# BBA - Hydrogen peroxide or Flourish Excel



## Chlorophile

Depends what is near it.

With the filters off hydrogen peroxide spot treat destroys bba after 2 doses 6-12 hours apart.
Excel is much less effective in my experience.
However if bba is near HC or moss I don't a lot treat with hydrogen peroxide because I almost always end up killing loads of it.
At that point I cut, use tongs to pluck it off and then either do two or three x daily hydrogen peroxide spot treating with filter on or excel with filter off.


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## 5BodyBlade

If it's only a little on a few leaves then trim them off. If you need to treat it in my experience, hydrogen peroxide is much more effective in spot treatment.


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## jmowbray

Chlorophile said:


> Depends what is near it.
> 
> With the filters off hydrogen peroxide spot treat destroys bba after 2 doses 6-12 hours apart.
> Excel is much less effective in my experience.
> However if bba is near HC or moss I don't a lot treat with hydrogen peroxide because I almost always end up killing loads of it.
> At that point I cut, use tongs to pluck it off and then either do two or three x daily hydrogen peroxide spot treating with filter on or excel with filter off.


I have also experienced the same thing. H2O2 works best for me.


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## kcartwright856

I don't have BBA yet, but I want to put this in the memory banks.

You spot-treat with H202 directly into the tank? Do you perform a water change right after, or wait until regular maintenance?

How does it affect inhabitants?


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## Dmckmc

kcartwright856 said:


> I don't have BBA yet, but I want to put this in the memory banks.
> 
> You spot-treat with H202 directly into the tank? Do you perform a water change right after, or wait until regular maintenance?
> 
> How does it affect inhabitants?


I use h2o2 at a rate of 10ml per gallon. When I have used more then that, I have killed my ottos. At 10ml per gallon, I wait until regular maintenance.


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## TWA

I've actually had REALLY good success spot treating with excel.. Everything died the next day, every time. I've never used hydrogen peroxide for algae but, it just turns into oxygen and water in water after 12 hours. I've used it to cure fin rot (very very effective) at 8-9 drops per gallon and it was safe with discus and plants. I'm not sure what that translates into ml though!


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## Francis Xavier

Dose excel into your water column. If you are open to ADA products: Phyton Git will remove BBA from anubias leaves, surfaces etc. 

Non-ADA at all:

Do manual removal as much as possible (use your fingernail to scrape it off with filter off), do a water change. Trim any leaves that have it on there. Be aggressive.

Fill back up with water, dose excel into the water column and bump up your amount of co2 you are putting into the water. BBA shows as an inconsistency in Co2 levels in the aquarium in the first place.

Steps:

Step 1 manual remove
Step 2 water change
Step 3 excel + increase co2 (preventative)


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## Francis Xavier

Eben said:


> OK, i have a tiny bit of BBA on an amazon sword, but i want to get rid of it before it spreads. So for the people who have used both Hydrogen peroxide and Flourish Excel, what is better?
> Thanks!


Specifically to this: cut the leaf immediately. Dose Excel into the water column after a water change and increase co2 levels in the aquarium.


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## TWA

If you manually remove it be sure it comes out of the tank, not just off the glass. It'll just grow elsewhere in the tank.


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## DerekFF

Dmckmc said:


> I use h2o2 at a rate of 10ml per gallon. When I have used more then that, I have killed my ottos. At 10ml per gallon, I wait until regular maintenance.


Yeah be careful with hydro pero because ive killed off more than an oto with it.........

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Higher Thinking

Is 10ml/per gallon an accurate dose? I though it was more like 1:1?


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## Jonny Rotten

So I just get a syringe and squirt it on the plant IN the tank WITH the fish.Im getting hair algae and want to do this.Regular store bought h202 used for cuts?


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## TWA

Correct.


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## sewingalot

Higher Thinking said:


> Is 10ml/per gallon an accurate dose? I though it was more like 1:1?


3ml/gallon is usually more than enough. Too much and you are risking damaging the plants or fauna. 1:1 for too long of a time can completely melt plants down. So if you go this route, it's better to do it outside of the tank and rinse within a few minutes. Remember that this is an oxidizer and not selective on what it goes after. Better to go slow and easy than to bomb the tank.


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## mistergreen

Some fish are more sensitive to H2O2 as well. The scaleless and catfish are known to be injured and die from too much H2O2. 1ml/gallon for those guys.


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## Dmckmc

Higher Thinking said:


> Is 10ml/per gallon an accurate dose? I though it was more like 1:1?


I read it in a thread on this forum. Sorry, I don't remember exactly where.


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## brooklynfishman

Seems like alot of the people here are saying 10ml to 10 gals, that seems like alot, I read on the MCI that it should be 10ml for 25 gallons. Not sure if he is just being conservative or what. I used 10ml for 25 gal as a SPOT treatment on my plants and it worked so so... Will try again tomorrow and the day after before I go ahead and do the entire tank. Hopefully NOT necessary.


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## dmagerl

Many months ago I dosed 3ml H2O2 per gal in my BBA infested tank. It melted most of the plants and killed half my cories. It didnt do anything to the BBA. I didnt spot treat, just dosed the entire tank. 

Well, OK, it did do something to the algae. Without the plants there was nothing for the algae to grow on. It came right back when the plants grew back.

I'll never do that again, trust me.


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## steak

dmagerl said:


> Many months ago I dosed 3ml H2O2 per gal in my BBA infested tank. It melted most of the plants and killed half my cories. It didnt do anything to the BBA.


that really sucks!


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## Chlorophile

I've had h2o2 melt HC and Moss but only if I spot treated. 

I dosed 1ml/gallon every couple hours for 3 days(during the day only) to get rid of cyanobacteria successfully. 

I haven't had issues with h2o2 and oto cats at 4ml/gallon. 

I have had issues with shrimp crawling out of the tank though at 4ml/gallon.

Excel spot treats haven't ever worked for me on BBA, atleast not to the extent that small amounts of h2o2 have worked.

Depending on the location of the BBA you can get pretty creative. 

If it is on wood that is in the upper half of the aquarium you can lower the water level and brush the h2o2 on or put h2o2 in a spray bottle and blast the BBA. 

Also you can lightly moisten a paper towel in h2o2 and hold it against stones underwater for about a minute. Just make sure the amount of h2o2 you soaked the paper towel in wouldn't equal more than 3ml/gallon since it will get in the tank as press the paper towel against the rock


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## Eben

Wouldn't the amount of H2O2 per gallon also depend of what percent it is? 30%, 3% ect.


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## TWA

Eben said:


> Wouldn't the amount of H2O2 per gallon also depend of what percent it is? 30%, 3% ect.


It would but isn't most of the stuff the same? 3%? I've never seen anything else


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## Diana

3% is most commonly available in the US. 
Other strengths are available, both in the US and elsewhere. 

Absolutely, the dose per gallon depends on the strength.


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## TWA

I'd say everything is based off the 3%? I've never shopper around I suppose!


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## Diana

Easiest way to tell is look where the person who posts is from. 
USA: Assume 3%
UK: might be 6%
Other places, best to ask. 

Good point for anyone who posts any info:
Include the units of whatever you are measuring.
Include the strength of the material you are using. 

I have seen posts where fish died because instructions were based on an old, discontinued product, and the fish keeper was using a more concentrated product with the same name. 

Also, there can be a lot of confusion when certain tests are done with different methods that are measuring different units. GH and KH are the most obvious.


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## robbowal

Both 3% and 6% are available in the UK over the counter at pharmacys make sure to ask for 3% when buying (250 ml is just over £1)


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## DrGonzo

I just dosed h2o2 in my 75 gal. Did about 50ml and the bba has turned red over the past two days. I plan on spot treating again today. If I do that with a syringe do I just spot shoot it right onto the affected areas directly into the tank with filters running? When I did it before I used a spray bottle while I did a WC.


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## ChadRamsey

have your plants and fish shown any signs of being affected?


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## DrGonzo

ChadRamsey said:


> have your plants and fish shown any signs of being affected?


No not really. Just the BBA turning red and looking thinner.

Apologies for the hijack btw, had similar questions to someone before.

I turn off the filters for a little while when I spot treat right?


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## ChadRamsey

yes that is what i understand


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## inkslinger

http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp


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## steak

Testimony that excel works:

I overdosed excel by 5mL (capful) once, and continued with a daily dose of 5mL. The BBA turned red, ottos and ghost shrimp began to graze on it, and two months and one 12 or 16 oz bottle of excel later, BBA is non-existent! Excel is the cure!

Downsides:
My Vallisneria americana melted. Cabomba, Nymphoides aquatica, java fern, java windelov fern, Ambulia, hygrophila, and java moss were OK.


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## wetworks

This may sound a bit unorthodox, but duckweed will get rid of your algae issue. I purposely put duckweed into several of my tanks that had algae problems, and after about two weeks my algae all died and I was able to scoop out the duckweed with a massive water change after the algae was gone. I did this in four of my tanks: 38g, 30g, 15g and 10g. If my understanding is correct, the duckweed sucks up most of the nutrients suspended in the water column, and also keeps a lot of light from reaching the algae. As long as I used root tabs to provide nutrients to my plants I had no issues with my flora other than a few week period where the growth was a bit slower than usual. When the algae was gone, I removed the duckweed and resumed fert dosing at once per week, working back up to 3/4 times a week so I would not bombard any algae left that I could not see with a bunch of available nutrients. Since most of my plants are crypts, the lower light and minimal ferts did not have a detrimental effect, or at least one that was long term. 

As a further experiment, I allowed the duckweed to remain in a 20g long and a 29 I have set up in my fish room. About two weeks after the last of my algae died off, I started noticing some crypt melt, and some of my anubias and java fern began to develop holes in their leaves. From this I concluded that as long as I was able to expeditiously remove the duckweed there should be no negative effect. (In my two 29g/20g long setups, I even noticed that my crypts grew better in the lower light.) I mention this experiment because I was looking for a way to eradicate algae that did not involve chemicals due to several disasters trying to rid my tanks of algae using Excel. I know that the conversation here is centered around Excel/H2O2, but I thought I would offer my two cents as an alternative.


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## steak

wetworks said:


> I know that the conversation here is centered around Excel/H2O2, but I thought I would offer my two cents as an alternative.


That worked for BBA?


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## Aquachic

I agree with Frank. Cut the leaf off and increase CO2. You'll want to look into whether you have too much light or you're under fertilizing. I had a dickens of a time getting rid of black beard from my tanks and now wish I'd have yanked out the offending plant. Frankly, this algae isn't worth trying to cure one leaf.


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## nat72sherman

Ive been spot treating h2o2 for the last 3 days, and there don't seem to be much help. 30 gallon tank, 3ml the first day, 5ml the last two days. Am I using too little? How do I used Excel?


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## In.a.Box

H202 is cheap. 88cent for a 16oz bottle.
Excel is $8-$16 for a 16oz


Stop the co2, stop dosing, less hr of light. 
Should help kill Bba or stop it.


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## sepehr

In.a.Box said:


> H202 is cheap. 88cent for a 16oz bottle.
> Excel is $8-$16 for a 16oz
> 
> 
> Stop the co2, stop dosing, less hr of light.
> Should help kill Bba or stop it.


 
But if you stop the CO2, you won't be able to successfully keep and maintain the more demanding plants in the long term. You will be limited to keeping anubias, ferns, cabombas and other such plants. Isn't this correct?


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## In.a.Box

Co2 to plant is the same as drug to a crack head.
There are ton of awesome pretty plant tank on this site without co2.
Check them out and ask yourself your own question.
Co2 just help them grow faster.


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## zonamav

pull out the plant and dunk it in h202 for a couple mins, that can work too.


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## discuspaul

DrGonzo said:


> No not really. Just the BBA turning red and looking thinner.
> 
> Apologies for the hijack btw, had similar questions to someone before.
> 
> I turn off the filters for a little while when I spot treat right?


Yes, you leave your filters off for a half hour to an hour, so that there is no water circulation to move the dosed H202 off the treated areas until it gets a chance to start the algae destruction process.
H202 is heavier/denser than water, and will simply settle unto the affected areas of algae and begin to do it's work - you don't want to immediately remove it with the filtration.


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