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Hydrogen Peroxide Experience

Started by Guest_fundulus_* , Jan 06 2007 04:22 PM

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21 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 06 January 2007 - 04:22 PM

People were talking last month about using hydrogen peroxide as an algicide in aquaria. I've recently used it myself in that capacity. My biggest tank, 130 gallons, was finally overrun by hair algae early this fall. The only fish left from what had been a Sipsey Fork theme tank were 3 large blackspotted topminnows, Fundulus olivaceus. This seemed to be a good (and needy!) system to use hydrogen peroxide on. Based on other peoples' experiences, I added 375 milliliters of store-bought 3% hydrogen peroxide to my tank, which probably contains about 120 gallons of water. The effects have been impressive. All of the long flowing hair algae disappeared over the next 3 days, with a build-up of dead brownish-grayish crap on the bottom. The fish showed no obvious stress. A few sprigs of Elodea died, I should have pulled them out. A crusty layer of green algae survived on some of the tank glass which can only be removed by gently scraping it off. But there is still no sign of hair algae returning 3 weeks after application. Maybe I could have added more to kill off the crusty algae, but I erred on the side of not killing the topminnows (who I hope are grateful!). Used carefully this seems to be a pretty effective treatment.

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#2 Guest_AndrewAcropora_*

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Posted 06 January 2007 - 10:14 PM

Just curious, but what filtration devices are being used on this tank? Is the tank in your lab? Can I see it? Lol

I'd be curious to see the water parameters after a tankful of algae disappears. What exactly is the peroxide doing to the algae? Do you not anticipate the algae to return without something to remove the excess nutrients?

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#3 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 07 January 2007 - 10:47 AM

Just curious, but what filtration devices are being used on this tank? Is the tank in your lab? Can I see it? Lol

I'd be curious to see the water parameters after a tankful of algae disappears. What exactly is the peroxide doing to the algae? Do you not anticipate the algae to return without something to remove the excess nutrients?

The peroxide increases oxidative stresses in the algal cells. Animals such as fish can deal with this better both because of having kidneys and livers, and even more importantly having peroxisomes as organelles in the cells especially in the liver. Killing the algae increases the immediate organic load in the tank, but it can be easily removed as dead crap lying on the bottom of the tank. The filtration for the tank is the hanging cannister filter. But I don't think the organic load in the tank was all that high to begin with, since I never had more than a dozen fish in the tank and only fed them once a day, most days of the week. I would have been better off to have cultivated more real plants like Elodea which can out-compete algae for nutrients. So far the algae shows no sign of returning. And yeah, it's the big tank in my upstairs lab which is looking much better already(!).

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#4 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 24 January 2007 - 01:16 PM

Just gave it a whirl. WOW I'm impressed. My dad just sent me java moss from some tanks that I set up in my parents house heres ago. It was full yo a dark brown/blackish algae detritus mix with some hair algae. I have the stuff in a 5 gallon, bare with a sponge filter. I just put in 3 cap fulls of H2O2 about 3 hours ago and nearly all of the algae has removed itself and floated to the surface. The bubbling action was pretty cool to watch too. Seemed to do the trick in this system of mine.

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#5 Guest_Slasher_*

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Posted 25 January 2007 - 01:17 PM

Would that hurt any plants?

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#6 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 25 January 2007 - 06:20 PM

Would that hurt any plants?

Sometimes, but not always. The right dose will affect the algae but not most plants. If in doubt pull out some of the plants.

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#7 Guest_chad55_*

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Posted 25 January 2007 - 09:54 PM

That is some good info...I may have to try that on my 55. My tank is having a hair algea attack right now and I am afraid to add anything with my bass...

Chad

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#8 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 31 January 2007 - 06:35 PM

Would that hurt any plants?

Not many at that dosage, but I'd do as Fundulus says - pull some of your favorites out if you are concerned.

I do know that it will kill Ceratophyllum (hornwort). It desintegrates into tiny bleached pieces.

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#9 Guest_TurtleLover_*

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Posted 01 March 2007 - 10:47 PM

To help kill off the crusty algae on the glass, dose the proper amount of peroxide for your size tank and suck it in to a clean turkey baster or pipette. Use the baster to directly squirt the peroxide at the algae on the glass under water. You should see tiny bubbles on the crusty algae soon. Let it sit for a few hours (overnight would be good) then use a soft bristled brush (like an old toothbrush) to easily clean it away. Algae scrapers work well also, if you have an acrylic tank, use only the toothbrush.

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#10 Guest_viridari_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 07:10 AM

Hydrogen Peroxide is wonderful stuff for an aquarist to have. It has another very important use for me; I use it instead of methylene blue to keep fish eggs from fungusing and it works very effectively in that role.

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#11 Guest_TurtleLover_*

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Posted 02 March 2007 - 11:43 AM

On a side note, be careful with some inverts as well. I used peroxide treatment in one tank that had regular blue mystery snails with no adverse effects to them. I had another tank with an albino mystery snail (my boyfriend used to raise blue mystery snails and one batch came out with a handful of pure white ones with red dots, only one survived), anyway the albino reacted very violently to the peroxide treatment. He began releasing large amounts of mucous where the peroxide must have irritated him. I netted him out ASAP and put him in clean water with slime coat, but I guess the lack of pigmentation caused for thinner skin membrane and the irritation proved too much. Sadly, he didn't make it.

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#12 Guest_nativecajun_*

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Posted 04 March 2007 - 06:52 AM

To help kill off the crusty algae on the glass, dose the proper amount of peroxide for your size tank and suck it in to a clean turkey baster or pipette. Use the baster to directly squirt the peroxide at the algae on the glass under water. You should see tiny bubbles on the crusty algae soon. Let it sit for a few hours (overnight would be good) then use a soft bristled brush (like an old toothbrush) to easily clean it away. Algae scrapers work well also, if you have an acrylic tank, use only the toothbrush.

Nice to see you have migrated over to our site. Hope the bash you recieved on your site because of your article was not to wounding. We, or at least, "I" am very sensitive, and when I feel I have been wronged I tend to over react "sorry". So I hope your experience here is a positive one and glad to have you on board.

Daniel / AKA nativecajun

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#13 Guest_AndrewAcropora_*

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Posted 04 March 2007 - 10:50 AM

I'd like to also point out that without adequate nutrient export, the algae will come back. I would seriously recommend a 20% water change the day following your peroxide treatment. Like Turtlelover pointed out, invertebrates are sensitive to this treatment as well. Don't dose your inverts! I'm also curious as to how this would affect a tank's biological filtration.
I'm seriously dubious to call this an easy fix, but that's my 2cents.

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#14 Guest_mander_*

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Posted 09 August 2008 - 09:07 AM

Just wonder what the "proper" amount might be. If 375 ml for 120 g is on the low side, what would be considered high? How much room for err is there?

Was reading on another thread that bleach in water will lose its harmfulness after standing for 24 hours. Is it the same for the peroxide? Wait a day before putting the plants back in?

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#15 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 09 August 2008 - 11:58 AM

Lots of early springtime threads seem to be popping back up active....

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#16 Guest_mander_*

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Posted 11 August 2008 - 06:46 PM

Lots of early springtime threads seem to be popping back up active....

Well, you're the one you told me to use the search engine! Now that I know how it works, there's no stopping me!

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing! :rolleyes:

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#17 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 01:24 PM

Just wonder what the "proper" amount might be. If 375 ml for 120 g is on the low side, what would be considered high? How much room for err is there?

Was reading on another thread that bleach in water will lose its harmfulness after standing for 24 hours. Is it the same for the peroxide? Wait a day before putting the plants back in?

There doesn't seem to be a published "proper" amount. What I have seen are simply anecdotal reports. I'm sure the amount of room for error depends on the species. So far, I have not had any trouble using 1 oz per 10 gallons (about what you had above) with anything EXCEPT hornwort (Ceratophyllum).

Letting tap water stand for 24 hours was standard practice to get rid of chlorine before chloramines came into popular use as disinfectants for public supplies. I would not use that approach now, since even if a municipality does use simple chlorine, they can switch at any time and you could lose your stock. Peroxide does degrade as it is exposed to light and heat. I would not try aging it however as a means of dissipating it, since I'm not sure how fast it degrades under exactly what conditions. I would not worry about plants; most of them can stand the dosage I use right off the bat.

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#18 Guest_Sombunya_*

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Posted 19 August 2008 - 12:18 AM

Letting tap water stand for 24 hours was standard practice to get rid of chlorine before chloramines came into popular use as disinfectants for public supplies. I would not use that approach now, since even if a municipality does use simple chlorine, they can switch at any time and you could lose your stock.

Actually, switching to Chloramines is somewhat involved. If a municipality is using Chlorine to disinfect then they probably won't make any kind of switch quickly.

A phone call to your water provider can verify this.

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#19 Guest_Bert_*

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Posted 19 August 2008 - 11:29 AM

You can also use Seachem's Excel for algae control (2x-3x recommended dosage) works great. Gluteraldehyde, which may be one of the ingredients in Excel also works. You might these useful:

http://www.aquaticpl...rid-all-my.html
http://www.aquaticpl...tead-excel.html
http://www.aquaticpl...ment-algae.html

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#20 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 19 August 2008 - 11:31 AM

Actually, switching to Chloramines is somewhat involved. If a municipality is using Chlorine to disinfect then they probably won't make any kind of switch quickly.

A phone call to your water provider can verify this.

It is somewhat involved on the municipality's side, yes. But on the consumer side, one often doesn't know what is going on until fish start turning up dead. It takes a lot of planning to make the switch, but most people don't know about it. So you can be merrily using a simple dechlorinator for years, then the new system is finally turned on and fish go belly up. I have personal experience with this. If you want to use a simple dechlorinator (or let the water sit), I would call every couple years to see if they have plans to switch. I think it would just be easier to get something that neutralizes chloramines instead.