hydrogen peroxide and GHA death

[toytech]

So i all know how much we all hate GHA its a real pain , especialy when it gets on your corals.Ive been doing some reading on dipping things like zoas ,rics ,and duncans in a solution of 3% hydrogen peoxide , so i mixed some up last night at a 5:1 ratio of tank water to HP and dipped some pallys that had GHA inbetween them that just wouldent go away .I let the fiz for about 5 min and low and behold today the pallys are open and the GHA is DEAD ha! Tried it again tonight on some zoas and a duncan and already the GHA is wilting and bleachingand the corals seem ok . Oh and ya i know control phosphates no algea yada, yada,yada but i thought it was a neat trick and that i should share
(disclaimer if you try this and your corals die or something no letter bombs please and if your gonna come and punch me please do it between 3 and 5 pm thanks)

[Rogue951]

no offence but can someone else verify this? =)
cause I REALLY have thick green hair algae issues. the only thing that will remotely touch it are urchins. but they strip the thing down to the rock, uncluding the coraline.

[ALang]

Same here. I'd like to know too.
What about HA on hard corals?

[Borderjumper]

no offence but can someone else verify this? =)
cause I REALLY have thick green hair algae issues. the only thing that will remotely touch it are urchins. but they strip the thing down to the rock, uncluding the coraline.

Why don't you take out a small piece of rock and give it a try? that's the only way you will know for sure.

[toytech]

wouldent try it on sps but everything else is probably tough enough to take it ,my corals are all ok today and the gha is not so go and try it for yourself .Some guys are even dosing their tanks with the stuff to kill algea but im not ready to try that yet.

[toytech]

oh side note coraline goes kinda whit after you dip it so if your looking for some way to kill gha and not coraline this probably isint the way.

[lockrookie]

experimenting with this on my 50g tank...willpost resultsasi get them good or disasterous.

[ottoman]

What is hydrogen peroxide? Where can you buy the solution?

[RuGlu6]

What is hydrogen peroxide? Where can you buy the solution?

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii171/spinachandhoney/CIMG3523.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide
.
You can buy it in Superstore for $3.00 or so.

[reefwars]

this has been going around for a while now i dont know many who have tried it but ive heard of this a long time ago. id be worried about long term effects or what it does to sensitive corals,inverts and bacteria before i started dipping any liverock. not a big fan of chemical fixes..

[phi delt reefer]

it works - lots of people (inc. Melev) dose directly into their tanks to control all types of algae. It ups your REDOX. Just need to be carefule and make sure you do in in a high flow area.

[lockrookie]

this has been going around for a while now i dont know many who have tried it but ive heard of this a long time ago. id be worried about long term effects or what it does to sensitive corals,inverts and bacteria before i started dipping any liverock. not a big fan of chemical fixes..

im not a fan of it either but im less of a fan of my GHA which has burdened me since ive started my tank last sept. its my 50g and i have mixed up 45g of fresh salt water just in case of emergency water changes.

so far the water column is definately much clearer which is one of the effectsi read about. i thought it was clear before but it is more so now. but in two days i havent noticed any die off of hair algea as of yet. ive only dosed half of what others have been dosing and working my way up slowly. time will tell.

[daniella3d]

I did try the peroxyde dip with a montipora cap and it survived. Polyps are out today and no bleaching. I can't remember what was the dosage I used but it was just enough to get the fizz effect, not more, left it for 2 minutes.

Why don't you take out a small piece of rock and give it a try? that's the only way you will know for sure.

[daniella3d]

chimical fix? long term effect???? this is H2O2 we are talking about...you know..water and oxygen...

this has been going around for a while now i dont know many who have tried it but ive heard of this a long time ago. id be worried about long term effects or what it does to sensitive corals,inverts and bacteria before i started dipping any liverock. not a big fan of chemical fixes..

[asylumdown]

The diluted drug store solutions that people are applying to their tanks are probably not harmful at all to their tanks long term. The algae is being killed because of the relatively high local concentration of peroxide; very likely it's damaging the cell walls of the algae who don't have robust tissues designed to protect them from powerful oxidizers. Make no mistake, it could kill your corals too, but coral death likely requires a higher concentration or longer duration of exposure. It's highly reactive and it decomposes in to oxygen and water, so after a few minutes or the application of lots of flow all you'll be left with is slightly more oxygenated water and whatever stabilizers the manufacturer put in it to prevent it from breaking down on the store's shelf (usually an acid of some sort).

I bet that every coral has a slightly different limit on how much they can be exposed to. Since corals don't come with a 'tolerance to strong oxidizing agents' rating, I probably wouldn't dip a prized Acropora colony in the stuff, but it's been used to control algae and cyano on aquatic plants in the freshwater hobby for years and years, so I don't see the harm in local applications to problem algae spots with the pumps turned off for a few minutes.

[reefwars]

chimical fix? long term effect???? this is H2O2 we are talking about...you know..water and oxygen...



still pretty sure its a chemical compound but hey drink a bottle a see if its just water. and long term effects i mean constantly to the one piece over a long period of time.fact of the matter is its not necessary im not saying im against it im just "not a big fan"

[ColinD]

Been reading this http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-discussion/52084-dinoflagellates-my-experience-h2o2-reefing-tool.html lots of info.

Colin

[daniella3d]

You're funny (I think...)...it's not poison. Actualy this is a very good product to make a dog vomit when you suspect the animal had eaten something bad or poison. Not straight mind you, but mixed with water. But we do not use this straight either in the aquarium and it is much diluted.

I would not drink it simply because first it's stupid, second it would make me too...vomit.

But your reasoning is off...not because it's not poison there is a reason to drink it and not because we cannot drink it without vomiting that it's bad or poison.

It's and oxydizer, just like the red slime remover or potassium permanganate. Some people use it in emergency to bring up the oxygen level in freshwater. It's a very usefull product but of course it must be used with common sense...

It's all about dosage.

still pretty sure its a chemical compound but hey drink a bottle a see if its just water. and long term effects i mean constantly to the one piece over a long period of time.fact of the matter is its not necessary im not saying im against it im just "not a big fan"

[reefwars]

You're funny (I think...)...it's not poison. Actualy this is a very good product to make a dog vomit when you suspect the animal had eaten something bad or poison. Not straight mind you, but mixed with water. But we do not use this straight either in the aquarium and it is much diluted.

I would not drink it simply because first it's stupid, second it would make me too...vomit.

But your reasoning is off...not because it's not poison there is a reason to drink it and not because we cannot drink it without vomiting that it's bad or poison.

It's and oxydizer, just like the red slime remover or potassium permanganate. Some people use it in emergency to bring up the oxygen level in freshwater. It's a very usefull product but of course it must be used with common sense...

It's all about dosage.


agreed its all about the dosage ive been reading plenty on it and theres def alot of good reviews but all the reviews have the same thing in common which is to use it correctly so for someone who is new to the hobby happens to hear through the grape vine hydrogen peroxide will kill your hair algae and decides to dump a undiluted bottle into their tank is probably gonna get an unpleasant surprise.people who are dealing with bad algae problems are most always looking for a quick fix , prob best left for those more experiened with dosing than someone who just wants to get rid of a little green.

im not against it i just dont see the need for it when it comes to algae ,my tank 2mths ago was completely covered in hair algae all my parameters were off the chart from the tank being left at someones house for 2 mths and no one to take care of it, you couldnt see through the glass and all the rock like 100% was conmpletely covered in HA and turf algae......as it stands now 2 mths later i have practically none at all maybe 2" x 2" and even that is dying away fast......no film algae,no algae on my sand and rocks actually look like rocks again.i havent added anything to my tank that wasnt there when it got bad all it took was a regular routine of husbandry and a bit of patience.

i wouldnt use red slime remover either for the record not because it doesnt work which it does just because im not a fan of adding stuff like that to my tank when its really not needed.


the only thing that hits my tank now is new saltwater if i have to add stuff in an emergency than so be it, im not against it just not a fan i prefer a more subtle approach to things and let stuff find its balance which it usually does with the right care:):)

[lockrookie]

i suppose ppl could drink anything. ive heard of ppl drinking lysol and rubbing alchohol.. so it wouldnt surprise me.... but seriously if they are drinking it they have other issues. im dosing my tank for the sake of experiment and need. im tired of taking a tooth brush to my tank every two weeks just to have it grow back more. i realise this is still a bandaid to the situation i think my refugium is causing alot of the problems, it needs a good cleaning...and will be done this week if the twins dont arrive.

but...
a: my skimmer pump fubared and didnt help the situation..
b: i have tried water changes every 2 days lights off and changing my carbon.
c: tank is too small for a tang to munch on it.

so i figured id give it a shot dosing a little every other day with 20% water changes after a week. and when my new skimmer pump arrives. hopefully i can stop and continue normally. but i will say the water column is crystal clear for the time bieng and my corals seem happier thus far.

[toytech]

Lots of people use the stuff as a mouth rinse , Ive tried dosing and it works OK, but Ive found a diluted dip is the best for small frags and rocks that just wont let go of there gha . Its great for getting the algae growing in between zoas that is hard to pull off.

[daniella3d]

in deed, especialy for that anoying and nearly impossible to remove pink hair algae.

Lots of people use the stuff as a mouth rinse , Ive tried dosing and it works OK, but Ive found a diluted dip is the best for small frags and rocks that just wont let go of there gha . Its great for getting the algae growing in between zoas that is hard to pull off.