Hydrogen peroxide question

nick654377 · Apr 5, 2022

We have had a huge outbreak of Hair/turf algae on our rocks. Tanks have been set up since November so it is 5 months old. parameters are under control and we started dosing PNS Pro Bio. I have my protein skimmer set to a wetter skim. Lights are reef breeders Photon V2. set to 12 inches above tank at 30% intensity for 4 hours with a 1 hour moon light in the morning 1 hour ramp up. 1 hour ramp down 1 hour moon at night.

Has any one dosed 1ml per 10 gal of 3% peroxide into the tank?

Parameters are
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20-30 (Hense why adding PNS Pro Bio)
Phosphate 0.1-0.13
Mag 1290
Cal 433
Alk 8.3-8.5
salinity 1.025
Temp 78*

Corals in the tank
5 Zoa fags
1 Goni
2 Hammers
1 plate coral
2 torches (9 heads total)
2 duncans (8 heads total)
2 Hammers (4 heads total)
6 mushrooms
1 WBTA
Xenia
micro Favia
Challace

Clean up crew
6 Turbo snails
10-12 Nassaruis snail
3-4 hermits
2 Emerald Crabs
1 Tuxedo urchin
1 blood shimp
1 pep shrimp

We have a yellow tang that wont touch the algea and just added a lawnmower blenny.

LeftyReefer · Apr 5, 2022

Yes, some of your corals like zoas will close temorarily, but they will be fine.
Anemone's will do weird stuff, but will also be fine. Some corals will retract their polyps temorarily.

I dose H202 all the time. no issues doing so.

I've dosed much more than 1 ML per 10G too, no issues.

3429810 · Apr 5, 2022

I have dosed that exact ratio many times on my dt without any issues. I can’t say how effective that ratio would be for full tank treatment. Reef dudes did a stream a month or two ago about peroxide you should see if they have any info in there or even reach out to the guest he had on to see his thoughts on it.

you will need to address the underlying issue though. I would guess the algae is up taking the nutrients causing the 0 nitrate test. Something is causing a nutrient issue though if the hair algae is getting out of control. Definitely don’t panic and do anything quick just take your time and really figure out a game plan to deal with it then stick to it.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 5, 2022

LeftyReefer said:
Yes, some of your corals like zoas will close temorarily, but they will be fine.
Anemone's will do weird stuff, but will also be fine. Some corals will retract their polyps temorarily.

Doesn't that sound like it is irritating them?

LeftyReefer · Apr 5, 2022

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Doesn't that sound like it is irritating them?

For sure. But it irritates algae much much more.
corals are fine. algae gets wrecked.

Aquanic · Apr 5, 2022

If it’s a possibility with your scape, it might be worth siphoning what you can and then taking the rocks out individually and scrub them down with a toothbrush and peroxide. That’s what I’ve done when I run into that issue, but I also haven’t had it take the tank over before.

SlugSnorter · Apr 5, 2022

LeftyReefer said:
For sure. But it irritates algae much much more.
corals are fine. algae gets wrecked.

does it kill macros?

edmcnierney · Apr 22, 2022

@Randy Holmes-Farley I found in an old thread about H2O2 and ORP your comment that you'd like to see more data about it. I'm reviving an old tank and re-using the 10-year-old sand and rock. Observation #1 - dinoflagellates can survive a long time! Observation #2 - H2O2 dosing seems to be an effective treatment.

And, as others have reported, each dosing causes a sharp drop in ORP rather than the increase I would expect (although having any expectation about what ORP will do in a tank is foolish). Here's my dosage from yesterday morning:

A dose of 1ml/gal caused a drop in ORP from 259 to 208 in 5 minutes. After about 6 hours it had recovered to the previous value. I don't understand this and don't really expect to figure it out - I don't think attempting to read ORP tea leaves is particularly useful - but just wanted to add another observation to our collective data.

edmcnierney · Apr 22, 2022

Oops - that's 1ml/10gal, not 1ml/gal!

mnofziger1 · Apr 22, 2022

SlugSnorter said:
does it kill macros?

Did we find this out? I had the same question.

Reeferbadness · Apr 22, 2022

i use H202 to combat cyno - with seemingly no collateral damage to either softies or sps. It's a slow process - give it a few weeks and if you see an improvement gradualy taper down and see if you have solved the problem or, if it comes back, double-check other possible causes (like RO/DI water not being 0 TDS, etc)

fryman · Apr 22, 2022

H2O2 irritates coral but the bigger issue is shrimp. There are reports of shrimp deaths attributed to H2O2 dosing.

I use it for spot treating on a rock outside the tank but I really like my shrimp and so wouldn't dose it directly in my aquariums.

Dburr1014 · Apr 22, 2022

I have dosed 1ml per 10gal with 3% with no loss to shrimp, clams, anenome, snails, hermits, coral or fish.
100 gallon and the most I dosed at 1 time was 13ml.

LeftyReefer · Apr 22, 2022

I've had peppermint shrimps in my tank non-stop and been dosing H2O2 daily for over a year. Peppermints have been fine and molt regularly, and I dose way more than 1ml per 10g. I dose closer to 1ml per 1gal. and the shrimps have been fine.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 24, 2022

edmcnierney said:
@Randy Holmes-Farley I found in an old thread about H2O2 and ORP your comment that you'd like to see more data about it. I'm reviving an old tank and re-using the 10-year-old sand and rock. Observation #1 - dinoflagellates can survive a long time! Observation #2 - H2O2 dosing seems to be an effective treatment.

And, as others have reported, each dosing causes a sharp drop in ORP rather than the increase I would expect (although having any expectation about what ORP will do in a tank is foolish). Here's my dosage from yesterday morning:

A dose of 1ml/gal caused a drop in ORP from 259 to 208 in 5 minutes. After about 6 hours it had recovered to the previous value. I don't understand this and don't really expect to figure it out - I don't think attempting to read ORP tea leaves is particularly useful - but just wanted to add another observation to our collective data.

Thank you.

There's a big thread on it here. Apparently peroxide can reduce copper from cupric copper (Cu++) to cuprous copper (Cu++), lowering ORP.

Whether that is what is the cause is not 100% clear because it also seems to depend on the probe age/cleanliness.

Test if it is possible to explain the know ORP reduction when adding H2O2 into a saltwater

Follow up - i dose 5 ml there I always dose. First for the two probes that in the beginning not show any dip when I dose H2O2. Been in the aquarium for 1 month now (around) And Probe A - been in the aquarium for more than 2 years At least in my aquarium - the dip is depending on time in my...

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