72 hours total blackout

[Boga]

Planning to do a three day blackout to help my tank issues (possbile dinoflagellates and some traces of ciano). They are getting less and less significant due to GFO, carbon and a huge amount of chaeto.

So I plan to do these 72 hrs of total darkness in my DT, sump and refugium. I will cover them with black garbage bags.

- Is anything else that I should be aware of?
- Did you do a light aclimation after blackout?
- Have you changed anything in the fish feeding? I guess the lights can be ON for 5 minutes during feeding?
- I hope the chaeto will survive?

 

[Reef Hero]

It will only get rid of your unwanted pests as long as you keep the lights off..... It's just not possible....
If you cover with garbage I would watch for condensation build up and also lack of oxygen to your animals and fish.
I would not recommend this to anyone for many reasons and none of which will be beneficial.....


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[KBennett]

I did it and it worked.  I have to say though that my tank was very young at the time and I didn't have many corals.  I just kept lights off, closed the blinds in the room, and hung towels to block the light.

I had black (very, very black) cyano, hunter green cyano, and the common red cyano.  I never saw the black or green again after the lights out.  Red came back a month or so later.

I tried it again several months later and it did not work as well.

 

[Reef Hero]

I did it and it worked.  I have to say though that my tank was very young at the time and I didn't have many corals.  I just kept lights off, closed the blinds in the room, and hung towels to block the light.

I had black (very, very black) cyano, hunter green cyano, and the common red cyano.  I never saw the black or green again after the lights out.  Red came back a month or so later.

I tried it again several months later and it did not work as well.

Ok, I'm not trying to say that it didn't work for you but your comment kind of contradicts itself....

Cyano is something that appears in many reefers tanks.... It can even start to appear in mature established tanks that are doing very well....usually comes from excess nutrients in the water column....I can watch my tank and know when I'm getting excess nutrients in the water column just by keeping an eye on the sand bed and glass....
I will start to see brown/red creeping up in the sandbed and of course more algae forming on the glass.... Usually by cutting back the feeding a little bit and ramping up the export a little bit will clear it up no problem.
Boga, what are you feeding? Or dosing besides alk and ca?



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[dale]

if your system is working like you said,, why would you do this,,,
i would suggest letting your system do what its doing, this is what you (we) designed them for,

 

[KBennett]

[quote author=KBennett link=topic=7580.msg78399#msg78399 date=1390794738]
I did it and it worked.  I have to say though that my tank was very young at the time and I didn't have many corals.  I just kept lights off, closed the blinds in the room, and hung towels to block the light.

I had black (very, very black) cyano, hunter green cyano, and the common red cyano.  I never saw the black or green again after the lights out.  Red came back a month or so later.

I tried it again several months later and it did not work as well.

Ok, I'm not trying to say that it didn't work for you but your comment kind of contradicts itself....


[/quote]

It worked for two types of cyano, and temporarily for the red - once...  I didn't want to say it worked for good or that it worked every time.

 

[Pistol]

I fed my fish daily in ambient light, after the blackout let ambient light in for a couple hours then start with reduced lighting and shorter period for a day then bring it back to normal over the next 24 hrs.

 

[Boga]

Thank you all for feedback. I will use bags to cover the glass and towels for the canopy to minimize the condensation in DT. I will leave some aeration spots. I have to improvise something, maybe I'll use a fan. I think there should be enough gas exchange via skimmer and turbulences in the drain to keep the oxygen level for fish. I will monitor the pH and if it goes too low, I can add little bit of buffer.


I am doing this because I want to help the system in clearing out the plague, especially the dinoflagellates. I have traces of cyanobacteria in my refugium. No issues in sump.

Currently I feed:
1x3" seaweed sheet
and one  of the following (in rotation):
- less than half cube of frozen Mysis (rinsed), or
- one pinch of pellets, or
- chopped raw shrimp (equivalent of less than half cube), or
- chopped raw scallop (equivalent of less than half cube)

Once in a while I spot feed phytoplankton.

RODI water, HC-GFO, carbon, dosing Ca, Alk, sometimes Mg.

Other than the above and I do not dose/feed anything else.


Still not decided what to do with the cheato. I have a huge amount of chaeto and if it dies, then I am in trouble. Would 3 days of darkness kill it? Or I should move it to QT?

 

[Poseidon]

For Dino's I've done the 3 day blackout with peroxide and within a week they were back again, I wouldn't do it again.

For cyano, there's easier ways the make it disappear than 3 days of darkness, -

Siphon it out
In the process do a large water change, cut back abit of feedings, and look Into so sort of po4 removal if you don't already have some, if you do, then simply change it out.

I don't think the 3 days of darkness will do much for you. But that's just my opinion

 

[KBennett]

I see Bogas point...  It looks like he has already solved a problem with phosphates.  Does lower phosphates kill existing algaes?  My guess is no.  If he doesn't do anything about it, then he has to wait for the algae that's there to die of old age.  As long as he keeps nutrients down, even if it comes back it won't be as bad. 
If it is a really bad case, the cyano can block out oxygen from the sand bed and cause issues.  In that case, it may be better to try to speed things along, but in a case like that, syphoning is a bad idea.
Lots of people try the lights out thing and ive never heard anything bad happening.  It doesn't always work, but it is a tool that can be used.

 

[Boga]

Breaking news folks. While you were posting helping me, I ran three (3) tests with Hanna Phosphorous ULR. I received a new reagent from Hanna Canada and in average my PO4 was 0.0061 ppt. No kidding. It was an average of 2 ppb Phosphorous.

So phosphates are not an issue anymore.

 

[Duke]

then i would just stick with manual removal until its ran its course, if your infact that low, which is really low.. then the issues should go away fairly quickly.

 

[Poseidon]

Breaking news folks. While you were posting helping me, I ran three (3) tests with Hanna Phosphorous ULR. I received a new reagent from Hanna Canada and in average my PO4 was 0.0061 ppt. No kidding. It was an average of 2 ppb Phosphorous.

So phosphates are not an issue anymore.

That's really strange, I know people who swear p04= cyano,
And for me personally I can tell if my p04 is out of wack cuz I'll get red cyano,
Then I changeout my gfo and it disappears...

I'm sure nitrates must have a role in it all too, what are yours at?

 

[Boga]

Nitrates are not detected by my single Nitrate kit made by API. Please don't say it. I know it.

I have about 20 gallons of chaeto in refugium and I believe that it does a good job. Again, I don't have a decent tester and I can't quantify how much.

So to recap:
DT has dinoflagellates or whatever those things are. There is no cyanobacteria anymore.
Refugium has traces of red cyano. There are no dino's.
Sump is clear, no problems. The sump does not have a light.

 

[umbis]

I used Ultra Algea X for Dinos on my previous tank. It worked in 1 dose with zero effect on corals/fish. The Dinos were really bad and never came back after that.

 

[nexusnight]

Algea x does wonders for Dino's .  I have a small cyano problem but I'm sure it's attributed to high nitrates considering my phosphates are 0. Just siphon it out like others have said. It seems to just come back whith all other methods including chemical warfare lol. If ur params are all in check it'll go away on its own. Also making sure u have good flow in the problem areas helps a lot because cyano likes very little flow imo


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[Reef Hero]

Algea x does wonders for Dino's .  I have a small cyano problem but I'm sure it's attributed to high nitrates considering my phosphates are 0. Just siphon it out like others have said. It seems to just come back whith all other methods including chemical warfare lol. If ur params are all in check it'll go away on its own. Also making sure u have good flow in the problem areas helps a lot because cyano likes very little flow imo


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Good advice.... We all battle cyano.

 

[Reef Hero]

For anyone with a "mature" tank who is battling cyano, algae, or has high po4 or nitrates.... Here is my recommended ideas...
First, look at your rodi and make sure all filters and media are good... Yes, this will involve testing your rodi because just simply looking at the unit or water is not going to tell you anything.
Second, cut back on feeding or maybe even quit feeding for a few days... As a reefer we have to stop and ask ourselves.... Are we feeding the fish or are we feeding the corals... Yes I realize obviously we are actually feeding the fish but our end goal is to actually use this method to indirectly feed our corals too... So something to think about there...
3rd, crank up the exportation methods.... This is GFO, carbon, skimmer, and perhaps whatever method you use for ULNS.... I would not actually touch your ULNS method unless absolutely required....
Lastly, keep an eye on the tank and watch the unwanted pests or parameters while you are doing the above.... But don't expect to see fast results..... It can take time....

 

[Boga]

Thank you all for replies.
I kind of narrowed down my problem with cyano in the refugium. Low flow due to overcrowded space, very old T5 bulbs and mainly lack of maintenance. Plenty of detritus on my rocks and bottom. I focused all my maintenance on DT and neglected the refugium. Working on it.

@umbis & nexusnight: Thanks much for confirmation. I know about Algea X and I've read good reviews about it. And I do have it on hand if needed. Two reasons for hesitation:
1. I want to try the blackout first; it is more "natural" .... if we can say that.
2. In order to be efficient the entire system must be treated. That includes DT, ST and refugium. Dinoflagellate cells are everywhere, even if they do not show up to the naked eye. If I treat the refugium, I have to treat the chaeto, my single way to export Nitrates. I am afraid it could die. Algea X kills macroalgae too.

 

[Boga]

Jan 29, 2014, 7:30 PM
All tanks were covered and lights turned off.