# Algae treatment with Hydrogen Peroxide



## fishlover1 (Nov 22, 2011)

I read some information here to treat algae with H2O2.
I have algae grow on the edges of the leaves on my Bucephalandra. It is the same type of algae on the picture attached. I tried to remove them by hand but they wouldn't come off.
Most people recommend to squeeze 3% H2O2 to the spots under water.
I am wondering if I can take the plant out and spray the infected leaves with 3% H2O2 and let it sit for 10-20 mins...Then putting it back to the tank.

Will it be more effective? Will it damage the leaves?

Thanks advance for the advise.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Treating Algae*

Hello fish...

With the exception of the standard water treatment, I've never put chemicals into my fish tanks. You don't know how the fish and plants will react. The best way to treat algae is to reduce its food source and introduce some stems of Common water weed (Anacharis). This floating plant uses excess nutrients and gives off a natural chemical that slows the growth of most forms of algae. I've used Anacharis for several years in my planted tanks and have little visible algae in them.

B


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

A person whom I bought Buce from said, relevant to care of them...to treat them like Anubias. I do believe that was mostly about the light levels.
And that Anacharis thing might be a long term solution if having Anacharis floating in your tank is OK/w you. Don't think it would take much of it. Three or four stems perhaps.
Depending on tank size that is.
But on the HP thing. I wouldn't allow the Buce to be out of water. I would rather take
it out of the tank and put it in a bowl and be sure that it was completely under water for the whole time in there. Then just use the HP @ like 10% of the "water level" of the bowl. I have used it @ 2ml per gallon in my tank before/w no ill effects except that it
does kill Riccia F. One thread on here said a safe level of it is one ml per gallon.


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## fishlover1 (Nov 22, 2011)

BBradbury said:


> Hello fish...
> 
> With the exception of the standard water treatment, I've never put chemicals into my fish tanks. You don't know how the fish and plants will react. The best way to treat algae is to reduce its food source and introduce some stems of Common water weed (Anacharis). This floating plant uses excess nutrients and gives off a natural chemical that slows the growth of most forms of algae. I've used Anacharis for several years in my planted tanks and have little visible algae in them.
> 
> ...


Thanks BBradbury, I understand it is better not to use chemical. But I would like to see quick results.....



Raymond S. said:


> A person whom I bought Buce from said, relevant to care of them...to treat them like Anubias. I do believe that was mostly about the light levels.
> And that Anacharis thing might be a long term solution if having Anacharis floating in your tank is OK/w you. Don't think it would take much of it. Three or four stems perhaps.
> Depending on tank size that is.
> But on the HP thing. I wouldn't allow the Buce to be out of water. I would rather take
> ...


Thanks Raymond,
You meant take it out and put into a bowl (Lets say the water in the bowl is 1 gallon). Put 2 ml of 10% concentration of H2O2 into the bowl?
How long should I leave it in the bowl? Do I need to arate the water in to bowl to keep water moving? I was told H2O2 do not mix with water and is heavier. They sinks into the bottom.


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

When I have to treat isolated spots of algae I use an ear irrigation syringe (20ml) they're like $3 at Walmart. I turn off my filters and let the tank set for 5 or 10 minutes, then I take the syringe full of peroxide and treat the area needing treatment, let that bubble for 5 or 10 minutes then turn the filters back on. When SPOT TREATING peroxide in tank I do not exceed 1ml per gallon per 24hr period, if I can not treat all the areas needing treatment I treat missed areas the next day. 

I have used 2ml per gallon to nuke a whole tank, this can kill the biological filter of a tank. There is a thread on the step by step process of nuking a whole tank and maintaining the bio-filter.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

H202 is not buce friendly. It will melt or damage the leaves and no guarantee you will kill the algae. You will see it happen 2-3 days after it gets by H202. For some weird reason, Excel does not seem to bother it. I even gave some buce plants an excel bath with a strong excel solution and even applied excel (small drops) on the infected leaves as it was exposed to air with no melting or damage showing up after. 

I just treated a buce with h202 a few weeks ago while I was treating some other plants. The result was the treated leaves started dying or showed some damage and the algae I was trying to kill never really died. I pretty much ended up trimming all of the older leaves. 

I've done massive spot treatment dose using h202 to other plants and so far buces have a weird reaction to it.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Thank you PortalMasteryRy for the info on the Buce.
I have used the [email protected]% in my tank like Excel @ 2ml per gallon and it killed the Riccia F.
I did not have the Buce at that time so your mentioning it may have saved my Buce.
I'm running between 45 and 55 PAR/w very few plants that you might call fast(er) 
growing. Rotala to be exact. So Cladophora pops up periodically and I kill it/w HP.
No added CO2 in there, just Excel.


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## fishlover1 (Nov 22, 2011)

PortalMasteryRy said:


> H202 is not buce friendly. It will melt or damage the leaves and no guarantee you will kill the algae. You will see it happen 2-3 days after it gets by H202. For some weird reason, Excel does not seem to bother it. I even gave some buce plants an excel bath with a strong excel solution and even applied excel (small drops) on the infected leaves as it was exposed to air with no melting or damage showing up after.
> 
> I just treated a buce with h202 a few weeks ago while I was treating some other plants. The result was the treated leaves started dying or showed some damage and the algae I was trying to kill never really died. I pretty much ended up trimming all of the older leaves.
> 
> I've done massive spot treatment dose using h202 to other plants and so far buces have a weird reaction to it.


Thanks PortalMasteryRy!
Did not realize Buce is sensitive to H2O2.
I had tried to kill those algae with Excel. I moved it out from the tank. Let it sit dry for about 10 mins and pray the leaves directly with Excel (no dilution). I let it sit for about 10 mins after the spray. Then I put it into a 0.5 gallon plastic container with RO water and added 5ml Excel. I covered the container so it is completly dark. I think this allows the Excel to be more effective.
I repeated this daily for 3 days. Those algae still there and no visible damage to the Buce.
That is why I am looking for other ways to kill those algae.

I heard about using Glutaraldehyde. But is think Excel is Glutaraldehyde.
Am I right?


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

fishlover1 said:


> I heard about using Glutaraldehyde. But is think Excel is Glutaraldehyde.
> Am I right?


Yes


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

fishlover1 said:


> Thanks PortalMasteryRy!
> Did not realize Buce is sensitive to H2O2.
> I had tried to kill those algae with Excel. I moved it out from the tank. Let it sit dry for about 10 mins and pray the leaves directly with Excel (no dilution). I let it sit for about 10 mins after the spray. Then I put it into a 0.5 gallon plastic container with RO water and added 5ml Excel. I covered the container so it is completly dark. I think this allows the Excel to be more effective.
> I repeated this daily for 3 days. Those algae still there and no visible damage to the Buce.
> ...


Try Excel drop treatment on one affected leaf. Bring the buce out and drop 3-5 drop of excel on a leaf using a syringe and leave it out for a minute or so. The small amount of water or moisture on the leaf should spread the excel around the affected leaf. 

Don't rinse and simply bring the plant back to the tank and the algae should be pink or white in 24 hours. 

This might sound time consuming but it will ensure the affected areas get a strong dose and it should be limited to only the affected area and not the entire plant. 

BTW the H202 will only affect the buce if you spot treat it. You can use H202 in your tank as long as the buce does not get a strong concentration of it.


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## fishlover1 (Nov 22, 2011)

PortalMasteryRy said:


> Try Excel drop treatment on one affected leaf. Bring the buce out and drop 3-5 drop of excel on a leaf using a syringe and leave it out for a minute or so. The small amount of water or moisture on the leaf should spread the excel around the affected leaf.
> 
> Don't rinse and simply bring the plant back to the tank and the algae should be pink or white in 24 hours.
> 
> ...


Sounds like your Excel drop treatment is similiar to my spray treatment. Instead of just treating the affected area, I spray on the whole plant. And I let it sit for 10 mins instead of 1 min. It did not knill the algae. They still tightly attached after 2 days.
I did another experiment. Last night, I removed 1 infected leaf and dipped it into 3% H2O2 solution for about 10 mins. I saw air bubbles came out. I remove it from the H2O2 solution after 10 mins and let it sit in the air for another 10 mins than put it back into the tank. The algae still looked the same this morning and no visible damage to the leaf. I'll check tonight if they are starting to die.....


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