Well I’m back after a long break. My 40 gallon cube had a sever case of green hair algae that was out of control. That was over 6 months ago. I fought the algae as hard as I could but alas I was overwhelmed. I’m cretin I contracted green hair algae from my LFS. I remember looking at a frag and thinking "I should not put that in my tank", But I could not help it. Well I finally gave up the fight and shut the lights of to the reef. I worked 2 years to build my collection in 2 tanks. Well its all gone everything but the chorline alge on the live rock. I lost mushrooms, zoos, a huge clam, and many other stony corals, but it looks like the algae is also gone. Its been dark for at least 6 months.
My question is has anyone had any experience with curing algae with a dark period? and how did it work. Does the algae die with no light or does it just go dormant? Will it come back? Should I dump the live rock and sand and sanities the tank and system? I really really miss my reef tank. Any advise would be appreciated.
It's a horrible battle. I know! I'm sorry to hear about your losses. However, I'd have done it differently. I'm doing so now....
My tank, when switched from seahorse to fish only, broke out REAL bad. I bought some dead "Marco Rock" and took out all the rock in there. You have to get it all at once and even scrub overflows, everything. Then set in the dead rock. This way, you could have kept corals, clams and other stuff in there with lights on.
In the mean time, take the algae covered rock out and remove as much of the HA as you can. You then have to really rinse the heck out of the rock. Remember, the algae was being fed by something. If you swoosh that rock in salt water, you'd be amazed at how much detritus comes out. You then can put the rock in a trash barrel, with salt water and a pump, and let it sit, covered and dark, for a Looong time You HAVE to do water changes and ensure that there is good circulation in there, to remove the nutrients. Some skim, but personally, I see no need for it (at least after the first month or so).
If you simply leave it in the dark for months, the visible hair algae will subside. However, unless the rock is cleaned, and all nutrients removed, there's a good chance that as soon as it hits the light again, you'll have a bloom.
bud, you lost the battle with yourself & your motivational imperative, there's no such thing as losing the battle with your tank,(wow that sounded harsh, its friday so i assure you it wasn't) even with hair algae, yeah it looks like & feels like alot of work, But scrubbing that s%$# out of existance every second day will see a dramatic improvement. Daves 100% correct, its using nutrients to replicate, so identifying the source is paramount, or it will continue to fuel. Look to put it into perspective example - something simple like a crab fight turned into carnage & bodies trapped in or under rocks that you cant see can spark a small outbreak, combine that with a slip in water condition & an over feed, over love situation & your tank now takes a turn of the unsightly kind!
Time to get back on the horse bud & roll up your sleaves & get dirty for a bit!
You HAVE to do water changes and ensure that there is good circulation in there, to remove the nutrients. Some skim, but personally, I see no need for it (at least after the first month or so). 
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back! I agree with the nutrient sink theory and would do lots of swishing to get the rocks cleaned out.
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