Do blackouts really help with algae?

The reason i'm going so aggresive is (mostly hair algae)because it's growing thick around the base of some corals and over my gsp causing them to close up(manual removal tomorrow).I have tried every typical method i can think of to taking the proper steps to erradicate this.No disrespect,but i believe at this time,it will not go away without some type of intervention,my first reef tank was ran with tap water,and no skimmer for a year along with being overstocked(just didn't know better then)but never had this persistant of an algae problem ever.It's not bad enough for John's ugly tank contest,but i don't want it to be either. ;D

 

No bad advice here... I've gone through a bout of GHA that was pretty nasty and all but licked it.

It can't hurt to turn the lights off for 48 hours in the meantime. Every time I have done this, there is less algae growth than when the lights are normally on.

I agree that it would also help to do a water change and try to remove as much manually as possible while you have the lights off...

+1 also on sea hares, although, do be careful as a tank as small as yours may starve one over time... I'm sure it would be well fed at first, but just have a long term plan for it. I feed my sea hare nori, and it loves it, btw!

 

I agree,it's all good info and i've tried most of it,im just getting fustrated since it seems the more steps I take foward to fix this,the more research i do,not only is there no improvement,but it appears to be getting worse.When i manually remove I think the algae says "thanks for giving me some more room to grow even better!" But i may very well just go with a lawnmowing team,if I can't beat it,at least,mabey they can keep it at bay.

 

Just wanted to add on this thread

the very 1st time I tried a blanket over, black out with a tank full of softies in the 80s , I did not have the knowledge or experience , or benefit of advice such as above
so all I did was make the tank dark

5 days later the tank was spotless, the rock looked almost new
I was overjoyed to say the least
all my soft corals where like tiny blobs on the rockwork they had contracted that much, but everyone of them made it

then the algaes slowly started coming back

if you dont remove the causes
you cant completely cure the problem

Steve

 

I appreciate it Steve,but that is the problem,i can't locate the sourse of the trouble,if you read the whole thread,i blowup a storm everytime before water changes,(i also do the same in the back"sump"section of the tank,) 0 tds water,low light cycle,low bio load,i can keep on going but it gets redundant after awhile beating my head againt a wall trying to find it.I do know i can put many things in there to eat it,but i'm just mowin grass if i don't locate the sourse of the problem.And it's driving me nuts!!

 

A blackout will only prevent algae from getting the nutrients (read: carbohydrates) that it needs to survive. It will die off becuase of a blackout.

However, everyone else is also right in saying that a blackout alone will not help, because as the algae dies off from starvation, it will release nitrates and phosphates into the water. When the lights come back on, algae will grow using that hyper-fertilized water.

 

Now see,that where i totally agree,i fully understand that dying algae will put nutrients back into the water,my tank water volume is close to 22 gallons total and i change 8 gallons of water(i mentioned earlier that i do 15%)but i guess thats closer to 30%,i test the water before it goes in,i take a powerhead a blow everything off before a wc,i wash the back sump out,and starting this week i'm stepping up to 2 water changes a week,i feed sparingly(i almost feel bad for the fish) I just don't know where else to look,unless 2in10 nailed it with phos leeching from my rocks.I just don't know where else to look.

 

what kind of rocks are they and where'd you get them?

you may want to consider warner marine ecobak biopellets or something similar longterm... it really helped me get my nitrates to zero.

 

When I had my initial GHA attack I used a blanket and completely shut off the light, as opposed to just turning off the lights. About 3 days later the GHA was light green or white (dead). I then used the siphon for a water change and it slurped right up. That might be a easier manual removal if you have a lot. Also do a few water changes in the week after that to suck up all the junk it releases when it dies like everybody says.

Lots of awesome advice here!!

 

It was half and half liverock and base rock. My rock(i don't know where from,but was bought and well established,nice coralline,feather dusters etc.The base i bought off craigs and boiled then let dry in a cooler on my porch for 3 months before i put in the tank.But it is regular reef rock from a tank take down.

Yes it is great advise,i've used alot of it,even helped others with similar problems,usually a culprit can be found and alot of that great advise is great remedies,not only for getting rid of algaes,but improving water quality alltogether.So,i have started my blackout as of last night,covered glass with black trash bag(it's a nano cube,so it has a sealed top)and treated with algeafix,tomorrow,i will do some manual removal and a large water change,i have also dosed the waterchange water with algaefix for the amount i'm changing as not to have a build up and possible overdose,next day-rock scrubbin time! along with another wc of fresh made water,along with following Curts(Inwall)instructions,i plan on basting and changing water water until the water volume has been turned over at least two and 1/2 to 3 times.I'm glad i have a small tank and alot of salt.

Thanks for everyones input,i really appreciate it!