Peroxide saves my Tank! With pics to Prove It!

[Reef Miser]

The soonest I have ever re-dipped was about 7 days. Even when I did that, it was with a substantially less potent concentration of H2O2. That was back when I was first experimenting and was adding about 1/2 cup peroxide to ~4 gallons of water. I would wait to see the corals completely recover before repeating.....just to be safe.

[sammy113]

Just dipped 4 acans that were glued to a rock and had some bryopsis growing. Dipped for 5 mins in 50/50 H2o2/sw. Started bubbling like crazy. Acans looked very pissed after it but the next day acans were fully open and the algae was already dying. 48 hours later there is no trace of bryopsis

So acans held well the torture

[Steviebe]

Well...I tried it on a small rock with briopsis and some palys. I took a small bowl of tank water and added a couple of caps of Hydrogen Peroxide. I let the rock sit in the bath for maybe 10 minutes. Then I put the rock back. I didn't pick off any of the briopsis. The next day it looks like this!

 

http://steviebe.imgur.com/hydrogen_peroxide

 

During next weeks water change I'll try it on some rock with red algae. Hopefully I'll continue to have success with this method. I'm a little nervous about dosing the whole tank though. We'll see...

 

I figure people will be interested to know long term effects of this.

 

So after I dipped it for the first time, the briopsis grew back. I ended up dipping the rock again during my next two weekly water changes. It's been a couple months now and I think it's safe to say that the briopsis has been eradicated from my tank!

[Reef Miser]

^ Awesome news. Good to hear that you got all of it!!

[sanchez]

Final update on my zoa frag:

 

All signs of GHA are completely gone and the coral is thriving once again

 

All because of a two minute dip. Pour some out for the micro brittle that jumped ship when I put the frag in

[brandon429]

so great to read about these tanks.

 

Heres a nice one, a rare organism treated by peroxide.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=279711

 

 

though we don't have accounts of peroxide beating this bacteria specifically, its always nice to start somewhere. I thought the link that was provided to the other site where the scientists had been having trouble with the bacteria showed a neat aspect of peroxide, they might not have known it was the kill all of things we don't like > if we kill it from this tank above in one shot thats pretty sick.

[rollei]

Has anyone dosed a tank with chaeto. Since chaeto is also an algae, I'm wondering if the H2O2 will negatively affect our beneficial algae. Also, what concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide is everyone using? Nobody would use straight H2O2, but there's a concentration on the bottle usually.

[brandon429]

all of them in this thread is 3%

 

I expect it to kill chaeto and any other decorative macro algae if used as a systemic treatment (added to the tank water) or if its used as an outside frag treatment and imported back into the tank due to not being rinsed well. tanks with decorative macro algae are in a tough position.

[imchee]

all of them in this thread is 3%

 

I expect it to kill chaeto and any other decorative macro algae if used as a systemic treatment (added to the tank water) or if its used as an outside frag treatment and imported back into the tank due to not being rinsed well. tanks with decorative macro algae are in a tough position.

 

My chaeto has been reduced from the size of a softball to the size of a ping pong ball since that initial dip treatment several weeks ago. That kinda indicates the strength and length of time that which HP is working. None of my corals have suffered much if at all from my "accidental" dosing.

 

The chaeto has stopped shedding dead material and maybe it will start to rebound soon.

[MitchReef]

Just to add a little fuel to this discussion, I have been plagued with a tough very short maroon turf algae for several years. The stuff has roots in HE[[ and never goes away. Nothing eats it and it spreads like wildfire. Funny thing about it is that it actually thrives best when the Acros are growing the best. Cleaner (low nutrient) water seems to be best for it.

 

I have tried everything I could come up with on this stuff and decided to try peroxide on it...well, guess what???

 

Peroxide (full strength) for 3 minutes makes it turn flourescent orange by the next day, then kinda clear in a couple more days, then gone withing a week of the treatment.

 

Wish I had discovered that a few years ago!

[sammy113]

Good to hear Mitch. Happened the same in my case. When my corals looked healthier the thing was spreading like weeds. I had low nutrients cause was using biopellets and over skimming.

[brandon429]

Same for me mitch. The only reason I took down the first reefbowl that ran from 2001 to 2004 was that red brush algae, it took over everything and i was so frustrated. The solution was in my medicine cabinet the whole time, Id have a 10 year old pico if RM would have spoke up sooner.

 

[Seamonkey84]

I've done the dip on rocks and Zoanthid frags with 50/50 peroxide / tank water and it's done wonders for hair algea and bryopsis; also cleared my tank of dinoflagellates by adding 1-2 ml of peroxide per ten gallons straight to the tank with no ill effect to any corals or macro algae.

[PinkDamsel]

Here's another use for HP:

 

I HATE to have crud in the filter tubes, and clean them every 1-2 wks during water change. But my HOB filter has a U-shaped tube and I can't get at the diatoms and green stuff growing in the cross-piece. Soaked it in HP, then rinsed in water and a week later it's 95% gone.

 

Repeated the treatment and I expect it will be all gone in a week.

[brandon429]

yes I agree its doing similar things for my previously-weekly glass scraping at the upper surface. the same mixture of green haze and brown crud was building up where the air bubbles collect and it used to require firm abrasion with a scouring pad to clear, and it was an hour's work. now once a month I wipe it when drained for a water change, and for the next several weeks it simply stays laser clean! if I would have known this years ago, I wouldn't have years of scratches on this vase and it would still look brand new!

[MitchReef]

I haven't risked a full tank treatment but I have active fuges on my tanks. If I thought my chaetomorpha would survive I would consider it. Anyway, my only real problem is my display tank and I'm tearing it down to store just now anyway. We are getting ready to move out of our house and in with friends for a few months....dammed unemployment....

 

But I do plan to peroxide dip all my rocks prior to starting a long dark cooking session!

Edited September 5, 2011 by MitchReef

[sanchez]

Does H202 kill sponges? I have a zoa frag that's being overtaken by a black sponge and I want to get rid of it, what would be more effective, an H202 dip or simply leaving the frag in open air for a few minutes?

[rbaby]

Awesome, this would have been REALLY helpful about 10 years ago when I had a rock that just had a strong foothold of GHA on one part of it--it never expanded *anywhere* else except there. I scrubbed it and burned it and cooked it and probably everything imaginable but it still stayed as a little tuft that eventually grew back.

 

I eventually tossed the rock and my problem got solved =P

 

Oh, a quick way to clean those pesky U-tube sort of tubing (like those lily pipes) = zip lock with 91% alcohol + kosher salt and slish slosh it around. Then soak it in some RO water to rinse it

Edited September 12, 2011 by rbaby

[brandon429]

I know what u been cleaning with rock salt and alcy lol

 

B

[rbaby]

I know what u been cleaning with rock salt and alcy lol

 

B

 

=D WORKS GREAT ON THAT TOO!

[burnofvengeance]

Just read through this entire thread and I was hoping someone with experience could give me some advice. My tank has been completely over run with algae to the point where I'm contemplating breaking it down and starting over. I was thinking of starting to dose the entire system (34g Solana) with 3-5 ml of h2o2 daily. The algae has already killed off some of my coral so I'm really not concerned as far as that goes.

 

Pics of what I've been dealing with/trying to get rid of for months.

[brandon429]

your tank is absolutely like the first post in this thread, peroxide is perfect. its a simple cheat and it simply works, thanks for posting now lets see the after shots! it will be dead by the weekend, you dont have to tear down the tank. just do exactly what ReefMiser did, pm him if you have any questions and your after pics will look the exact same. once its clean you can take new preventative measures.

 

do a couple nice big water changes during this run, use that extra work to refresh your tank

 

those kinds of corals aren't readily susceptible to peroxide per the ones we've seen in this thread. in these small dilutions it doesn't hurt the fish as well.

 

your after pics will really contribute to the thread thanks for posting.

 

that being said, ideally you'll want to get that dying biomass out of the main tank/ so some degree of hard work/external tank treatments should be considered.

 

taking one rock out at a time and treating/scrubbing the dead growth is a nice option to whole tank treatment as well.

 

there's detritus up under that rock ledge on and in the sandbed, it would be nice for you to clean that all out along with your removal of what the peroxide is about to remove from that rock.

 

Within 48 hours you will notice a shocking difference depending on the dosage used as a systemic treatment. that kind of infestation cannot live in the presence of peroxide, of that Im sure.

Edited September 14, 2011 by brandon429

[burnofvengeance]

your tank is absolutely like the first post in this thread, peroxide is perfect. its a simple cheat and it simply works, thanks for posting now lets see the after shots! it will be dead by the weekend, you dont have to tear down the tank. just do exactly what ReefMiser did, pm him if you have any questions and your after pics will look the exact same. once its clean you can take new preventative measures.

 

do a couple nice big water changes during this run, use that extra work to refresh your tank

 

those kinds of corals aren't readily susceptible to peroxide per the ones we've seen in this thread. in these small dilutions it doesn't hurt the fish as well.

 

your after pics will really contribute to the thread thanks for posting.

 

that being said, ideally you'll want to get that dying biomass out of the main tank/ so some degree of hard work/external tank treatments should be considered.

 

taking one rock out at a time and treating/scrubbing the dead growth is a nice option to whole tank treatment as well.

 

there's detritus up under that rock ledge on and in the sandbed, it would be nice for you to clean that all out along with your removal of what the peroxide is about to remove from that rock.

 

Within 48 hours you will notice a shocking difference depending on the dosage used as a systemic treatment. that kind of infestation cannot live in the presence of peroxide, of that Im sure.

 

Would you suggest dosing with the lights on or off? Or does it really even matter? Would you say 3-5ml is a good daily dose?

 

I will definitely after pics. Thanks for your help.

[Evanski9]

so i ave this hair algae looking stuff on my back wall of my nc24. i cant drain and spot treat because it sits about 3 inches from the sand line. will it work if i take a syringe and squirt it. but its the same as doing a tank dose? im lost what to do.

[brandon429]

Evanski need to see pics to look for collateral damage/corals like xenia etc that may not like the peroxide. depending on pics we may get other treatment options before you make the run.

 

 

For dosing specifics I recommend you pm reefmiser, I haven't done a systemic so I hate to guess but that seems like the resounding dose. You could also do a little less in the name of safety and wait a week for the results, either way it will die certainly.

 

The fastest possible effect you could get, within 10 hours, would be a 75% tank drain and a direct application onto the algae w straight peroxide. either spray it on with a spray bottle or just dropper it on, let it sit 3 mins, then refill. The spray bottle on emersed rock puts less into your system overall, for example, but this still depends on your ability to drian the tank to get at the algae exposed to the air.

Refill the tank then change out another half, ideally, for great export after a spot treatment. These water changes reduce the long term effects of peroxide, its pretty powerful stuff to add to a tank. most don't do the water changes and let it dissociate naturally, I always recommend the extra work safe route.

 

 

If you absolutely can't drain the tank then a systemic will work, but the closer you can get to a non systemic approach the better off you are. one 80% water drain will kill 80% of your algae by tomorrow with a direct application, so if you can pull off the big water change your tank will benefit by that and it will allow you to kill the algae with the least insult to the tank. Todays practices are nearly backwards of old school reef adages, but then again the success of pico and nano reefs opened the door to that kind of thinking.

Edited September 14, 2011 by brandon429