hi,

my question is if i shut off my lights for a few days to kill
my algae (hair algae), will it kill my mushroom coral too?

tracey

I doubt it. I have red, purple and orange mushrooms in my tank, and recently had to shut the lights down for a period of time to kill off the cyano problem I had in my tank. I wouldn't kill the lights completly, just give the tank less light during your lighting period. Instead of 10 hours of light, give them 6 or so. It also depends on what type of algea your dealing with.

thank you for answering me!!!!

Your welcome, but you never stated what type of algea you had. If you have cyano, it's more than just trimming the light cycle down.

it's hair algae and brown algae, and it seems shutting the lights off
is doing the trick

You need to address the origin of the problem or it will just come back when the lights go back on.

It could be phosphates?

Exessive nutrients in the system?

Old lights that the bulbs have changed spectrums?

There are several causes but those are common.

There is a problem causing the hair algae. Turning the lights off for a day is not going to fix it. In the long run it may make it worse, letting only the strongest cells of the bacteria live and reproduce.

that doesn't sound good. however, isn't the presence of algae a good sign
for a newly established tank?