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peroxide dosing topic at meeting


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I am really looking forward to our April 14th meeting, since Justin Credabel's lecture is supposed to include information on the use of peroxide in the aquarium.

 

I am hoping we have some members who already use it in a dosing routine, who will be at the meeting to contribute to discussion about it. I bought some to just use outside of the tank on some rocks that have been sprouting hair algae. The idea of actually dosing the stuff just sounds too crazy to me right now, but I might feel differently after the live discussion. I hope to see some of you there!

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Wish I could make it! I have dosed peroxide in several aquariums with great success. Also used it in higher quantities as a dip for rocks and this has worked well too.

 

IME It is a good method to use to control algae AFTER you have solved any nitrate/phosphate traps or issues. This accelerates the treatment of the symptoms, doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.

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Did you dose it on an ongoing basis? What got you to decide to do it?

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Justin should be able to talk to the peroxide dosing while visiting us. Just be sure to corner him and raise the topic. He brought it to many people's attention many years ago as an option. Since then, it's been another tool in our toolbox.

 

Some time back, I tried it to treat a hair algae outbreak that followed (and lasted) the tank crash. It mostly showed up in the frag tank and a few auxilliary tanks attached to the system, and was everywhere. I treated the aquarium with small doses (1-2 ml per 100 gallons) 30% hydrogen peroxide for several weeks. The effect on the algae was limited, it seemed in my situation. In the end, I relented and decided to take the flucanazole route (1 capsule per 10 gallons, disconnect any carbon filtration that you might have that would adsorb the medication)  and that took care of the problem. Flucanazole was originally experimented with as an effective treatment for bryopsis infestations. (This was welcomed because, except for the old Kent Tech M treatment which was hit or miss for a lot of people, we had no real solution for many hobbyists' bryopsis headaches.) Anyway, you start seeing the effects of the flucanazole after a few days, and the algae problem is pretty much gone in 2-3 weeks. It can take longer for some tanks, but probably not longer than 6 weeks. After that, you have to do a big water change to get rid of the nutrients. This gave my tank enough time to rebalance itself so that the algae was no longer an issue. Sometimes a follow-up dosage is required.

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Justin should be able to talk to the peroxide dosing while visiting us. Just be sure to corner him and raise the topic. He brought it to many people's attention many years ago as an option. Since then, it's been another tool in our toolbox.

 

Some time back, I tried it to treat a hair algae outbreak that followed (and lasted) the tank crash. It mostly showed up in the frag tank and a few auxilliary tanks attached to the system, and was everywhere. I treated the aquarium with small doses (1-2 ml per 100 gallons) 30% hydrogen peroxide for several weeks. The effect on the algae was limited, it seemed in my situation. In the end, I relented and decided to take the flucanazole route (1 capsule per 10 gallons, disconnect any carbon filtration that you might have that would adsorb the medication)  and that took care of the problem. Flucanazole was originally experimented with as an effective treatment for bryopsis infestations. (This was welcomed because, except for the old Kent Tech M treatment which was hit or miss for a lot of people, we had no real solution for many hobbyists' bryopsis headaches.) Anyway, you start seeing the effects of the flucanazole after a few days, and the algae problem is pretty much gone in 2-3 weeks. It can take longer for some tanks, but probably not longer than 6 weeks. After that, you have to do a big water change to get rid of the nutrients. This gave my tank enough time to rebalance itself so that the algae was no longer an issue. Sometimes a follow-up dosage is required.

Thanks for sharing your experience, where did you get the flucanazole and what mg did you use? I am having a hair algae problem myself on my tank and its out of control.

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His coloration talk is timely for me because everything I have browned out in my recent push for high nutrient and low light to combat dinoflagellates.  As I ramp up light I expect them to color up, but will enjoy his tips.  

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Thanks for sharing your experience, where did you get the flucanazole and what mg did you use? I am having a hair algae problem myself on my tank and its out of control.

 

 

 

You can get fluco from Payless Pet Products https://www.payless-petproducts.com/fluconazole200.html or Reef Flux HD: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-flux-fluconazole-treatment-reefhd.html

 

It's a one time dose (not daily).

 

More info here, though it's mainly for bryopsis, but also works for GHA (but takes longer and may not be as effective):

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-cure-my-battle-with-bryopsis-using-fluconazole.285096/

Edited by cpu933k
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You can get fluco from Payless Pet Products https://www.payless-petproducts.com/fluconazole200.html or Reef Flux HD: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-flux-fluconazole-treatment-reefhd.html

 

It's a one time dose (not daily).

 

More info here, though it's mainly for bryopsis, but also works for GHA (but takes longer and may not be as effective):

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-cure-my-battle-with-bryopsis-using-fluconazole.285096/

 

 

thanks! just bought 10 capsules

Edited by Neto
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Justin should be able to talk to the peroxide dosing while visiting us. Just be sure to corner him and raise the topic. He brought it to many people's attention many years ago as an option. Since then, it's been another tool in our toolbox.

 

Some time back, I tried it to treat a hair algae outbreak that followed (and lasted) the tank crash. It mostly showed up in the frag tank and a few auxilliary tanks attached to the system, and was everywhere. I treated the aquarium with small doses (1-2 ml per 100 gallons) 30% hydrogen peroxide for several weeks. The effect on the algae was limited, it seemed in my situation. In the end, I relented and decided to take the flucanazole route (1 capsule per 10 gallons, disconnect any carbon filtration that you might have that would adsorb the medication)  and that took care of the problem. Flucanazole was originally experimented with as an effective treatment for bryopsis infestations. (This was welcomed because, except for the old Kent Tech M treatment which was hit or miss for a lot of people, we had no real solution for many hobbyists' bryopsis headaches.) Anyway, you start seeing the effects of the flucanazole after a few days, and the algae problem is pretty much gone in 2-3 weeks. It can take longer for some tanks, but probably not longer than 6 weeks. After that, you have to do a big water change to get rid of the nutrients. This gave my tank enough time to rebalance itself so that the algae was no longer an issue. Sometimes a follow-up dosage is required.

 

FWIW, I was able to get rid of bryopsis by raising the Mg in my tank to about 1600. Seemed to lessen the growth of other algae to some degree also although perhaps that was just my imagination. No apparent ill effects on fish or corals. 

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You can get fluco from Payless Pet Products https://www.payless-petproducts.com/fluconazole200.html or Reef Flux HD: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-flux-fluconazole-treatment-reefhd.html

 

It's a one time dose (not daily).

 

More info here, though it's mainly for bryopsis, but also works for GHA (but takes longer and may not be as effective):

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-cure-my-battle-with-bryopsis-using-fluconazole.285096/

 

This may have been where I got mine as well. I can't recall. The thread at R2R is a good one. I wasn't dealing with a Bryopsis problem, but it took care of the GHA. I saw results start in less than a week.

 

Edit: I just looked at their webpage: It is where I bought my flucanazole.

 

 

FWIW, I was able to get rid of bryopsis by raising the Mg in my tank to about 1600. Seemed to lessen the growth of other algae to some degree also although perhaps that was just my imagination. No apparent ill effects on fish or corals. 

I did something similar more than a decade ago when I started seeing some bryopsis (hitchhiked in on a frag plug) in a frag tank. It worked for me. But, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that may indicate that it's some impurity, not the Mg itself, that may have been at the root of the success. This is mostly because a lot of people saw success with Kent Tech M, but others that tried non-Tech M magnesium had mixed results. In my case, I was using Mag Pellets (Magnesium Chloride ice melt from Dead Sea Works) to raise my Mg levels way up. IMHO, DSW Mag Pellets or Mag Flake is still an acceptable and very economically attractive way to add magnesium to tanks.  

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I've never dosed HP, but I have definitely done many a zoanthid dip. I had a zoa recently that had not opened up, but was getting algae growing on it. I did a 50/50 hp and saltwater dip for about 10 minutes. It killed all the coraline on the plug, but it also cleared all the algae off the plug, and from the skin of the zoa. 

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Justin should be able to talk to the peroxide dosing while visiting us. Just be sure to corner him and raise the topic. He brought it to many people's attention many years ago as an option. Since then, it's been another tool in our toolbox.

 

 

It says on the meeting thread that he will be, that is what led me to post about it.

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Late last night I saw a video of a guy dipping stuff in straight up HP for 2 minutes each. I tried doing it experimentally on some random little stuff that was either too over-run, was suffering, or simply wouldn't be missed. Have not had a chance to evaluate yet (hasn't even been 24 hrs). I tried it on some ugly zoas that were completely overtaken, some pink palys (I probably should not have experimented on those), a couple 1- and 2-head duncan pieces that were not very visible among all the algae on them, a couple small pavona frags (I have a lot of it), a couple random SPS frags that had algae on them (one had it between tight branches, so it was impossible to pick off and was killing the coral slowly), and a piece of a neon candy cane that was already half dead due to having been lost on the bottom of the tank with algae growing on it.

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It says on the meeting thread that he will be, that is what led me to post about it.

Yes, it does. I suspect, though, it's only a fraction of his hour. He may be able to talk to you personally in more depth about his experience with it.

 

Late last night I saw a video of a guy dipping stuff in straight up HP for 2 minutes each. I tried doing it experimentally on some random little stuff that was either too over-run, was suffering, or simply wouldn't be missed. Have not had a chance to evaluate yet (hasn't even been 24 hrs). I tried it on some ugly zoas that were completely overtaken, some pink palys (I probably should not have experimented on those), a couple 1- and 2-head duncan pieces that were not very visible among all the algae on them, a couple small pavona frags (I have a lot of it), a couple random SPS frags that had algae on them (one had it between tight branches, so it was impossible to pick off and was killing the coral slowly), and a piece of a neon candy cane that was already half dead due to having been lost on the bottom of the tank with algae growing on it.

When you say "straight HP" - I'm guessing that he's using the 3% drugstore antiseptic. There are stronger concentrations available for bleaching hair and for use in the food industry. 30% hydrogen peroxide will chemically burn your skin in seconds, so it's important when seeing these videos to know what they're using.

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Very interested in what he has to say about using hp for nutrient reduction and coral coloration. Not sure how hp would affect colorations in coral but I see how nutrient reduction would help colors.

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If it helps with nutrient control without creating a cyano bloom, and without lowering pH or alkalinity, that would make it better than vodka and vinegar.

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Woah woah let's hold our horses :) Hp better than vodka and vinegar? It would have to lower nutrients better than vodka and vinegar to be better in my book.i don't think anyone worries about pH or all when carbon dosing. Some may worry about a cyano bloom but only if they are dosing too fast.

Anyone know how hp controls nutrients? I used it years ago but never noticed this.

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I had no clue about it being used for nutrient control, but that is what is on the statement on the meeting thread.

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Woah woah let's hold our horses :) Hp better than vodka and vinegar? It would have to lower nutrients better than vodka and vinegar to be better in my book.i don't think anyone worries about pH or all when carbon dosing. Some may worry about a cyano bloom but only if they are dosing too fast.

Anyone know how hp controls nutrients? I used it years ago but never noticed this.

H2O2 would oxidize some longer-chain organic (carbon-based) molecules, possibly making them more available for skimming or consumption by bacteria. Carbon dosing increases bacteria populations to reduce nitrates and phosphates in carbon-starved systems. Two different situations.

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