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View Full Version : The usage of Hydrogen Peroixde as Algae Removal Treatment



simcb
11th Apr 2005, 07:55 AM
For Planted Guys who are desperately looking for way to kill BBA(Black Brush) continue reading.


Hydrogen Peroxide Nuking(Your Last Resort)
Its only a temp solution for desperate guys when blackouts and increase Co2 fails to kill the stubborn algae in your tank. After the treatment(usually last a week) its best to reduce the dosage on your fertilizters do a big water change and Add Beneficial Bacteria Solution to speed up the cycling incase of Ammonia or nirate spike.

Take note: Your tank water might turn cloudy after treatment.

For details on a successful attempt refer to the below link which i got from a thread in another forum and a few guys from that forum has achieve success too however the success varies as overdosing could kill some plants like ricca and vallis:

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_peroxide.html

I have also start the H2O2 nuking yesterday as the increasing infestation of BBA has trigger my "piss" mode.

As H2O2 breaks down easily in light its best to dose at night a few hours before lights off. Inject H2O2 directly on the infected areas for best effects. A note of caution:
During injecting be sure to chase away any fish or shrimp near the target area.

Day 1: (Apr 10 2005)
Bought A bottle of Hydrogen peroixde 500ml(3% concentration) from a pharamacy.

dosage:2ml per gallon.
added 20ml in total over a period of 10-20mins with a dropper.

The hair algae was bubbling when the H2O2 was applied to them.
Some Staghorn and BBA has start to turn pink after 8 hours. So did the stubborn short hair algae on the tank walls has started to turn a little pink.
Next morning(No death of shrimps or Otos or Boraras so far)
However the livestock has some signs of hyperactive behavior.

Day 2: (Apr 11 2005)

No more hyperactive behavior of my livestocks probably most H2O2 has decomposed.

reduced dosage= 1.5ml per gallon

More black algae turn pink at the rainbar as compared to in the morning. Today start target horse algae and plants infected with algae.

No causalties so far.
Accounted ....the 1 survivor CRS + 3 companion crs + 1 diamond + 30 over cherry and 3 fishes.

Day 3: (Apr 12 2005)
Hyper active behavior observed in the morning. No causalties.
dosage: 20ml
dosage= 2ml per gallon
some hair algae on the tank wall turn white.

Day4: Stopped (Apr 13 2005)
No causalties. Found the source of algae outbreak---
accumulated debris and parts of a dead shrimp trapped under the ricca floorings. The dead shrimp is quite decomposed being there for 2 weeks i estimate was during the time the HDB fogging killed 99% of my crs+ a few cherries...i missed out one while removing the dead bodies

I sphion some of debris and let my shrimps finish up the job ...they seems to like the debris a lot. I notice the planarias pop explosion source is also the accumulated debris and dead body. They are feeding on the remains. Caught around 20 ++ planaria manually with dropper( :evil: fried them with H2O2 before disposing them).


End of treatment(its should at least a 7-day treatment)
Sorry folks, i am not going to continue this experiment. I will try rectify the water parameters first with large amount of water changes to stun the algae from spreading. So far no lost of fish or shrimps....only some dead algae :) .

Walter
11th Apr 2005, 09:59 AM
i dont think it is advisable to do so with shrimps right? anyway shrimps do clear these algaes right?

Confusekid
11th Apr 2005, 01:02 PM
i dont think it is advisable to do so with shrimps right? anyway shrimps do clear these algaes right?
Yes and no. Yamato is OK but malayan etc will die. The impact of the shrimp's feeding on the algae is insignificant if you have a major outbreak.

Jack

simcb
11th Apr 2005, 02:35 PM
No. best algae eating shrimp yamato so far dont eat BBA,BGA and staghorn algae and algae on tanks wall....they only eat horse ,hair,thread algae.
The only known fish that eat BBA is SAE.

baruch mor
14th Apr 2005, 02:56 PM
h2o2 will not help bga - 3-4 days of darkness following of 30% w/c do

gigahertz
26th Apr 2005, 03:01 AM
I wonder if that will work on snails.... :huh:

simcb
27th Apr 2005, 03:56 AM
I wonder if that will work on snails.... :huh:

h2o2 don't destroy snail eggs for your info.

Dipping the plants diluted bleach for 3mins or diluted potassium permaganate for 15mins might do it. More of a future prevention against algae and snails. (Note: Might kill or damage some sensitive plants.)

Try the boiled cucumber trick to remove the existing snails in your tank. Leaving the cucumber overnight next morning remove the cucumber and the snails carefully. This will help keep their population down but cant remove all of them.

gigahertz
27th Apr 2005, 04:08 AM
I tried using potassium permanganate but so far I have been managed to kill not just snails but the plants with it. :embarasse:

How much should I use in say a liter of water? I found one laboratory who sold me 3lbs of the stuff for real cheap since they no longer need them.

Thx

simcb
27th Apr 2005, 04:18 AM
I tried using potassium permanganate but so far I have been managed to kill not just snails but the plants with it. :embarasse:

How much should I use in say a liter of water? I found one laboratory who sold me 3lbs of the stuff for real cheap since they no longer need them.

Thx

Just use just enough crystals to turn the water pale pink. To disinfect and kill most algae and snails use 10-20 minute dip. After that rinse it with running water. Dip it another bucket with lots of anti-cholrine to help remove the chemical for a few hours to play safe.

Note: Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizer, and can cause burns to any area of contact. It is harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Please use with caution guys.

gigahertz
27th Apr 2005, 04:50 AM
Note: Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizer, and can cause burns to any area of contact. It is harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Please use with caution guys.

I found out the hard way. After I worked on killing my pla....snails I ended up with brown fingers for at least 3 days. >(

simcb
27th Apr 2005, 04:55 AM
I found out the hard way. After I worked on killing my pla....snails I ended up with brown fingers for at least 3 days. >(

You are right gigahertz, it will stain your fingers and clothes. Use a BBQ tong and try not to touch the chemical. :)

gigahertz
27th Apr 2005, 05:00 AM
You are right gigahertz, it will stain your fingers and clothes. Use a BBQ tong and try not to touch the chemical. :)

Well.... I didn't touch the crystals with my hands but my fingers got stained from just touching the solution that I made. Does that mean I used a little too much of the crystal? :oops:

simcb
27th Apr 2005, 05:41 AM
Well.... I didn't touch the crystals with my hands but my fingers got stained from just touching the solution that I made. Does that mean I used a little too much of the crystal? :oops:

I guess you have to judge by the color. Add some crystal/liquid and stir the solution. Once it turn pale pink stop adding. So far i didn't over dose i only made the solution once for my new taiwan moss.

gigahertz
27th Apr 2005, 05:54 AM
I'm gonna try that. Thanks for the info! :)

livionakano
18th May 2005, 03:12 AM
Hi Gigahertz

How was your experience in adding potassium permanganate?

Does the label informs how many grams (or miligrams) do you add with those crystals?

regards,

Livio

gigahertz
18th May 2005, 03:20 AM
Hi Gigahertz

How was your experience in adding potassium permanganate?

Does the label informs how many grams (or miligrams) do you add with those crystals?

regards,

Livio

Well I bought the potassium permanganate from a chemical lab so there wasn't really direction that talks about using that to eradicate snails or algae.

Most all the information I have thus far has been from various forums. Consensus seems to be that the solution should be of light pink color and the speciment to be treated should be immersed in the solution for at least 10 mins.

Anything more then light pink will make your plants very upset and your fingers brown :D

Lotus
18th May 2005, 04:26 AM
I usually use enough to make the water a darkish pink, and soak for at least 2 hours to kill all snails and snail eggs. I've done it several times on Java moss with no problems, as well as plants like hornwort, hygrophilia, wisteria, Java fern, etc. I found a 20 minute dip wasn't enough to kill snails.

I always wear rubber gloves, and make sure I have old clothes on. It will stain your nails and clothes badly. I usually rinse well then double/triple/quadruple dose with dechlorinator.

I always do this outside the tank, just in case anyone was wondering. :)

gigahertz
18th May 2005, 06:49 AM
I usually use enough to make the water a darkish pink, and soak for at least 2 hours to kill all snails and snail eggs. I've done it several times on Java moss with no problems, as well as plants like hornwort, hygrophilia, wisteria, Java fern, etc. I found a 20 minute dip wasn't enough to kill snails.

I always wear rubber gloves, and make sure I have old clothes on. It will stain your nails and clothes badly. I usually rinse well then double/triple/quadruple dose with dechlorinator.

I always do this outside the tank, just in case anyone was wondering. :)

Darkish Pink for two hours?!!! wow that the longest that I have ever heard anyone say to soak the plants in. I'll try that on my moss since they grow so fast that I have lotsa around....outside of my tank that is :p

livionakano
18th May 2005, 12:52 PM
Does anybody noticed any effect of this technique against algae?