Getting different information on blackouts.

[Bent]

So, searching around I can't seem to find the answer.

My question is:
How to know when to end a black out period?

It's a small question that I think has numerous facets I would like to explore with you fine people.

In my attempts to get ahead of my minor algae outbreak, I decided upon the following attack plan.

1: scrub and siphon. Manually scrub the rocks, the glass, and all surfaces to remove it. Siphon simultaneously to remove some of what comes off, and siphon the sand bed. Shop vac the sump.

2: snail it up. Buy a crap load of snails and relocate my band of hermits to the refugium. I'm thinking about 100. What kinds would you guys recommend?

3: run GFO and GAC. I'm currently plumbing my brs reactor.

4: blackout for how many days? (which is where this entire question is coming from.)

I'm currently on 24hrs blackout. My plan was to keep the lights out until the reactor is up and running. My reasoning is that the algae growing back will pull the po4 out of the water column and make it less available for GFO and chaeto exportation. If I can keep it in the water column and out of the algae bloom, then it will be more effectively removed.

So, my more specific questions are:
-Is the plan solid, and is my reasoning for the blackout sound or flawed?
-What are the signs I should be looking for to turn the lights back on? Algae death or a plummeting po4?
-I've heard of people being lights out for as long as 5 days. What have been your average times that you've had to do this and was it effective?
-Do I need to do an acclimation period after I turn them back on? I assume this is time dependent, what amount of time do you think warrants reacclimation?


Thank you for reading this novel, I just tried to be as detailed as possible so we might be able to engage in an effective discussion.

 

[davocean]

I have done 3 day blackouts a few times over the years, no issues at all, it's not the cure to your issues obviously but it helps get a handle on things.
Lately I have been seeing 5 days, it may depend on the tank and what you keep but my opinion, and it's just that, is after 3 days you start to risk issues w/ certain corals.
It's kind of similar to the health risks that could come w/ overstocking, I don't think anyone can really give a formula or definitive answer that would be accurate or the same answer for every tank.
It's literally a shot in the dark.

 

[Bent]

It's literally a shot in the dark.

Lol
I see watcha did thar.

I do get what your saying. I assumed it wasn't going to be a dead on answer, but more of a subjective thing with many different pieces involved. I was hoping to just use this thread to get the opinions and experiences from the more experienced reefers such as yourself.

Thanks for participating. :beer:

So your 3 days were an effective tool you would say?

 

[davocean]

I did it a few times on different tanks that were fairly new and the typical new tank issues, worked like a charm.
I still did what I could to remove or keep nutrient issues handled, aggressive skimming, WC's, and so on.
I keep sea anemones always, so I keep a close eye on what they do during this time, I don't want wandering, so 3 days was all I was willing to do.
After that I just turned lights back on like normal.
Sometimes it does give that boost you need to get a grip.

 

[Bent]

Alright sounds good. I will keep going then.

Anyone else have any more contributions?

 

[Jrambo88]

What I did on my blackout on a 28jbj. It was to help control and get ahead of Dino's. I did a 5 gal water change. then change the purigen,carbon and gfo in the media basket. I ran the lights off with tank wrapped for 3 days while dosing ich attack. After the 3 days in changed 5 gals and the media again. It worked. (I dosed the ich attack 3 days before and 3 days after. I only lost one sps frag through the whole thing.

 

[Sk8r]

3 days with 1 additional day of low light if you have corals. And do NOT black out the tank: it should be on ambient room light only.

 

[TylerHaworth]

Day 1) manual removal and blowing off rocks, etc... Followed immediately by a water change... Begin lights out
Day 2) Continue darkness
Day 3) Continue darkness
Day 4) Continue darkness, or skip this step if you started the Day 1 process early in the morning before lights came on.
Day 5) Manual removal and blowing off rocks, water change, then lights back on for a short day
Day 6) Regular photoperiod.

I've used this method with great success in the past, but as with all things in the hobby, your mileage may vary

 

[Bent]

Awesome info guys.

May I ask why you say no to a total blackout? Is the ambient light enough to keep things alive?

Edit:
I posted some pics of the mess before I started. I'll post some pics at the end of the week.

 

[Bent]

So 48hrs and my nems are none too happy. Both my btas are just little balls with no tentacles, and my rock flower decided to move.

The torch seems unaffected and the elegance is all but shriveled.

Should I stop? Or keep going. The algae is much better but still not there and my reactor won't be set up fully until tommorrow evening.

Is this normal and the animals will perk back up?

 

[Crush Coral]

What outcome with 3 day blackouts do you guys and gals have with hair algae?

 

[TylerHaworth]

It's not going to completely kill the algae in one go, but if you do a series of blackouts over time it has always helped me expedite the process of overcoming outbreaks and getting more nutrients out of the system.

 

[Crush Coral]

I aasume you feed your corals and fish?

 

[TylerHaworth]

I never feed corals, the fish usually get fed pretty sparingly during theses periods as well.

 

[Bent]

Well we just passed the 48hr mark and the algae has seriously made a huge retreat. My snails are going at it, and I have two urchins and some other items coming in tommorrow. My reactor is almost plumbed save for a couple odds and ends. (A Gate valve and a T with a ball valve so I can rinse the media and draw samples.)

Tommorrow is the day it gets finished up. GFO and GAC is ready to go. I used 1/2 cup of GFO and 1.5 cups of GAC. Does that sound right? Plus the rest of the CUC arrives.

I realy feel bad for the nems though. They are not happy.

My btas have stayed put, but my rock flower is moving around, go figure. But everything else seems ok. Unhappy, but ok. I have noticed that my sponges have taken off like a rocket, and seem to have doubled in size in 48hrs. Which is interesting.

Do you guys still do manual removal during lights out?

 

[TylerHaworth]

Lights out is the best time for manual removal, but there's never a bad time to harvest algae...

As far as Carbon/GFO... Check out what BRS suggests, use half as much and change twice as often while you're in the battle stage... When you phase back into regular maintenance you can lengthen the time between changes and add in more media as needed. If you put in too much too often your inhabitants will not be happy.

 

[Mark75]

Have you found your Algae "fuel" source? Hate to see you go through this every few months!

 

[Bent]

Have you found your Algae "fuel" source? Hate to see you go through this every few months!

I'm 99% that the source is the dry rock I have. I just need to keep the GFO changed out and it should go away after its done leeching it.

Well first I need to get the thing working. Anytime Amazon...

 

[Mark75]

Be careful with GFO,....its powerful stuff!!!!

 

[Bent]

Is 1/2 cup to much to start with? I was planning on changing it every Sunday.