# Hydrogen Peroxide for algae Control?



## ricoishere

ANyone here eer heard of this, or tried it?

http://www.njagc.net/events/meetings/meeting_2008_01_19.htm

Using HP to help control algae?:bounce:


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## Postal Penguin

I use it all the time. Kills BBA quite effectively and has never harmed any fish. You can use up to 3ml/gallon safely.


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## abcemorse

+1, works very well. Most effective if used by spot treating with circ. systems off. I usually do it at whater change cuz the system's down anyway, shoot it right on the driftwood and it's (BBA) purple and dying within two days.


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## BayBoy1205

+1 on hydrogen peroxide as well. Done during weekly water changes.


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## macclellan

Yup.


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## rich815

Works like Excel on spot treating but cheaper. As mentioned best if done during a drop in water at WC time and squirted directly on the BBA but otherwise with all filters and pumps off so the HP is not "washed away" quickly with water flow. 

That all said IMO with a large BBA outbreak the only true way to get on top of it all is diligent removal of all leaves with BBA and then use HP and over-dosing Excel to keep it in check and almost eliminate it. Otherwise if it's almost everywhere and you expect to just squirt HP all over the place IMO you will never win the battle.


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## Slick Willy

Any fish losses using this as a general treatment? I've seen 1 ml/gal as the general rule, but I see The Penguin has gone up to 3 ml/gal. Is the filter off thing to make the H2O2 last longer or to save the filter bacteria or both? I've used it outside the tank for spot treatments, but never inside the tank.

I just changed one of my smaller tanks over to CO2 and the BBA has hit hard. Although I moved some Anubias from another tank, so that's likely the cause. I think I'm going to take the Annubias rock out first and Bleach it (without plants) before trying the H2O2 treatment.


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## ricoishere

I used it, no fish losses. Keep in mind, I used it VERY conservatively!


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## cah925

The filter is off to allow for spot treatment under water. If the filter is on, then there is a water current that will carry the HP away from the affected site. I usually turn the filter off and wait about 5 mins for the residual flow to settle, then start applying the HP. You can see the HP start to work immediately as the algae starts to bubble. After treating, I usually wait about 30 mins to turn the filter back on or when the bubbling stops.


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## bherren1

this works! perhaps the most effective treatment i have used for bba and gha. i recently had a bba break out in both of my tanks and a bad case of gha in one (isn’t trying to find the right balance of lighting, CO2 and nutrients as a planted aquarium noobie fun!). i used a dosing syringe and squirted it on the effected areas. i used it on rocks, driftwood, crypt wendtii, crypt spirilas, crypt undulata and various java fern species in one tank. I did this in the tank with all of the tanks inhabitants (one betta, 7 rasboras, 2 otos, 5 ghost shrimp and multiple snails) still inside and lost none. i also dipped several other plants in straight H2O2 for 1-2 minutes that were covered in bba and gha from the second tank. i dipped rotala macrandra 'green narrow leaf', pogostemon erectum(rotala verticillaris), limnophila aromatica, alternanthera reineckii 'lilacina' and ludwigia repens. several posts that i read advised against dipping but i felt it was a necessary last ditch effort to salvage some of my favorite plants. i would say that if you are not prepared to loose the plants then don’t dip them. i also used H2O2 on gha that was on my substrate, filter intake, spraybar, and heater. i then waited about 30 min. and did a 50% wc on both tanks. after one week both tanks were virtually bba and gha free (missed one tiny spot on my driftwood). now, two weeks later, i am once again seeing good growth on the plants that i dipped. i will also say, although i would not recommend anyone else doing so, that i used this treatment rather liberally exceeding even the 3mL/gallon recommendations given by others without any loss of flora or fauna. had i more delicate fish (discus and the like) then i probably would have been more conservative.


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## herns

I used to have Excel in treating BBA. Now Im using HP. I bought one good size bottle at Walgreens for just $0.99!


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## Robert H

It is a very strong oxidizer. It dramatically increases oxygen levels. For a few years there was talk that increased 02 helped to decrease algae. There are some products that emit small amounts of peroxide for that purpose, its called the "Oxygenator" made in Germany.

In small amounts its safe for fish, maybe not for inverts. It kills snails too. Even a small overall increase in oxygen will oxidize trace minerals to some extent... meaning it will neutrilize any trace mineral ferts you are adding. Thats why they are called oxidized minerals, (which plants have a hard time using)

Many years ago I dumped two full bottles into my aquarium. It killed every living thing in the tank, every plant and fish.


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## abcemorse

As far as fish go, I think they can handle a fair amount, I've seen them swim right through places I just spot treated and not really bat an eye.


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## bherren1

Robert H. is 100% correct. MODERATION, MODERATION, MODERATION. I did not mean to imply in my earlier post that others could do what I did and expect to see the same results. I hope no one read my post and started dumping H2O2 into their algae infested aquariums. The only point I was trying to make is that H2O2 is an effective measure in battling some types of algae. I would even go so far as to say that using H2O2 directly in your tank should be one of your last options in treating algae. Use this method only after you have lowered your lights, upped your CO2 or tried a complete black out to no avail. As far as using H2O2 instead of overdosing Excel, both can kill fish, shrimp and snails so pick your poison. In my experience H2O2 was effective on BBA and GHA. Using a dosing syringe will help you monitor how much H2O2 you are putting into your tank. And I would certainly recommend a minimum of a 50% WC no longer than 30 min. after you treat with H2O2.


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## thrak76

So if you're spot treating areas, how much are you "squirting"? A mL or 2? Liberally? 
I have a minor case of BBA on a few plants and would like to try the HP treatment.


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## bherren1

i used a 5 mL dosing syringe and slowly squirted it over the affected areas. you will see bba start to oxidize (bubble, like when you put H2O2 on a cut). slowly squirt H2O2 on all bba. a good rule of thumb would be 3 mL/ gallon to start. i did it in a 16 gallon bow front so that's roughly 45 mL of H2O2. so that would be 9 5 mL syringes, but i think i used somewhere around 15 5 mL syringes. that comes out to 4.7 mL/ gallon without any loss of plants, fish, shrimp or snails. make sure your filter is off before you do this. wait about 30 min. then do a 50% wc. you should see bba turn red within a day or two. within a week or two it should be gone. use this treatment at your own risk.


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## Tex Gal

Once the bubbles start coming up you are left with water. It H2O2. The bubbles are the oxygen coming out. I doubt you even need to do a water change. I have a new tank about 5 -6 weeks old that is getting over it's algae phase. I used H2O2. I have snails, fish, catfish and shrimp in the tank. Everyone is fine.

Obviously no one should dump an entire bottle in. If you did that with fish food it would kill everything. I'd rather use it than excel. It's cheaper and turns into water once it oxidizes. I also think you need to know what caused the algae and fix that if you can. Having said that, you still need to kill the algae that is present. Hydrogen peroxide is a good remedy IMO.


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## plantbrain

1. You can also spray it from a spray bottle to treat larger areas.
2. Toothbrush dips to scrub wood/rocks.
3. Do large water changes to expose items that need cleaning that you are unable to remove from the tank easily.
4. As mentioned, it's cheaper than Excel, but the Excel has a use more than H2O2 once the tank is refilled.............
5. Focus on the root issue with algae, not the treatment.
6. As mentioned many times, too much Excel/H2O2 etc will kill your fish if you do not follow directions, some critters might be more sensitive also.
Besides gassing fish with too much CO2 and not being careful there, H2O2 seems to kill the most, followed by Excel overdosing. So there's FAR more reason to fear and be careful dosing this stuff than KNO3 or any ferts!!!!
Read that again.
7. You can also use a brine made from a KNO3/KH2PO4 etc and the hypertonic salt solution will kill the algae as well, much like pouring salt on a slug.
8. Important, make sure you use only a fresh bottle of H2O2, buy smaller bottles at a time, say 2-4 oz, this way you always have a relatively fresh bottle on hand. It goes flat over time.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## bherren1

there you go thrak76, none better to give advice on this discussion thus far than the experienced tex girl and the venerable tom barr:thumbsup:


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## Slick Willy

I dumped a bottle of H2O2 on my Anubias ornament *outside of the tank* and still did not quite get all the BBA. Perhaps the bottle was past it's sell by date as TB indicated; it didn't really fizz just gurled away. It did not seem to bother the Anubias at all.

Some of the BBA turned pink, but most of it turned green,  which I didn't expect. The Barbs have already eaten all of the pink (dead) algae and are now working on the green stuff. Apparently fried BBA is quite tasty,  they never really cared for it before.


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## ricoishere

I finally used this for algae treatment last week. I had a massive Algae surge:eek5:. Started WC, did a trimming, first soaked all plants in 1/20 bleach water, and rinsed consistently for about 30 minutes. While that was happening, I spot treated the remaining. Clipped away some leaves also. With Excel, and proper dosing, tank is crystal clear.


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## sparkysko

Cleared greenwater and staghorn algae in a tank my friend had 4 years ago. Angelfish died, and I think most of the snails died too.


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## connordude27

i think it killed all my snails too but who cares i have been trying to get rid of them forever (hydrogen peroxide works great on hair algae too)


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## bigboij

just my 2c 
buy a medicine dosing syringe (they sell em at walmart for giving babies meds)
take some extra air/co2 tubing and attach it to the end of the syringe it should fit nicely. then you can direct your H2O2 more easily without having to stick the whole syringe in the tank.

it also allows you to stick the tube directly into a bottle so you can pull direct metered amounts (syringe is marked in ml) . works great for water dechlor, and liquid fertz, etc.


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