# hydrogen peroxide dosing?



## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

hey everyone ihave she algae growing and it seems to be BBA? not to sure but im thinking of using h2o2 to fight off the algae but not to sure what the proper way to do it? ikno some ppl just our some in a bottle and spray to affected area but I feel there's more to it?
I also have some shrimp and horn snails.

will they be affected in any way?
thanks for advice!

heres a photo of the algae


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Excel works better on BBA. just spot treat it with a syringe. Make sure you keep your co2 high if your using it or else it will eventually come back


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

okay, is there a specific amount of excel that I should dose? or just fill a syringe till its full and spot treat?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

I don't dose more than 1ml per gallon of aquarium water. So on my 20g, I'll dose no more than 20mls a day. Turn off all filtration/powerhead a and wait a minute for the water to stop moving. Put some excel into the syringe and very slowly squirt it onto the affected areas. I believe excel is heavier than water so it will sink or lay on whatever surface you squirt it on. Now leave your filter off for 15-20 minutes than turn them back on. Within 24 hours it should turn pink, than begin to turn white from there and die. Just remember BBA is usually caused by low or fluctuating co2 levels. What are your parameters btw? Are you running co2?


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

I'm a noob but 1ml per gallon seems like a LOT. We don't know if this person has inverts and you don't even mention a water change. -Maybe I'm wrong but wow I would be really careful using that much.

I've been using H202 (hydrogen peroxide) lately to battle several spots in my 40. So far I'm finding a syringe with some air line tubing to spot treat the best. I've tried the spray bottle but the first one was junk (dollar store). The second seemed to work better but I'm still not sure it worked as well as the syringe/tubing. I dose just the spots after turning the filter off, wait an un-scientific amount of time that varies, and then run just the power head for 10-20 minutes before turning the canister back on. 

Some attacks call for using 1-3ml of peroxide for full tank dosing but also state strong flow within the aquarium should be used (not your filter), than finish with a water change....but this is just what I have read so I'm regurgitating information like anyone else...


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

I turn off my filters and spray it on with a turkey baster. Let it bubble and work for about 20-25 minutes then turn filters back on. Repeat until the algae is dead. BBA may take 2-3 treatments, most other algae die with one.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

TekWarren said:


> I'm a noob but 1ml per gallon seems like a LOT. We don't know if this person has inverts and you don't even mention a water change. -Maybe I'm wrong but wow I would be really careful using that much.
> 
> I've been using H202 (hydrogen peroxide) lately to battle several spots in my 40. So far I'm finding a syringe with some air line tubing to spot treat the best. I've tried the spray bottle but the first one was junk (dollar store). The second seemed to work better but I'm still not sure it worked as well as the syringe/tubing. I dose just the spots after turning the filter off, wait an un-scientific amount of time that varies, and then run just the power head for 10-20 minutes before turning the canister back on.
> 
> Some attacks call for using 1-3ml of peroxide for full tank dosing but also state strong flow within the aquarium should be used (not your filter), than finish with a water change....but this is just what I have read so I'm regurgitating information like anyone else...


A water change for what? Excel breaks down after about 8 hours and becomes inert. I've never found a water change afterwards to be needed, especially since I have a tank full of RCS and have never observed a single ill effect. I like to make sure it stays in the water as long as possible to make sure it's doing it's work on the algae. I'd be nervous at anything over 1ml per gallon, but 1ml per gallon is on the lower side of what I've seen some people dose. Ive used higher doses in the past without issue, but all tanks are different and hey...you never know. H202 also works well. It's much cheaper than excel, but I find excel just seems to kill the BBA faster and more effectively than H202. Peroxide works great for me on hair algae. Kills it in one treatment


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

find username: DARKCOBRA>. he has an awesome thread on hydro. perox


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> I don't dose more than 1ml per gallon of aquarium water. So on my 20g, I'll dose no more than 20mls a day. Turn off all filtration/powerhead a and wait a minute for the water to stop moving. Put some excel into the syringe and very slowly squirt it onto the affected areas. I believe excel is heavier than water so it will sink or lay on whatever surface you squirt it on. Now leave your filter off for 15-20 minutes than turn them back on. Within 24 hours it should turn pink, than begin to turn white from there and die. Just remember BBA is usually caused by low or fluctuating co2 levels. What are your parameters btw? Are you running co2?


iam dosing co2 but ibeleive ihave it 3-4 bps. in the bubble counter its going pretty fast. but I feel like co2 is more on one side than the other


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

imean ihave injected co2


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

MERSF559 said:


> iam dosing co2 but ibeleive ihave it 3-4 bps. in the bubble counter its going pretty fast. but I feel like co2 is more on one side than the other


Yeah poor circulation could be an issue. Is the algae isolated to one general area?


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> Yeah poor circulation could be an issue. Is the algae isolated to one general area?


the algae seems to only be on the left side where my drift wood is at.

it seems to grow more on the wood than the plants?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

MERSF559 said:


> the algae seems to only be on the left side where my drift wood is at.
> 
> it seems to grow more on the wood than the plants?


That area of the tank might be getting poor circulation and poor co2 distribution overall. You could try adding a small powerhead pointed to that area to help distribute the co2 better. Or try adjusting your filters outflow if you have a canister.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> That area of the tank might be getting poor circulation and poor co2 distribution overall. You could try adding a small powerhead pointed to that area to help distribute the co2 better. Or try adjusting your filters outflow if you have a canister.


imight buy a small power head. any suggestions on which one I should get that's a lil cheap?


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> A water change for what? Excel breaks down after about 8 hours and becomes inert. I've never found a water change afterwards to be needed, especially since I have a tank full of RCS and have never observed a single ill effect. I like to make sure it stays in the water as long as possible to make sure it's doing it's work on the algae. I'd be nervous at anything over 1ml per gallon, but 1ml per gallon is on the lower side of what I've seen some people dose. Ive used higher doses in the past without issue, but all tanks are different and hey...you never know. H202 also works well. It's much cheaper than excel, but I find excel just seems to kill the BBA faster and more effectively than H202. Peroxide works great for me on hair algae. Kills it in one treatment



Still seems like a lot but I think I am confusing measurements and strengths. I use metricide and when daily dosing I never use more than 1ml per 10 gallons but I realize it is stronger. The h2o2 is working well for me after multiple treatments.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

TekWarren said:


> Still seems like a lot but I think I am confusing measurements and strengths. I use metricide and when daily dosing I never use more than 1ml per 10 gallons but I realize it is stronger. The h2o2 is working well for me after multiple treatments.


Yeah I try to avoid metricide and algaefix. It's alot easier to make a mistake with those. H202 is probably the safest option even though you can still overdose it. Excel is probably the second safest next to H202. Excels biggest problem is it is expensive and easier to overdose if you're not careful. Best to do treatments every other day to observe if the previous treatments are working and actually killing the algae. Plus the OP said he keeps shrimp. If I remember correctly I believe metricide can make female shrimp infertile over time or lose eggs. Algaefix is toxic to shrimp and snails too. Best bet is probably excel or h202. I would see how h202 works and move up to excel if need be.


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## brogan (Jan 16, 2012)

The Trigger said:


> That area of the tank might be getting poor circulation and poor co2 distribution overall. You could try adding a small powerhead pointed to that area to help distribute the co2 better. Or try adjusting your filters outflow if you have a canister.


I have my doubts about the flow/bba relationship. I get bba on my Eheim Classic spray bar (which has a high CO2 concentration from the reactor) and on my Hydor Evolution pumps. I believe flow helps distribute CO2 and nutrients across the leaves, but it is not a panacea for getting rid of bba.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

this hobby brings lots of wonder and issues lol


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> Yeah I try to avoid metricide and algaefix. It's alot easier to make a mistake with those. H202 is probably the safest option even though you can still overdose it. Excel is probably the second safest next to H202. Excels biggest problem is it is expensive and easier to overdose if you're not careful. Best to do treatments every other day to observe if the previous treatments are working and actually killing the algae. Plus the OP said he keeps shrimp. If I remember correctly I believe metricide can make female shrimp infertile over time or lose eggs. Algaefix is toxic to shrimp and snails too. Best bet is probably excel or h202. I would see how h202 works and move up to excel if need be.


I was using metricide daily for a while but I've been playing with DIY yeast C02 for several months and think I finally have an amount/schedule that is working for me. I'm running 3 2liters on my 40B with 1/8 yeast and 2 cups sugar and one bottle gets changed each week. To fight my BBA I've been spot treating with H202 every other day or couple days, and this week I've been dosing 3ml of metricide every morning to top it off. A lot of the BBA is dieing off so it seems to be working. I will probably drop off the metricide treatments after this week again. The DIY isn't the best but I can for sure tell that it is benefiting the plants...I'm still on the fence if I want to go presurized or no C02 for the long term on this tank.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

TekWarren said:


> I was using metricide daily for a while but I've been playing with DIY yeast C02 for several months and think I finally have an amount/schedule that is working for me. I'm running 3 2liters on my 40B with 1/8 yeast and 2 cups sugar and one bottle gets changed each week. To fight my BBA I've been spot treating with H202 every other day or couple days, and this week I've been dosing 3ml of metricide every morning to top it off. A lot of the BBA is dieing off so it seems to be working. I will probably drop off the metricide treatments after this week again. The DIY isn't the best but I can for sure tell that it is benefiting the plants...I'm still on the fence if I want to go presurized or no C02 for the long term on this tank.


DIY co2 was always a nightmare for me. Total algae factory. The violent temperature swings in the summer during the day were making it extremely inconsistent so in turn I was getting a tank full of BBA. Once I went pressurized I never got it on anything more than some anubias leaves in small amounts


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

brogan said:


> I have my doubts about the flow/bba relationship. I get bba on my Eheim Classic spray bar (which has a high CO2 concentration from the reactor) and on my Hydor Evolution pumps. I believe flow helps distribute CO2 and nutrients across the leaves, but it is not a panacea for getting rid of bba.


Yeah mine too sometimes. Where it shows up just doesn't make sense sometimes haha. I've even gotten it on my co2 diffuser:icon_eek:


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## cbachmann (Aug 6, 2013)

I dunno about you guys, but in my experience, excel is both safer and more effective. I dose excel on a sporadic basis, but it helps me keep the tank nearly algae free, even when I abuse the hell out it. H2O2 on the other hand bit me in the ass the one time I tried to use it to get rid of some hair algae that was running rampant. Killed off 10$ worth of nerites :frown:, though it didn't seem to have any affect on the fish... That said, the excel, combined with some more intelligent tank management, helped me eliminate the hair algae. Just my 2 cents.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

would excel or even h2o2 affect my shrimp that ihave? ihave about 5 fire red shrimp and 4 nerite snails. and other nuisance snails that idont mind getting them killed lol ikno you said yours were affected


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

MERSF559 said:


> would excel or even h2o2 affect my shrimp that ihave? ihave about 5 fire red shrimp and 4 nerite snails. and other nuisance snails that idont mind getting them killed lol ikno you said yours were affected


You definitely want to try and avoid direct contact with snails and inverts. I know with my H202 treatments, I have apparently hit some ramshorn snails that are now not doing so well :\


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> DIY co2 was always a nightmare for me. Total algae factory. The violent temperature swings in the summer during the day were making it extremely inconsistent so in turn I was getting a tank full of BBA. Once I went pressurized I never got it on anything more than some anubias leaves in small amounts


The temps in my house are very consistent so that should not be to much of an issue for me. I do believe that the DIY C02 did spark my BBA but because I got lazy for a while with refreshing my yeast bottles. I've got myself on a strict schedule of replacing one each week and using a bit more yeast in the recipe has proven to give me a lot more output. I get quit a lot of bubbling in the bottles through the full 3 weeks now that each one runs for before a refresh.

Definitely agreed pressurized is better. I think I'm winning the BBA battle but if not, I will likely ditch the DIY and go back to metricide until I feel I can make the investment in a pressurized setup.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

im going to buy some excel today and try excel out first for spot treatments. today is my day for water change. would it bro good to do the treatment then do water change after wards? or wait after ido the water change then do treatment?

iwas also interested in buying some fish from lfs today as well. should I wait to buy them ?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

TekWarren said:


> The temps in my house are very consistent so that should not be to much of an issue for me. I do believe that the DIY C02 did spark my BBA but because I got lazy for a while with refreshing my yeast bottles. I've got myself on a strict schedule of replacing one each week and using a bit more yeast in the recipe has proven to give me a lot more output. I get quit a lot of bubbling in the bottles through the full 3 weeks now that each one runs for before a refresh.
> 
> Definitely agreed pressurized is better. I think I'm winning the BBA battle but if not, I will likely ditch the DIY and go back to metricide until I feel I can make the investment in a pressurized setup.


What do you use as a diffuser? I just piped it into my filter intake and never had consistent results


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

The Trigger said:


> What do you use as a diffuser? I just piped it into my filter intake and never had consistent results



I had very bad luck going directly into the tank as well. DIY couldn't push through a glass diffuser and if I had it very deep in the tank it could barely push through the airline alone. This was when I was started with 1 bottle.

My dad actually bought a couple of those Ista max mix reactors...the large ones, and gave me one. They are pretty cheap I think. I put it inline with return of my canister filter, added as second yeast bottle and right away noticed the results. I now use 3 bottles and get decent growth, not as fast as what pressurized could offer but really for me the rate seems manageable. Anyway, the ista unit really made the difference. The DIY tubing feeds it much more regularly without much back pressure to fight. The device is consistently full of swirling bubbles providing much better CO2 contact with the water. 

I get some micro bubbles coming out through the return but it comes out with the force of the return water so whatever isn't dissolved in the ista still gets shot around the tank and can be used.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

TekWarren said:


> I had very bad luck going directly into the tank as well. DIY couldn't push through a glass diffuser and if I had it very deep in the tank it could barely push through the airline alone. This was when I was started with 1 bottle.
> 
> My dad actually bought a couple of those Ista max mix reactors...the large ones, and gave me one. They are pretty cheap I think. I put it inline with return of my canister filter, added as second yeast bottle and right away noticed the results. I now use 3 bottles and get decent growth, not as fast as what pressurized could offer but really for me the rate seems manageable. Anyway, the ista unit really made the difference. The DIY tubing feeds it much more regularly without much back pressure to fight. The device is consistently full of swirling bubbles providing much better CO2 contact with the water.
> 
> I get some micro bubbles coming out through the return but it comes out with the force of the return water so whatever isn't dissolved in the ista still gets shot around the tank and can be used.


That's a good idea. Always wanted to make a DIY reactor but never got around to it


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=24117

$12 for the large I think you can use it in tank also.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

is that only for canister filter set ups?


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## urbach (Apr 16, 2009)

MERSF559 said:


> is that only for canister filter set ups?


Nope. You can use with Power head if you want. It serve as internal or external reactor. Good and cheap.


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## MERSF559 (Oct 18, 2013)

urbach said:


> Nope. You can use with Power head if you want. It serve as internal or external reactor. Good and cheap.


is there any vids on how to set it up? I might look into it


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