# Is this Staghorn algae?



## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

Could be. If you can look real closely, staghorn has lots of branches, hair doesn't, and BBA is more like fuzz (the bottom shot looks a bit like BBA on the edges). 

You can also spot treat with both excel and h2o2 (I prefer the latter as it quickly turns to water and O2 so there's no chance of a cumulative overdose -- though you can use too much at one go). Just stop the filter, and use something like a syringe (I use a turkey injector syringe with a hard pastic tube on the end) to shoot it directly on the algae and gently pull back the tube so it soaks in it a bit. If it works it will turn red (or some other color) within a day.

I've never used tank-wide treatment so no comment.

Siamese algae eaters work well on Staghorn and Hair, and at least in my case cleaned up some BBA I had. But if you go that route make sure you get real, honest SAE and not the fakes like flying fox.


----------



## anastasisariel (Oct 4, 2009)

Bottom pick is BBA. Lucky for you H2o2 smashes BBA.


----------



## Trickster 75 (Mar 23, 2014)

Thanks. Do I use H2o2 straight or didlute it?. The bottom pic is my Aponegeton and its getting quite a bit on it. It also realy likes that piece of driftwood.


----------



## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

There are two ways people use H2O2, one is to add a certain amount to the whole tank. I have not done that, but if you google a bit you can likely find the percentage.

The other, which I find more useful, is spot treatment. It is done full strength, with the filters and other water movement stopped. You get something that can place the liquid in the water on/near the algae. This is the toughest part - depends on what you have sitting around. I took a turkey injection syringe, and glued on a piece of stiff tubing. The syringe (with or without the needle that comes with it) might work well also, but I needed more reach. The idea is to squirt 5-10ml of H2O2 VERY SLOWLY in one spot drenching the algae in it, then withdraw the dispenser without moving the water too much.

On some algae (Blue green in particular) you may get a dramatic fizz of tiny bubbles, on other nothing much happens at all visually. Leave it there 10 minutes or so before starting up the water movement.

I do not know how much is "safe" at a time, I guess go by the whole-tank dose idea. My tanks are large enough, and the algae I've treated small enough, I just do not worry.

H2O2 does not accumulate -- within an hour or two it will all have converted to water and oxygen, so it is safe to continuously treat so long as you do it in small batches, and wait a while.

You can treat with excel exactly the same way, though excel will accumulate (it takes a couple days to get rid of most of a dose). You can also use both, with the caveat to give a lot more time for Excel to work its way out.

You can also use H2O2 "straight". If during a water change, or because they are potted or otherwise easy to remove, you can spray it on algae in a leaf that is in the air, give it a few minutes, and put it back in the tank. I have not done this, I do not know what the risk is to the plant. I have done it however for algae on rocks and spraybars and it works great that way, much more effective, as you might expect. I would test this on less important plants before using there.

Be sure your H2O2 is good -- it degrades over time to water. If in doubt, it's cheap, buy another bottle from a drug store that has lots of business and keeps stock fresh. You can test by swishing it around in your mouth - it should foam mildly and taste funny (it is harmless and often used as a mouth wash). Less foam = getting old (the H2O2, not you).


----------



## Trickster 75 (Mar 23, 2014)

Thanks Linwood. I plan on trying the spot treatment tomorrow. I guess Ill watch to not exceed the "one two punch" parameters. I'm thinking about getting a few Nerite snails next sat when I vist the fish store. Wish me luck,I've never had an algae problem before.


----------



## foster (Sep 23, 2012)

Its kinda fun to watch BGA scream, and fizz to its death after hitting it with Hydrogen Peroxide. I had a small issue with BGA in one of my tanks. After 2 treatments with HP it was gone for good. Works excellent on BBA also.


----------



## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

Trickster 75 said:


> I'm thinking about getting a few Nerite snails next sat when I vist the fish store. Wish me luck,I've never had an algae problem before.


Good luck.

Be aware that Nerites often leave sesame seed like eggs attached with super-glue all over your tank. Not always, but frequently.

I got rid of mine for that reason.


----------



## Trickster 75 (Mar 23, 2014)

Ok I did a spot treatment yesterday. I think it might have worked somewhat. I think I stirred the water to much so it didnt get a good "soaking". Could I do another treatment today or should I wait another dat or two?


----------



## Mariostg (Sep 6, 2014)

Never tried, but consider this thread The "One-Two Punch" Whole Tank Algae Treatment


----------



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Cladophora.
HP directly on it with no current for 1/2 hr.
Riccia F. doesn't like it at all but won't die/w one treatment unless the Clado is in the Riccia.
Dwarf Water Lettuce is hurt by it but can take a lot.
Don't exceed more than 2 ml per gallon.
Works much better on bottom of tank than some off of the bottom but if you pour it on in a continuous 
stream like from a Pipette it usually works still on some that is off the bottom.
Next day should be grey. If not repeat.


----------



## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

By the next day it's all completely gone. I don't know quite how quickly but I would think an hour or two even. Partly depends on how clean (not clear, but free of organics) your water is. The more organics in water the quicker H2O2 degrades.

That doesn't mean the impact on plants is gone, if you have really sensitive ones you might avoid treating them for a few days, but the H2O2 in the tank is all water and O2 by the next day, and has no effect. 

As to the one-two punch documented above, that's the whole tank treatment. I've never tried it, because my algae was localized and easier to spot treat. Their dosage is about 6ml per gallon for the whole tank but you don't want that much in spots as it is quite concentrated, Raymond S above recommends 2ml per gallon. I don't know how much (I doubt I ever got over 2ml though). 

The real trick is to rig something up that lets you shoot it in without disturbing the water -- I found long, rigid tubing at my LFS, about 1/8th, and use that to shoot it in (with the turkey injector).


----------



## Trickster 75 (Mar 23, 2014)

Thanks for he help. I dont need to do the whole tank 1-2 punch. Most of the algse is on my Aponegeton. Some of what I treated yesterday is looking a little grey today. I did do another spot treatment today. Was more carefull not to disturb the water. I turned off the filter before treating and let it set for 10 min the pluged the filter back in and turned on power head.

When I treated the algae on the driftwood today the wood realy fizzed.


----------

