# H2O2 curing BBA



## OrangeAugust (Jul 26, 2012)

Hello,
So, I have a black beard algae infestation. It's all over my anubias plants and my rocks. It started around the time that I changed my lighting to LED's and also around the same time I dosed my tank with Leaf Zone, so idk if that threw off the water chemistry. Anyway, I recently read about getting rid of BBA with Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2). The good thing is that since I downsized to a smaller tank recently, I haven't planted my plants yet. I read about spot treating the areas that have the algae. BUT since I haven't planted my plants yet, I thought I could mix the ratio of H2O2 and water and dip them... So I did that but I left the plants in the bucket with the water and hydrogen peroxide for a couple of hours. some of the algae was able to be rubbed off slightly after that (it wouldn't budge before that), but they all still have a lot on them. Then I put the plants back in my main tank. Anyway, my question is, could I have kept the plants in the water/h2o2 mixture(?) for longer than a couple of hours? I read online about terrestrial plants benefiting from hydrogen peroxide, but mostly it talked about spraying them. I don't know how that compares to aquatic plants being submerged in the stuff for maybe days- until I really see the stuff dying.
Anyway,
1. is the H2O2 method a good method?
2. Can I leave all of those plants in a bucket with water and hydrogen peroxide for an extended period of time (maybe days at a time)?

Thanks!


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## pauliewoz (Sep 22, 2015)

It should not take so long to kill it.

When I used h2o2 to kill BBA I would just squirt a bit of it with a syringe on the affected area for about two to three days and it would die. 

You know it's working when you see it fizzing. It usually turns red first and then white. At which point my fish get at it and remove it completely.

Maybe you didn't add enough of it to the water.

If you haven't planted it yet you can try using a spray bottle. I just don't know how the plant will like it. I did that to some java moss and it died. But the anubias is tougher so it should be able to handle it.

If H2O2 doesn't work for you, you can try Excel. Just over dose the bucket with water and put your plants in for about an hour. 

Sometimes a combination of both treatments works best.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 26, 2012)

Thanks. I will increase the ratio of hydrogen peroxide to water and try it again.
The rocks that were covered with it I put outside about 2 weeks ago when we had sub-zero temps, but the algae just started turning white within the past few days. This stuff is resilient.


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## Fissure (Jun 29, 2014)

Í have used 6% solution with success myself. I have not done any underwater treatments or well i tried it one time and it went to hell, had to do 2 x 80% water changes after that luckily only one tetra perished.
Had issued it a couple of times against BBA and spot algea on anubias (only plants I get algea on) and usually use it when doing water changes and when the plants are exposed. But please do be careful you can damage the plants. The larger anubias species can take it for around 20s and then need to be sprayed with water from my own experience. Have tried it on smaller anubias species but they did not take a 10s treatmeant very well and some serious leaf damage followed. Tried it on other species as well but seemed to do more harm than good. Might be better doing it submersed be do be careful with the amount and with nearby fish and shrimp etc.

If you can remove infected hardscape just douse it and leave it for a minute or so. Algae should be turning pink/white/red in a day or two afterwards.


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