Information on Blackout for white water

[shaunakadub]

Hey everyone

As some of you may know i've been trying to decide on what to do about my white hazy water.

Chemicals are out of the question, so I've decided the best option for me to go would be the blackout route. I just need some basic information from people who have done this before.

1.) How long should I leave the tank covered?
2.) Should I feed my fish a good amount before covering since they are going to be without food for a few days?
3.) PWC, should I do one before I cover it? And after I take the cover off?

Any any other information I should know that I did not list. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[IceH2O]

Most people do a 3 day blackout. No light at all, no peeking .

1. Feed the fish as you normally would. Fish can go more than 3 days without food so don't think you need to fill them up.

2.Do a 50% pwc.

3.Cover with a blanket, take the blanket outside and if you can see sunlight through it its not heavy enough.

4. on day 4 lift the blanket, Do another 50% pwc. feed the fish a lighter than normal amount.

5.Day 5 you can feed them normally.

 

[SerLunchbox]

to help you out:

1) i would do it for 3-4 days
2) feed your fish the normal amount before the blackout. They will be fine without food for that long, just don't make a habbit of it.
3) yes, do a PWC 1 day before the blackout and when the blackout is over.

as for additional information, if you are using towels, use MANY. i personally would use about 3 layers of towels so that absolutely no light will get into the tank whatsoever. Also, absolutely no peaking. Any shed of light will give some food to what is affecting your tank and the blackout would have to go again and potentially for a longer period of time.

 

[shaunakadub]

Sounds good, thanks for all the information!

I should be starting it tonight seeing I did a 50% water change this morning. Wish me luck.

 

[greenmaji]

White water?
A blackout is for algae.. white water in most all cases is bacteria..
hope your cycle just finishes and you dont have to worry about this anymore.
if thats the case..

 

[mollielover]

I agree that this sounds like a bacterial bloom. A blackout will have no effect on it you just have to let it run it's coarse and it will eventually go away. This is normal for newly set up tanks.