# Hydrogen Peroxide???



## tennis4you (2 Nov 2008)

Some people at the plantedtank.net as suggesting that you can use hydrogen peroxide to kill bba.  Similar to excel, just put it in a serenge (sp???) and squirt it on the plant while it is under water.  

Have you guys ever heard of that?  If it is acceptable then that would be a heck of a lot cheaper than Excel!!!


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## Garuf (2 Nov 2008)

Hydrogen peroxide as in the stuff I strip my hair with?
I can imagine it working since it breaks down into h2o, I'd imagine you'd want to keep it away from your fish and plants though the stuff burns really badly.
Hydrogen peroxide isn't something that's readily available in the uk, whereas easy carbo and excel are but a few clicks away.


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## tennis4you (2 Nov 2008)

Garuf said:
			
		

> Hydrogen peroxide as in the stuff I strip my hair with?
> I can imagine it working since it breaks down into h2o, I'd imagine you'd want to keep it away from your fish and plants though the stuff burns really badly.
> Hydrogen peroxide isn't something that's readily available in the uk, whereas easy carbo and excel are but a few clicks away.



Well, I believe there is medical grade which will burn your skin and then the kind that you pour on open cuts to clean.  They are referring to the latter.


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## Mark Evans (2 Nov 2008)

the green machine sell it guys. it works wonders on cleaning equipment. DONT get it on your hands like i did.....ouch


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## chump54 (2 Nov 2008)

saintly, do you know what strength the stuff from the green machine is?... got some from boots which is 9% but wasn't very good, but could have been user error.

C


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## Mark Evans (2 Nov 2008)

chump54 said:
			
		

> aintly, do you know what strength the stuff from the green machine is?... got some from boots which is 9%



17.5% its pretty good.


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## chump54 (2 Nov 2008)

thanks... I left my diffuser soaking for a few days, did have some effect but not as good as bleach, the strength of the solution makes the difference.

cheers

C


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## alex b (3 Nov 2008)

Hi,
This is available in 20% vol {2 litre} & 100% vol {500 ml} from an online supplier I use for my Reef additives. They are a well used supplier for reef tank supplements at reasonable costs.

They are not a sponsor of this site, so send me a PM and I will advise who they are.

Alternatively if you google

Order Hydrogen Peroxide Solution LR (100 Vol) online

they come up as about the third from top.

NB, 100 Vol is nasty stuff and you need some gloves and goggles [always remember the PPE]

Regards Alex.


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## scottturnbull (7 Nov 2008)

You can pick up 6% v/v hydrogen peroxide from most chemists (the bottle says it can be used as mouthwash). It does work with beard algae. However, there's a possibility of trashing your filter. Hydrogen Peroxide tends to break down into O2 and H2O within 24 hours, so if you are set on using it, you might want to leave the filter switched off for 24 hours. Treat as much as you can (intake, outtake valves, bogwood etc.) in a bucket, to make life easy.

6% v/v is sufficient for an algae treatment. Any stronger and you'll increase the chances of over-dosing. Besides, Laboratory Reagent (LR) grade chemicals are needlessly expensive for what you are intending.

The link below recommends 30ml of 6% H202 per 250 l, applied directly to the algae, over a period of five minutes.

Hydrogen Peroxide - The Aquarium Wiki

You might have to repeat the dosage every couple of days. Two or three days between treatments should allow it to break down.

I've used Hydrogen Peroxide to remove beard algae from bogwood, but that was done in a bucket. It releases loads of bubbles. In the morning, most of the algae had fallen off. What little remained was purple coloured.


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## fishgeek (7 Nov 2008)

hydrogen peroxide wont damage your filter unless you fill your filter canister with it at a much higher concentration

it is labile as said in water and breaks ito harmless things
it use's it oxidative power in the presence of organics so it is not going to get far in an aquarium situation


use something to direct the concentrated solution onto the problem
bba usually goes red/maroon after damage and then shrimp and algae eaters will consume it

you still need to sort out the cause of your algae though


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## alex b (7 Nov 2008)

Hi,
I think you may be surprised at how cheap these chemicals are when bought from the lab suppliers and not from chemists, of course the postage has to be taken into account. But bought in larger quantities lasts a long time.

I would only be confident in using this to clean items OUTSIDE of the tank environment, for which it is very good if used at the right concentration. Then rinsed very well before putting back into the tank.
I use the 100 Vol mixed 40% by volume with RO DI water and this is great for getting stubborn stains and calcerous algae out of my marine protein skimmer.

Cheers Alex


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## Regular guy (28 Nov 2008)

Hi, I am a newby to the site. I came across your UKAPs stand at hayling island last October and was very pleased, both with with the tanks on display and your hightened enthusiasm. I have a 400ltr tank (started 8 months ago but is to be stripped and restarted due to a gain in empirical knowledge) and 4 other smaller tanks with which I intend to try the techniques promoted here. Anyway, my reason for posting is that I have recently purchased Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide 35% strength - 500ml on eBay and am using a mix 11 parts RO water to 1 part of the 35% H2O2 to good effect. I have come across a lot of unsupported anecdotal evidence against its use, but, to keep it safe one just needs a little common sense, the ability to count and a little faith in scientific method.


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## tennis4you (28 Nov 2008)

I dosed with hydrogen peroxide 2 days ago and it did not kill off the bba.  I even dipped an entire leaf in a bowl of hydrogen peroxide.  However, I see I was only using hydrogen peroxide with a 3% concentration (or whatever you call it).  Do I need a stronger hydrogen peroxide to kill bba?

Thanks!


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## Colin (13 Dec 2008)

Hi,
	Not been on for a long while so just noticed this post,
I have used Hydrogen Peroxide; I have found it works very well on most forms of algae.  I get mine from the local chemist, its cheap and effective I use the 3% Vol and always do a 50% water change half an hour after a treatment.  I always turn my filter off and have never seen any poor reaction from my fish or plants.  Works like Easy Carb just a lot quicker.


Col


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