How does hydrogen peroxide affect Bubble Tip Anemones?

Billmone · Feb 19, 2020

Hello everyone. First, I wanted to say that this is such an incredible website. There are so many knowledgeable people on this site and I really look forward to reading various articles and discussions, even ones that may not relate to my aquarium. Thanks everyone for sharing so much valuable info. I'm not sure who ever created this website, but that person or people are truly remarkable. I have had a 54 gallon bow tank for three years and during that time, there have been highs and lows, but thankfully mostly highs. I get many compliments on it from our house guests. I feel that an aquarium is similiar to a live, complex puzzle. There are often no exact answers. Well, I've had success with fish, invertebrates, and corals (soft, LPS, and SPS). I've found some success with utilizing hydrogen peroxide (3% solution). Recently I purchased a beautiful rose bubble tip anemone. I research a lot prior to making any purchases, however, I do not recall seeing anything mentioned regarding hydrogen peroxide affecting RBTA's. I cautiously dose less than the suggested dosage so I used 3 ml. About an hour after I dosed my aquarium (it's 54 gallons, however I estimate about 38 gallons are water once you substract the live rock, sand, corals, and equipment in the aquarium), I noticed the RBTA shrivel up. I panicked thinking the only change was the hydrogen peroxide, so I immediately did a 30% water change. The next day the RBTA is doing well. My parameters all are fine. I wasn't sure if the RBTA was reacting to the hydrogen peroxide or not. I have two AI hd primes that the corals seem to love (they grow quite a bit). Maybe I was just overreacting and the RBTA is just getting used to the aquarium. I like the results I've noticed from using the hydrogen peroxide but not at the chance of losing the RBTA. I am a proponet of doing basic maintenance so the use of the hydogen peroxide is not something that I need to depend on anyway. Any thoughts or past experience regarding this? Again, thanks everyone for reading this and providing any feedback. I'm in Atlanta (my gf is from Europe and works for a major airline, so we travel worldwide often), my friends and family know that I really enjoy this site. It's like a worldwide community to me of knowledgeable people who love and care for a lovely piece of nature. Thanks again for any feedback.

sde1500 · Feb 19, 2020

I sporadically have been dosing peroxide. I notice my zoas and nem close up for a while after dosing. Then come back out strong as ever an hour or so later.

Billmone · Feb 19, 2020

sde1500 said:
I sporadically have been dosing peroxide. I notice my zoas and nem close up for a while after dosing. Then come back out strong as ever an hour or so later.

I had heard and noticed that with my zoas, but didn't know that about nems. Thank you.

living_tribunal · Feb 19, 2020

Not sure about anemones but I can say with 100% certainty there are select (only a few) corals that won’t tolerate hydrogen peroxide at all. These are the ones that I have nearly killed in dips or dosing hydrogen peroxide to the tank:

Duncan
All cloves
Stupid pulsing Xenia but who cares about that.

It most likely won’t kill them but will do some damage. Not sure how this would impact nems though.

Billmone · Feb 19, 2020

That's interesting cause I did notice my pulsating Xenia not growing as crazy as it usually does after a dosage. So that makes sense now. Thank you.

Jake_the_reefer · Feb 19, 2020

I'm not sure if this is coincidence but I just finished dosing peroxide for dino and the day I stopped my nem split but looks healthy. Could have stressed it out

living_tribunal · Feb 19, 2020

Billmone said:
That's interesting cause I did notice my pulsating Xenia not growing as crazy as it usually does after a dosage. So that makes sense now. Thank you.

I dipped a Xenia frag in hydrogen peroxide and it fried the whole thing. Took 2 months to start growing again.