Back at it! Peroxide vrs cyanobacteria

[malira]

I did the same thing ONCE. I was dosing into the sump, "pump area" for 14 days. everyone was happy and fine but cyano was not changing much. I dosed directly above the power head and killed my skunk shrimp that day. I went back to dosing to the sump and the sand bed is almost all cleared up after 21 days. the rocks are much slower but I am seeing very slight progress. Just going to keep dosing 12 hrs apart. The improvements are slow but still improving. I just have super cyano.

I was wondering if the whole micro bubbles into the return pump would help???

I've been micro bubbling for 3 weeks. I just started peroxide.

 

[cryotek74]

I've been micro bubbling for 3 weeks. I just started peroxide.

keep us posted if that helps clear it up from the rocks.

 

[malira]

General question. I am scheduled for a water change tomorrow. Should I start vacuuming the sand bed to give the peroxide a head start?

More of a rhetorical question, but looking for conformation.

 

[john.m.cole3]

8 days

 

[bayondai]

Maybe I missed it but I have been dosing peroxide 12 days with no change at all. I bumped it up to twice a day a few days ago. I do run carbon and I have a little bit of gfo mixed in it. Is the gfo working against the peroxide? The peroxide I'm using is the 3% over the counter stuff. But I did open the peroxide 6months to a year ago. Does it go bad?

 

[twilliard]

Sorry all was out most of the day!
To clear a few questions up...
When dosing peroxide near a powerhead slow down on the dosing itself. Don't squirt it in all at once in a fast movement. Give it time to disperse.


People that can't seem to get rid of it... are you 100% positive that it is cyanobacteria? H2o2 kills cyanobacteria and this is conclusive.


Does h2o2 go bad? .... yes in my mind it does. H2O2 breaks down into water and light will do this. How long it takes for that process in the bottle I would have to study this. This stuff is cheap, better to pick up a new bottle.

 

[bayondai]

Should I turn off my carbon since it's mixed with a little gfo?

I've been dosing it in my sump by my return so it could mix a little before it goes in the main display. I guess that was wrong too. I just have to put it in the display by a power head and put it in slowly.

 

[twilliard]

This is not conclusive but h2o2 may have an affect on gfo causing elevated reduction of po4.
During h2o2 use while running GFO watch your po4 levels (unless you are after 0 po4)

 

[RMS18]

This is not conclusive but h2o2 may have an affect on gfo causing elevated reduction of po4.
During h2o2 use while running GFO watch your po4 levels (unless you are after 0 po4)

I've noticed this. I have had my skimmer off because h202 sends it crazy and my po4 levels are under 5ppm when I average 10-13ppm. I am running gfo. I'll check my the date on my h202 but I know it's good as I dip new corals in it and it kills algea, and hitch hikers right away.

 

[twilliard]

I've noticed this. I have had my skimmer off because h202 sends it crazy and my po4 levels are under 5ppm when I average 10-13ppm. I am running gfo. I'll check my the date on my h202 but I know it's good as I dip new corals in it and it kills algea, and hitch hikers right away.

Yes this is correct. Skimmers will produce much more waste water as h2o2 breaks down the cells of the bacteria.

 

[Khh27]

I've noticed this. I have had my skimmer off because h202 sends it crazy and my po4 levels are under 5ppm when I average 10-13ppm. I am running gfo. I'll check my the date on my h202 but I know it's good as I dip new corals in it and it kills algea, and hitch hikers right away.

Are you referring to no3? These would be extremely elevated levels of po4

 

[malira]

People that can't seem to get rid of it... are you 100% positive that it is cyanobacteria? H2o2 kills cyanobacteria and this is conclusive.

I may be in this category. I walked into my son's room, where the tank is, turned on rooms lights and the sand bed looked to be clearing up.

So I briefly turned on the tanks lights to take a couple pics. Now I've only dosed 3 doses at this point. The first pics are before I went to bed the next are this morning.

Does cyano act this way? When I get home I'll know for sure.

 

[pirate2876]

After 2 doses of H2O2 at 10ml per gallon, once with a brand new bottle, I accidentally bleached a few SPS pieces. Any hair or micro algae seems to have be falling apart and getting very thin. I have also not had to clean the glass in few days as well. Fish and most corals seem unaffected.

Does the H2O2 remove PO4 rapidly?

 

[twilliard]

I may be in this category. I walked into my son's room, where the tank is, turned on rooms lights and the sand bed looked to be clearing up.

So I briefly turned on the tanks lights to take a couple pics. Now I've only dosed 3 doses at this point. The first pics are before I went to bed the next are this morning.

Does cyano act this way? When I get home I'll know for sure.

Yes that is the the normal process of cyanobacteria
Even though it "looks" to be gone it's still there. Seems that there is an abundance of hydrogen sulfide, sulfer dioxide in the substrate for night survival.
So in essence there are 2 mechanisms of survival. Light (thylakoids provide cell fuel ) , nitrogen fixation (cell fuel during lights off)
With the lights on they are producing their fuel and that is visible from the color increase.
As the h2o2 destroys the cell membrane the thylakoids can not produce the energy needed. This is when you will start to see a decrease in population when lights ramp up.

 

[twilliard]

After 2 doses of H2O2 at 10ml per gallon, once with a brand new bottle, I accidentally bleached a few SPS pieces. Any hair or micro algae seems to have be falling apart and getting very thin. I have also not had to clean the glass in few days as well. Fish and most corals seem unaffected.

Does the H2O2 remove PO4 rapidly?

H2o2 itself will not remove po4. It's when used in combination with gfo.

And is that correct? 10ml per gallon? That would be a massive overdose

 

[Graphicsplus]

People that can't seem to get rid of it... are you 100% positive that it is cyanobacteria? H2o2 kills cyanobacteria and this is conclusive.

Im a little confused. Isn't cyano fairly easy to identify? I mean what else causes the red patches on the sand bed and rocks? I just started dosing Monday night so I am on my 4th dose this morning of 1ml per 10 every 12 hours with lights off. I haven't seen any indication it is harming any of my inhabitants and I really didnt expect to see any difference in the sand bed yet. Should I continue with my water change and vacuum what I can during dosing? Thanks for putting the time in to answer all of our questions.

I was going to wait until your final write up before starting but I am tired of cleaning this stuff off my rock, sand and corals.

 

[twilliard]

Im a little confused. Isn't cyano fairly easy to identify? I mean what else causes the red patches on the sand bed and rocks? I just started dosing Monday night so I am on my 4th dose this morning of 1ml per 10 every 12 hours with lights off. I haven't seen any indication it is harming any of my inhabitants and I really didnt expect to see any difference in the sand bed yet. Should I continue with my water change and vacuum what I can during dosing? Thanks for putting the time in to answer all of our questions.

I was going to wait until your final write up before starting but I am tired of cleaning this stuff off my rock, sand and corals.

I have confirmed members tanks that thought it was cyanobacteria only to conclude it was a form of dinoflagellates. Cyanobacteria is easily identified under a microscope, can't miss it.
Yes you can clean the current cyanobacteria but let the siphon do the work as to not spread the cells.

 

[pirate2876]

And is that correct? 10ml per gallon? That would be a massive overdose

Yup. Its what I saw on another thread for dosage. For my 120 tank and sump I measured out 130ml of H2O2. The initial dosage with the older bottle seemed to help the dino's a bit but, the second dosage with the new bottle really did a number on the dinos as well as any loose hair algae. I did have a few SPS frags bleach though so, I may have overdone it. I added the H2o2 to the last chamber in the sump for quick dispersion.

I'm thinking of running H2O2 though my dosing pump to add on an every week, or every other couple days to help with the algae. Any recommendations with dosage?

 

[twilliard]

Yup. Its what I saw on another thread for dosage. For my 120 tank and sump I measured out 130ml of H2O2. The initial dosage with the older bottle seemed to help the dino's a bit but, the second dosage with the new bottle really did a number on the dinos as well as any loose hair algae. I did have a few SPS frags bleach though so, I may have overdone it. I added the H2o2 to the last chamber in the sump for quick dispersion.

I'm thinking of running H2O2 though my dosing pump to add on an every week, or every other couple days to help with the algae. Any recommendations with dosage?

I'm sorry.. that dose is not correct.
I would not recommend dosing that volume. It will be detrimental to the tank inhabitants

1ml per 10 gallons every 12 hours is the base starting dose

 

[Graphicsplus]

I have confirmed members tanks that thought it was cyanobacteria only to conclude it was a form of dinoflagellates. Cyanobacteria is easily identified under a microscope, can't miss it.
Yes you can clean the current cyanobacteria but let the siphon do the work as to not spread the cells.

Can I send a sample? If yes whats the best packaging method?

Thanks

Edit...I understand about the not disturbing part but the stuff on the rock doesn't always release easily.