How do you do a hydrogen peroxide dip?

BillyC · Feb 21, 2012

I have a few frag plugs in my frag tank that keep growing back algae. Whats the best way to do a hydrogen peroxide dip?

buddythelion · Feb 21, 2012

Bumping along to follow!

buddythelion · Feb 21, 2012

Nvm, check this thread out:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zo...4-new-polyps-way-lets-talk-precautionary.html

Ninjapotamus · Feb 21, 2012

best method I have used is
Take a q tip and spread the 3% hydrogen peroxide directly on the algae. no need to dunk the whole plug. very little stress on the polyp and you can really nuke the algae with pure 3% h202.

unless of course its completely covered... then I would dilute probably 30% 3% h202 70% water and soak from there. short 30sec - 1 min soaks and repeat as needed. I would avoid this route if at all possible.

probably just need a better cleanup crew tbh! something that will tackle the bushier algae that snails wont touch.

nova65ss · Feb 21, 2012

What type of cuc will eat the wiry stuff?

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BillyC · Feb 21, 2012

Nice I like the q-tip idea I'll have to give that a try!!!

Reef Breeders · Feb 21, 2012

I put them in a 50/50 mix of h202/tank water for one minute while gently shaking the frag. Sometimes I will also use a toothbrush to remove someof the algae. If the algae comes back, I repeat the process again. Haven't lost a frag this way, and I've dipped zoos, lps, sps, nps, and softies.

Ninjapotamus · Feb 21, 2012

nova65ss said:
What type of cuc will eat the wiry stuff?

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

with enough snails you can totally avoid this problem. bushier algae forms when your snails cant keep up in the first place. if you have enough snails they will keep this algae mowed down and it will never get to the point of being bushy. I mix astrea and blackfooted trochus snails. Roughly 1 snail per gallon, 66% blackfooted trochus 33% astrea. this combo is amazingly effective in a frag tank. the trochus navigate frag racks a lot better than the astrea keep the tank walls clean. I also reccomend a lawnmower blenny. While they are extremely ugly, they will do the work of a TON of snails and have no problems navigating the frag rack.

A Tang will also help, but I have found that while a freshly introduced tang will devour bushy algae, they tend to stop eating it after a while. Still they are an invaluable member of the CUC.

However, even with all of the above, you may have touble eliminating the existing bushy algae in your tank. At this point, I highly recommend picking up a few emerald crabs. They have no problem devouring bushy algae. They rip it off constantly. Its wonderful to watch! I know some people are concerned when adding crabs, but since its a frag tank, removing them should be easy should they become a problem. From my experience they solve way more problems than they cause(removing bubble algae for instance).

The same goes for peppermints should you end up with aiptasia.

BillyC · Feb 21, 2012

Ninjapotamus said:
I also reccomend a lawnmower blenny. While they are extremely ugly

Hahahaha

buddythelion · Feb 22, 2012

Ninjapotamus said:
with enough snails you can totally avoid this problem. bushier algae forms when your snails cant keep up in the first place. if you have enough snails they will keep this algae mowed down and it will never get to the point of being bushy. I mix astrea and blackfooted trochus snails. Roughly 1 snail per gallon, 66% blackfooted trochus 33% astrea. this combo is amazingly effective in a frag tank. the trochus navigate frag racks a lot better than the astrea keep the tank walls clean. I also reccomend a lawnmower blenny. While they are extremely ugly, they will do the work of a TON of snails and have no problems navigating the frag rack.

A Tang will also help, but I have found that while a freshly introduced tang will devour bushy algae, they tend to stop eating it after a while. Still they are an invaluable member of the CUC.

However, even with all of the above, you may have touble eliminating the existing bushy algae in your tank. At this point, I highly recommend picking up a few emerald crabs. They have no problem devouring bushy algae. They rip it off constantly. Its wonderful to watch! I know some people are concerned when adding crabs, but since its a frag tank, removing them should be easy should they become a problem. From my experience they solve way more problems than they cause(removing bubble algae for instance).

The same goes for peppermints should you end up with aiptasia.

Reading this made me think how amazing the hobby is. We choose different organisms to take care of certain functions in our tank. Pretty cool.

ingtar_shinowa · Feb 24, 2012

I just diped using a 4:1 ratio of 3% H2O2 to tank water for 5 minutes. ill give you some before and after.

And 4 days later

Obviously I didnt dip everything i was worried about melting but tomorrow of the next day they are all going in. Now bad effects on any of them.

Gamble · Feb 24, 2012

In the past I have had good luck with 15% dips on the whole plug..... but I've lost a couple nice z&p covered plugs recently, so the q-tip application will be my new method.

Drewbacca · Apr 29, 2021

ingtar_shinowa said:
I just diped using a 4:1 ratio of 3% H2O2 to tank water for 5 minutes. ill give you some before and after.

And 4 days later

Obviously I didnt dip everything i was worried about melting but tomorrow of the next day they are all going in. Now bad effects on any of them.

Did you mean 4 to 1 ratio of tank water to 3% peroxide?.. NOT 4:1 ratio of peroxide to tank water? Looks good .. I'm about to dip so just checkin..I'll prob do 5:1 to be safe. And do 1 min to start.

Saltyanimals · Jun 1, 2021

I did a 4:1 ratio w/ 3% and it didn't bubble or fizzle as some folks described. I continued to increase and was probably at 2:1 with little reaction before I ran out of the 5-10 min clock. Chalked it up as a failed dip and returned the coral (dendro) to DT. Surprisingly the algae came off over night. Lesson here is you may not see a reaction, but it does work.

First time dipping coral in H202 and I think I like it. pods jumped off the frag, but not sure what other pest it would kill but algae control is a winner.

calanprc · Dec 16, 2021

Reef Breeders said:
I put them in a 50/50 mix of h202/tank water for one minute while gently shaking the frag. Sometimes I will also use a toothbrush to remove someof the algae. If the algae comes back, I repeat the process again. Haven't lost a frag this way, and I've dipped zoos, lps, sps, nps, and softies.

Thank you for the tip.

Aquatic Bobs · Nov 25, 2022

Just tried an experiment and did a 100% hydrogen peroxide dip for 30 seconds . It's been a few hours and so far there's 0 algae and I don't see any negative effect on the corals but will post a comment if I see some. I dipped mostly SPS

Coral Your World · Nov 25, 2022

I do a 2 minute dip in 3% peroxide. Whole frag/colony.

Sean Clark · Nov 25, 2022

Aquatic Bobs said:
Just tried an experiment and did a 100% hydrogen peroxide dip for 30 seconds . It's been a few hours and so far there's 0 algae and I don't see any negative effect on the corals but will post a comment if I see some. I dipped mostly SPS

100% hydrogen peroxide is basically one half of rocket fuel. Do you mean 3% hydrogen peroxide that you did not dilute?

Aquatic Bobs · Nov 25, 2022

It's interesting reading some old comments from 10 years ago About this topic and seeing how much has changed since then. I still don't recommend for any person to just start throwing corals in hydrogen peroxide but I think there is some benefits and advantages.