I have a 10 gallon freshwater aquarium, and I finally figured out my green cloudy water problem! So, I want to preform a blackout to see if the lighting is the issue. how do I exactly do this? I think you have to do a big water change, cover it with black bags, wait 4 days, and then uncover it only to feed the fish, until the 4 days are up? I have a power head filter and hood top, how do i cover the top? am I right about the water changes? Are my fish ok in the darkness? (1 guppy, 3 rasboras, 3 neon tetras) thanks
Have you been using ph up or ph down in powder form? This gives the aquarium phosphates which help alge thrive. 40% water change dose the trick and a further in another weeks time and your tank will be great. Go to the local aquarium they will tell you how much phospates are in your water. :)
There are 2 ways to do a blackout. If the tank is in an inactive part of your house, simply keep all the blinds/curtains shut and don't turn on any lights near the tank. That's the simplest way and yes your fish will be fine. Another simple way is to do a partial water change, of course with conditioner, and cover the tank. I personally used black construction paper. Also, during the black out, cut back on feeding to the minimum to cut down on the nutrients during the black out, so it will be effective faster. I'd do a black out for 2-3 days and see what it looks like. It depends on the tank parameters and how bad the algae is will depend on how long you need to black out. The fish should be fine, though.
