Can Hydrogen Peroxide be used IN the tank on algae?

Que

Que

I wish I was a fish I wish.
Feb 15, 2007
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My Bonsai tree tank is getting infested with hair algae. It's all in the tree part which is made up of Monoselenium Tenerum or Pellia. The algae is all intertwined in the pellia and i cannot remove the pellia without major surgery. Can Hydrogen Peroxide be used in the tank with shrimp to zap this stuff? I have used HP on driftwood that has had algae on it with great success but I removed the wood to do this.

The tree is here.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177053&page=5

This is in a 10 gallon unheated tank with Red Cherry and Green shrimp. The lighting is 2 CFLs of 14W each. I dose Flourish once a week.

Q
 
I found this post, saying 3%h2o2 is safe for inverts and leaves no residue and this one saying how they did it. Good luck, I have some hair algae too and am curious to hear what ends up working for you.
 
I know peroxide is safe in the tank, if you're squirting it directly on the algae. Is this actual hair algae, or clado? I tried peroxide dips with my plants when I changed the substrate over to try and get rid of all the clado, but I don't think it was very effective.
 
Que
I occasionally get BBA on some of my plants.
I've read that H2O2 or Excel injected over a plant with algae will work.
BUT, I've never had luck that way with either.
I take the plant out and dip it in H2O2 for a couple of minutes then replant.
The next day the BBA is pinkish in color and dissapears after a couple of days.
I've also read that H2O2 actually invigorates the fish. But my fish act the same
after a plant treatment. I actually put 100 ml into my 46 g BF one time, the fish didn't change one way or the other and I didn't lose any. In fact I haven't lost any fish in the last 6-7 months. Knock on wood.
I really endorse H2O2 instead of a bleach dip for plant treatment. I once tried a bleach dip on some swords at a 20 - 1 ratio. After the dip, I rinsed them in old water with a bunch of prime. THey all lost some leaves but soon came back.
Charles
 
Que
I just looked at your "tree".
That's a great looking aquascape.
For safeties sake, why don't you pull a bit of the pelia and soak it in H2O2 first?
I'd hate to be held responsible in case you lost all of your pellia.
I may try something like that using grape wood or mesquite.
Charles
 
I have used Excel before with an eyedropper in the tank with ok results. No total eradication. I used HP with an eyedropper on driftwood taken out of the tank with great results. It's just hard to see the algae on the wood out of the tank. The stuff smokes a bit on the wood hehe.
But my problem is IN the tank and there is little to go on on the web.

I have looked at the link from Paperdragon... thanks.

I will try a 2ml per gallon dose this weekend and see what happens. I will give some pellia I have a squirt tonight to see if it will react like algae or a regular plant.

Q
 
Yeah, I use peroxide in the tank with no issues. H2O2 breaks down very quickly in the presence of light; the decomposition reaction is 2 H2O2 --> 2 H2O + O2. You can actually use H2O2 to oxygenate the water when your power is down or you are transporting fish.
 
Be careful I killed a bn pleco one time, he was hiding under some DW that I spot treated a little too much.
What has worked for me was to turn filters of for 20 minutes spot treat but do not od, then do a big WC after the treatment.

Good luck
 
I use H2O2 regularly in my tanks. It's great for green water/clarity issues, spot treatment of algae, oxidation of waste, killing some free swimming parasites/protozoa or just as a simple O2 boost when needed (after tank rescaping when stirred up debris clouds the water). 5ml per 10g is perfectly safe. I've used up to 10ml per 10g without harm, but would avoid concentrations higher than that as H2O2 can damage the fishes' gills. If fine bubbles appear all over the tank decor, plants and even the fish, then you've used too much. The fish will show obvious signs of distress. A 50% water change and/or increase in aeration will remove the excess H2O2. Note that tanks with a high biomass can usually absorb an accidental overdose fairly quickly as the H2O2 has more organic matter to attack and oxidize. Water changes after normal dosing aren't necessary as H2O2 just becomes water and O2. This 'O2 boost' eventually reduces back to normal levels in less than (12-24 hrs).
 
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