How long to do a black out?

[cichlidcichlid]

How long do you black out the tank for? It has been going for 3 days now and I wasn't sure if I should go for the fourth or not. I want to make sure I complete killed it so I wasn't sure if I should opt for one more day.

 

[jbradt]

it depends on why you're doing the blackout I think. I don't think one more day will hurt though.

 

[cichlidcichlid]

I want to get rid of cyanobacteria as well as some green algae.

It took me a whole hour to cover the tank so I want to do it once.

 

[BV77]

I'd let it go a week...I only turn the light on for an hour or so to feed. Then after a week the cyano will vacuum right up. Do a water change and correct the problem that caused they cyano break out to begin with.

 

[cichlidcichlid]

So you would leave the lights off longer than a week just to make sure it doesn't relapse?

 

[dundadundun]

normally it's recommended 3-5 days. really it's however long it takes. a week isn't a bad time to finish up if your algae is tough...

 

[cichlidcichlid]

I finished with the blackout on the fourth day. At the moment I left the tank lights off. For some reason there still seems to be some green algae on the java ferns. Do you think if the rest of the tank is free of algae I should just treat the individual plants that are still affected?

 

[zzyzx85]

For BGA (cyanobacteria), I've heard of people doing week long blackout.

 

[cichlidcichlid]

Is it technically called a blackout if you remove all of the material covering the outside of the tank? The tank is currently not covered but I have still let the lights off. Will this be sufficient enough to kill it?

Also for some reason my plants took off and grew like crazy when I had the tank totally covered. I must have grown at least a few inches in just 4 days. How is this possible?

 

[dundadundun]

is it bga? if it is and you don't have much manual removal and keeping your nitrates up should do the trick (unless your lights are way to bright).

either way... if it's only on a couple plants it can be treated without blacking the tank out.