Black out

[Bevo5]

I've got a minor Dino issue on the sand bed. Just can't kick that light brown dusting and it's driving me nuts and it's killing all my snails. I was thinking about dosing hydrogen peroxide but obviously it's a bit scary to add anything to the tank.

 

So next option is just a three day total blackout. The tank is in the basement so I just have to cover two windows and thats it. Pretty easy.

 

Question - it's a fully loaded reef with sps and lps. Will they manage the three days?

 

I got to the source of the issue and have changed old rodi filters and gotten nitrates and phosphates way down as well as lowering my overall bio load, so I feel like I just need something to kick them out one last time.

[PowderBlue]

In my experience the sps and lps will be fine, I've done it in the past, but the problem is it usually comes back. It can be difficult but finding the culprit is the only way to really get rid of them. I did some research and a lot of people do blackouts every few months just to keep things like sand bed, frags etc clean. Doing it to rid nuisance algae usually is a band aid though. Since you've found the source it might be the last step I'd definitely try it.

 

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Edited November 28, 2016 by PowderBlue

[Bevo5]

Yeah, there were a variety of issues stemming from a lot of travel that I was doing. My nitrates were very high, my phosphates were pretty high, my RODI filters hadn't been changed in a while and I had a huge bio load. So I'm thinking the cause was more or less just poor husbandry and high nutrient levels. 

 

I've tried to address each of those issues independently with new RO filters, a phosban reactor, dosing nopox, limited feeding schedule, and removing a good chunk of bio load. 

 

With those steps I've gotten nitrate down around 10 (tested after 7 days before a water change) and phosphates down to between .06-.08 (which is still high but much better than the .25 I was getting earlier). 

 

I figure I will try to blackout to just knock it all out and then work on keeping nutrients super low and just see what happens...

 

Thanks.

[Bevo5]

Basement windows blacked out.

 

Going to let them go through night cycle and cut off lights in the morning. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

[Bevo5]

Update for anybody who might be interested in black out:

 

Just about 48 hours into it....and this is pretty unnerving. I've gone down each morning/night to just take a quick look at things with a small flash light and we're in total shutdown mode. Every fish is slipped in between some rocks and the corals are all closed up. But...this is what people suggest doing every few months so I'm just going to power through until tomorrow.

 

PH has remained very steady at about 7.9 - which is the night time level I reach....a bit on the low side, I know, but I'm just glad it isn't continuing to drop down. 

 

Skimmer pulling some good gunk. Nothing crazy though.

 

I'm going to put the moon lights back on at 10% tomorrow night...then run the full lights at 20% on Friday, 40% Saturday. 50% Sunday and we're done.

[Paratore]

Don't sweat it, the corals and fish will be fine! Done 72 hour black outs on three separate tanks and never lost a single piece. It's just as if a storm hits out in the ocean and everything goes dark. All the little critters will be ok

 

Edit: even done a black out combined with chemiclean on two of the three tanks and still didn't loose anything, your stuff should be just fine

 

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Edited December 1, 2016 by Paratore

[Bevo5]

So - lights are back on (20% moonlight morning after a 5% all night warm up). Corals opened right up - as in, right before my eyes. They were ready.

 

Fish are all good - hungry. 

 

Only issue is my pair of Naso tangs seem to have forgotten each other existed. The female is absolutely brutalizing the male. Started as chasing around and this morning the male is tucked up in his corner just beaten to hell. Hopefully they've worked out their domestic issues and he'll just need a day or two to feel right again.

 

Otherwise - water is crystal clear....as in eerily clear. 

 

Now we just have to wait and see if the sand turns brown.