Total blackout

[Cado09]

Hello reefers, I have been in the hobby for many years. Unfortunately I have an outbreak of dinoflagelles since many months. Nitrates are 10 ppm, Po4 are0.03ppm, I have a UV, I dose Dr Tim bacteria etc….
I even try DinosX, but this treatment was hard for my corals and specially urchins: don’t want to use this **** anymore.

Here is my question, I am planning to do a complete blackout for 3 days after siphoning as much as I can.
Is total blackout can be to much stressed for my fishs and coral???

 

[Lavey29]

And what will prevent the dinos from coming right back when lights are back on? If you don't correct the underlying problem then all you get is a temporary bandaid fix. Did you ID your dinos with a microscope?

 

[Cado09]

Yeah your right, NO i did not identify properly what type of dinos is??
But first I will stop using carbon to see if it can help.

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah your right, NO i did not identify properly what type of dinos is??
But first I will stop using carbon to see if it can help.

Carbon doesn't cause dinos. It's most likely your low phosphate. .03 could actually be 0 given the error range of test kits. And to answer your initial question yes blackouts are stressful on tank inhabitants but they can handle a few days without issues.