Hydrogen Peroxide for bubble algae

[K_red_raider]

I have a bunch of bubble algae on my rock work and zoa frags and was wondering if anyone has used hydrogen peroxide to remove it. i can take it out and physically remove it but wanting to find something to kill it not just remove it for it to just come back.

 

[dturner]

I would just get airline tubing and pop the bubble algae while siphoning it out. I haven't heard of any chemicals that kill it and would doubt their effectiveness.

 

[K_red_raider]

I have tried that before and now I have a tank full of them so I need to do something else

 

[PaulKreider]

Depending on tank size, get 3-4 emerald crabs. They do the trick in a jiffy

 

[DAPG8GT]

I've used hydrogen peroxide numerous times on zoa frags.. It works wonderful(except biopsis) . There's a looooong thread on it on the other site.. Word of warning though some zoa's/palys don't react well with h202..my captain America's took a hit with the treatment none died but they were Def negatively affected for about a month. so if they are finicky zoa's be careful. You can also get large q tips soaked in h202 and spot treat the bubbles for a few min out of water. If you dip the whole rock all pods, brittle stars etc will die fwiw.

Recently read it's best to let the zoa sit out of water for a min to let them secrete the slime coat to better deal with the peroxide.. Good luck.. Lasers work wonders on valonia also =).... Ask me how I know ha ha..

 

[K_red_raider]

I've used hydrogen peroxide numerous times on zoa frags.. It works wonderful(except biopsis) . There's a looooong thread on it on the other site.. Word of warning though some zoa's/palys don't react well with h202..my captain America's took a hit with the treatment none died but they were Def negatively affected for about a month. so if they are finicky zoa's be careful. You can also get large q tips soaked in h202 and spot treat the bubbles for a few min out of water. If you dip the whole rock all pods, brittle stars etc will die fwiw.

Recently read it's best to let the zoa sit out of water for a min to let them secrete the slime coat to better deal with the peroxide.. Good luck.. Lasers work wonders on valonia also =).... Ask me how I know ha ha..

What percentage did you use?

 

[K_red_raider]

Depending on tank size, get 3-4 emerald crabs. They do the trick in a jiffy

I have had a few emeralds on it and they didnt do anything

 

[tuna_bullet]

I've used hydrogen peroxide numerous times on zoa frags.. It works wonderful(except biopsis) . There's a looooong thread on it on the other site.. Word of warning though some zoa's/palys don't react well with h202..my captain America's took a hit with the treatment none died but they were Def negatively affected for about a month. so if they are finicky zoa's be careful. You can also get large q tips soaked in h202 and spot treat the bubbles for a few min out of water. If you dip the whole rock all pods, brittle stars etc will die fwiw.

Recently read it's best to let the zoa sit out of water for a min to let them secrete the slime coat to better deal with the peroxide.. Good luck.. Lasers work wonders on valonia also =).... Ask me how I know ha ha..

+1 i lost some nice zoas doing this..it works but not worth the risk.....better off pulling the rock out and cleaning and emeralds help a bit........

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

One thing that worked for me was a lot of emerald crabs and then popping them. I also never worried about them spreading because of pooping because of this question. What happens when you get fish and crabs that eat bubble algae? They don't eat it whole. They get popped! I have found that I can pop as many as I see and the emeralds get the rest and get all the new ones that start.

 

[Dowtish]

One thing that worked for me was a lot of emerald crabs and then popping them. I also never worried about them spreading because of pooping because of this question. What happens when you get fish and crabs that eat bubble algae? They don't eat it whole. They get popped! I have found that I can pop as many as I see and the emeralds get the rest and get all the new ones that start.

I agree. The whole "dont pop them, they will spread" thing is all anecdotal and not based on any study or research. I have had a few frags come from folks that were covered in it, I would simply pop them out of the water and put them in the tank. Never had an issue with them spreading.

 

[Browncoat]

I have a small Bubble algae problem at the moment. I'm interested to see what everyone comes up with here

 

[A. grandis]

I have smaller and bigger types of bubble algae in my systems.
The best is to have a predatory fish. I chose the Red Sea Sailfin tang and it loves the bubbles!!
There are some spots where the fish just can't reach. I remove them with tweezers and let them go with the flow, so the fish can get them. Some times I suck them up while doing the maintenance.
Bubble algae will reproduce in your system no matter what. You can pop them or not, they will still be all over the place if there is no predators.
The most effective way to remove them is to dig them up with tweezers and suck them out of the system, syphoning, like described above. That works great, together with the fish. I've never had those crabs. If they eat the algae, just go ahead and get the crab too!! LOL!!

I don't see any bubble algae as a big deal.
Bryopsis and Aiptasia/Majano anemones are a big deal!!!

Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

+1 i lost some nice zoas doing this..it works but not worth the risk.....better off pulling the rock out and cleaning and emeralds help a bit........

The problem with Hydrogen peroxide is the amount people use. I recommend up to 1/4 of H2O2 for 3/4 tank water for a minute or 2.
Some people just use like 50%+. The zoas will explode!!! LOL!!
I use H2O2 only for algae. Some times zoas have algae on them, so there is no way to eliminate the algae if we don't use the H2O2…
I avoid as much as I can. The use of Lugol's for bugs and other dips are probably safer for most zoas.
But if you know what you're doing and have good eyes the H2O2 will help even to eliminate bugs.
We should minimize the risks with low dosages and less time exposure…
It is better to try multiple dips with low dosages than just try a strong one and kill the zoas.
Some zoas are more sensitive to H2O2 than others.

Grandis.

 

[mcarroll]

It pays to remember that "enough light + enough nutrients = algae". Your equation is out of balance in favor of the algae!

You can use something like AlgaeFix to safely (yes, safely) eliminate the algae, but I would recommend against it.

Until your tank is correctly balanced again (not in favor of algae) it will remain ripe for some other kind of algae infection - all of which are much worse than bubble algae. (I actually think a little bubble algae can look nice....but not an outbreak of it.)

I would get a handle on what's feeding the algae (overstocking, overfeeding, detritus in rocks, sand bed or sump, bad RODI water, etc) before taking any stronger action.

-Matt

 

[DAPG8GT]

What percentage did you use?

I usually use about 20% h202 to Sw.. It works great as said above you have to have some reserve when doing it.. I make the zoa's close up before they go in the mix fwiw.

Not gonna go into the whole how to combat algae initially as it's said above and probably every thing you researched to this point has info on it.. Just being cautious on frags brought in is what I initially use the dip on. Gotta say since I have made the zoa's close up I really haven't noticed any negatives. I actually just did it on some purple hornets to get rid of blue clove polyps.. It almost wiped em out I'm gonna wait a week or 2 and do it again and it should be clear to go into the main tank

 

[K_red_raider]

One thing that worked for me was a lot of emerald crabs and then popping them. I also never worried about them spreading because of pooping because of this question. What happens when you get fish and crabs that eat bubble algae? They don't eat it whole. They get popped! I have found that I can pop as many as I see and the emeralds get the rest and get all the new ones that start.

I have often thought about that my self. The tank that I am having a problem with is my 30 so Im thinking I may get 3 emeralds to see what they can get done.

 

[K_red_raider]

It pays to remember that "enough light + enough nutrients = algae". Your equation is out of balance in favor of the algae!

You can use something like AlgaeFix to safely (yes, safely) eliminate the algae, but I would recommend against it.

Until your tank is correctly balanced again (not in favor of algae) it will remain ripe for some other kind of algae infection - all of which are much worse than bubble algae. (I actually think a little bubble algae can look nice....but not an outbreak of it.)

I would get a handle on what's feeding the algae (overstocking, overfeeding, detritus in rocks, sand bed or sump, bad RODI water, etc) before taking any stronger action.

-Matt

I understand what you are saying and agree completely but this tank has been great on the water balance. My NO3--around 5ppm and PO2 0.2ppm so im not sure what is causing it.

 

[K_red_raider]

Right now my plan is to get about 3 emeralds and see what they can do for a week or two and clean/scrape off the algae on the frags and then do a 20% peroxide dip for all of the rock if the crabs do help. It is a 30 gallon tank and the rock work needs to be redone anyways.

 

[A. grandis]

Right now my plan is to get about 3 emeralds and see what they can do for a week or two and clean/scrape off the algae on the frags and then do a 20% peroxide dip for all of the rock if the crabs do help. It is a 30 gallon tank and the rock work needs to be redone anyways.

Oh no… You shouldn't dip the rocks in peroxide or any other dipping preparation! The dips for zoas (and/or corals) work only for frags on plugs.
You just can't dip rocks. You would probably end up with a huge mess with dead organisms and ruin your system.
If the problem is with the rocks you'll need to remove them mechanically and deal with the predators, water changes and nutrient balance.

Grandis.