Lights off KILL green hair algae?

[cenzo]

If I was to do a water change to get my tank rid of green hair algae could I shut the lights off for a two to three days
I have 20 Shrooms and a very large Xenia in a 30gal

 

[ChrisRD]

How old is the tank? If it's a newer setup I would not take any drastic action as a bit of hair algae is common in the first few months.

That said, you should be OK turning the lights out for a short time but personally I would look for the source of the problem - nutrients.

Minimizing nutrient input, increasing nutrient export and getting a few grazing critters that eat the algae would be a less stressful and better long-term solution IMO.

 

[LA-Lawman]

ligths only slow growth. hair algae traps detritus and such and then the algae munchs on that. that is why it is hairy. to trap stuff.

goos water change, siphon all the detritus from the hair aglae and then lights off, after two days with no feeding and such. another water change and pull as much algae as you can out. .

you can start feeding but do 25% less. then adjust your feeding and skimming...

you should have a good balance in your tank good parameters and little to no hair algae.

I have one little spot in my tank but that is it. it stays there and goes nowhere else. it doesnt grow very much and i thin it out often. Algaes are good. but these are just not nice to look at.

 

[Anonymous]

algae can live for months without much light. Your other critters will suffer before you make any dent in the hair algae. That's why they are weed.

 

[cenzo]

The tank is about a little more then a year old, everything was going good up until I uesd black powder it seem to spark the hair, its not that bad it seems to staying in one to two spots I just put a yellow tang in and im having no luck.
Would the black powder do this and is a yellow tang the way to go?

Im going to try what LA-Lawman told me to try.

Thanks for all your help..

 

[fyrefysh]

Sorry, I don't think that a 30 gallon is big enough for a yellow tang, they need 120+ gallon aquariums to be happy. I'd say if the black powder is what sparked the problem, then I would dis-continue using it and see if the algae gets any better. I think that a lawnmower blenny would do better for you in reguards to hair algae than a yellow tang would. Just my $.02.