Peroxide dosing and dipping

[Mr Cob]

Just wanted to share peroxide dosing and dipping results. I have been doing both regularly for over a year now. I know this is nothing new but I also know a lot of people don't know about it or are very skeptical like I was.

For heavy outbreaks of algae I dose 2.5ml daily for 7 days. *I have seen no ill efects to entire system or macro algae*

I also dip with peroxide on Zoas and liverock and will pour the peroxide in the dipping container (with tank water, enough to cover rock/coral) slowly until I start to see fiz/micro-bubbles. The dipping zaps away algae and takes care of a lot of pests. With wild caught corals it can be huge help!

Peroxide 3% as a DIP:
Zoas - very safe, dip about 5-10minutes and pour peroxide in until you see micro-bubbles
SPS - only dip for a few minutes and only with very little peroxide
LPS - I have not been successful with peroxide dipping on LPS
Softies - I have not been successful with peroxide dipping on softies


Peroxide 3% as a reef dose:

2.5 ml / 40g daily for 7 days to combat heavy outbreaks
2.5ml / week for regular dosing

_______________________________________



Sample specimen 2 weeks ago before dip or dosing:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8247/8549659507_ae75fc7625.jpg


2 weeks later:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8594331204_5066494387_c.jpg

[Big_Pun]

so you dose into display? what's ratio to gallons?

[Mr Cob]

Yes, I've been doing 2.5ml / 40gallons of total water volume.

[Zack]

As a reef dose, when the reef contains things such as LPS are there any adverse affects? This is quite interesting and would be something I'd like to try.

[Mr Cob]

dosing at 2.5ml / week over the last year has had no ill effects on my system...though I do skip some weeks since I don't have algae in that system (my 29g biocube with 10gallon sump). When I add new corals I always remember to keep the dosing up weekly though..just to make sure things are in check algae wise.

Right after dosing zoas will close up for a couple of hours, then be out completely open and looking nice. LPS seem to extend mouths and tentacles during dose and look as though they like it. *NOT the case on dipping though* I have killed acans and cephastrea with dips, also nepthea.

I even took my phosban reactor offline after a few months of dosing and a few months later sold it.

[rrasco]

Peroxide can also cause your water to become clearer, resulting in higher light penetration. Something to consider.

H2O2, otherwise known as hydrogen peroxide, is literally one molecule from being water. I believe this extra molecule of oxygen helps to suffocate the algae during treatment. This is also why it's reef safe, when used appropriately.

[Mr Cob]

nice points rrasco, yes, have totally noticed crystal clear water... much like when I ran my phosban reactor.

[Scutterborn]

Is similar to running ozone? I vaguely recall that ozonizers add an additional oxygen molecule as well.


-Ben-

[Zack]

Sounds great. I started with a small dose for 30 gallons and within a few minutes my zoa heads closed as described above. I'll be dosing daily to get this outbreak under control and I'll post results as they come. Thanks Rob for the post

[Fracture]

I have a 40 gallon breeder how much would I dose? I have been having problems with something eating away at my zoas not sure if this will help?

[Mr Cob]

I have a 40 gallon breeder how much would I dose? I have been having problems with something eating away at my zoas not sure if this will help?

Same as me. 2.5ml per day for 7 days. You could do 1ml the first day, then 1.5 the second and then 2.5 the third.

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[Fracture]

Ok great thanks so much

[Southern Flame]

What would be a recommended dose for a 90 gal something is eating my zoa's also

[Mr Cob]

What would be a recommended dose for a 90 gal something is eating my zoa's also

If you have algae issues I'd probably go 1ml day one and then each day increase by 1ml until you hit 5ml, maybe even 6ml for 7-10days. Might do you some good to dig around on other forums and compare my results with others and see what you think might work best for your scenario.

I do not think the hydrogen peroxide regular dosing will do anything for pests as I have plenty of pods and inverts. I think it only takes care of pests when dipping as evident in the pods, serpents and crabs I have killed. : )

When dipping for pests I like to do my normal dipping solutions and then end with the peroxide followed by a quick dunk in some tank water before heading back to the display tank.

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[Mr Cob]

There are some maastards that have been using peroxide as a dip for a long time... which is where I got the idea...Ace and Sherita is two I can think of off the top of my head, maybe they will chime in with how they use it, and rrasco...we just talked about it earlier today.

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[Sherita]

I only dosed my DT to evict a nasty case of dino's. I used .5ml/5g daily. Within a week, the dino's were gone, never to return.

I do use h202 as a dip. Normally I used approx 60% tank water/40% h202 and dip for a few minutes. It's part of my incoming coral dip routine (Bayer first, rinse, h202 second rinse, move to tank). I've dipped everything from zoas to sps without ill effect, but leathers and shrooms do NOT like h202 at all. Between the Bayer and the h202, I've pretty well relegated my CoralRx to the shelf.

I will admit, I got aggravated one day at some algae that refused to vacate, and I dipped a zoa frag in 100% h202. It bubbled like crazy, was COMPLETELY mad for about three days...........and then opened up beautiful, with no algae to be seen. I don't recommend you try this with anything that has more than one digit to the left of the decimal point in price.

[rrasco]

In fact, I had some bam bams and capt america payls that had what I suspect to be bryopsis growing on the plug, I dipped them today. They are no worse for wear. Actually, they look better already, they were droopy now they are flat again. I cleaned the plug with tweezers and a razor prior to the dip.

[Sherita]

In fact, I had some bam bams and capt america payls that had what I suspect to be bryopsis growing on the plug, I dipped them today. They are no worse for wear. Actually, they look better already, they were droopy now they are flat again. I cleaned the plug with tweezers and a razor prior to the dip.

That's what I looooove about h202. Even evil bryopsis can't stand up to it! Mwahahaha!

[Mr Cob]

good info

[Southern Flame]

Ill look into it more cause I don't wanna kill my cleaner shrimp or stars but I do have 2 rocks I'd like to Dip bad thing is one has 3 pink rics and a Kenya tree and the other has irredeacent purple/green shrooms

[Sherita]

Ill look into it more cause I don't wanna kill my cleaner shrimp or stars but I do have 2 rocks I'd like to Dip bad thing is one has 3 pink rics and a Kenya tree and the other has irredeacent purple/green shrooms

Take said rocks out of the tank and drip peroxide on the offending algae using a pipette or eye dropper. I've done that before as well. Let it sit about a minute, then rinse in saltwater and put it back in the tank.

[Southern Flame]

Ok I will def give it a try thanks

[Reefnub]

Does it matter if your dosing 2.5ml to the tank for 7 days while using bio pellets? I do have a little hair algae that has popped up in 2 areas.


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[Mr Cob]

rrasco mentioned this today...curious what his results were

[Sherita]

No biopellets here, I run "dirty" tanks. But I'm watching to see the answer..........just in case :)

[Reefnub]

Yes I would like to know if its safe, I would hate to kill anything but algae or the fuzz algae on the back glass that seems to come with the use of pellets which is only my observation.


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[oljim]

Have you thought about using Food Grade H2O2 it's cleaner but is usually 35% rather than 3%. But it can be diluted down to 3% with distilled or filtered water. To make 3% H2O2 from 35% H2O2 use 1 part 35% hydrogen peroxide plus 11 part water=3% hydrogen peroxide. You can buy this at Cost Plus Nutrition in San Antonio.

[Zack]

Hey rob did you ever get that "after" pic of the frag?

[Mr Cob]

Yeah, here it is Zach:

Before: (this is a pic of the zoa colony before any dips and regular tank dosing of H2o2)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8247/8549659507_ae75fc7625.jpg


After: (this colony went through one heavy H2o2 dip and has been in a system that is dosed regularly with 2.5ml/week)
The polyps are normally all open, I just took the pic right after lights came on. You can see there is very little left of that algae. I have not pulled any off, even in the dip I just let it be to see if it would die off.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8587381223_bd6ef825fc_z.jpg

[rrasco]

Can't refute the evidence Rob.

[Zack]

That's amazing. So this frag was dipped daily? Weekly? Or just the one time?

[rrasco]

That's amazing. So this frag was dipped daily? Weekly? Or just the one time?

I believe just one time. He was dosing the entire system as well though.

[Zack]

Ok, this may sound silly but you wrote to dip 5-10 minutes and pour peroxide until you see bubbles, does this mean dip first in solution then pour additonal h202 or do you add h202 to tank water until bubbles form and go from there?

[Mr Cob]

I just put the coral in a container with tank water and pour H2o2 until I see bubbles from the coral/rock

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[Mr Cob]

Only a few strands remaining...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8594331204_5066494387_c.jpg

[1seahorse]

I had a group of ricordea not react well to it, and I lost a marbled sea star on first day/attempt at a complete reef system dose. but I had not read what Sherita had wrote till now. lol. So... I'm sure it's a great method still.

[Southern Flame]

Will the peroxide kill a ball nem? I have one growing on a hunk of zoa's and it seems to be bothering them

[Mr Cob]

Will the peroxide kill a ball nem? I have one growing on a hunk of zoa's and it seems to be bothering them

I would think it would in a dip. It kills most everything else...

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[Mr Cob]

I had a group of ricordea not react well to it, and I lost a marbled sea star on first day/attempt at a complete reef system dose. but I had not read what Sherita had wrote till now. lol. So... I'm sure it's a great method still.

Yeah, I only dip rock and Zoa/palys as mentioned in my fist post with cautions.

However I have not had any ill effects to other livestock dosing the tank at 2.5ml/40g.

I even did a week at 5ml/40g. But marbeled sea stars are pretty sensitive if I remember correctly and some people claim losing inverts / pods with too much H2o2

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[rrasco]

I need a good way to get rid of ball nems too in my FOWLR.

[ramsey]

Has any used it for bubble algae with any success?

[SoLiD]

Peppermint Shrimp Perhaps???

[MadReefer]

Has any used it for bubble algae with any success?

emerald crabs eradicate bubble algae. had a nice outbreak of it in my 180. bought 6 of them and bubble algae gone in a month. granted i had a Ton of bubble algae. As for peppermint shrimp, they eat aptasia (sp). had a huge outbreak of those also and 6 pep shrimps took it out in a week.

as for this dosing of h2o2 i have never heard of it in the ten years ive done this lol. i used to vodka dose/carbon dose, but found out a few select lps hate it. nearly killed a 500 dollar war coral =-\
be vary wary on dosing Anything in your tank. not to scare anyone, but always keep an eye out for anything out of the norm stress related like recession of tissue etc.

hth some
Reef On!

[rrasco]

Vokda/vinegar is used for carbon dosing. Peroxide is used for algae. Two really different principals. There are a lot of different things that could have gone wrong with carbon dosing.

I think the key here, is to know why you have algae in your tank. While h2o2 works great for dips or spot treatment, if you don't address why the algae is growing, odds are it will be back.

[FireWater]

Great point Robert. You can treat the symptoms, but if you don't know the underlying cause it pointless. In Robs case I'm sure most of what he's dipping is shipments that come in with algae already. You can correct me if I'm wrong Rob. Not trying to say anything.

One of the key points to "fixing" anything in a reef tank is monitoring progression and regression of problem through sight and testing. Most of the problems that occur that cause algae and other outbreaks are slow in progression and therefore have to be slow in regression. Like dosing vodka or other carbon sources, such as sugars. You have to start slow. Corals an tanks react adversely to quick changes. That might have been some of the issues you saw Mad.

[rrasco]

You know what they say in this hobby: Nothing good happens fast.

[Mr Cob]

Great point Robert. You can treat the symptoms, but if you don't know the underlying cause it pointless. In Robs case I'm sure most of what he's dipping is shipments that come in with algae already. You can correct me if I'm wrong Rob. Not trying to say anything.

One of the key points to "fixing" anything in a reef tank is monitoring progression and regression of problem through sight and testing. Most of the problems that occur that cause algae and other outbreaks are slow in progression and therefore have to be slow in regression. Like dosing vodka or other carbon sources, such as sugars. You have to start slow. Corals an tanks react adversely to quick changes. That might have been some of the issues you saw Mad.

Exactly!

I'm also a HUGE fan of natural solutions and of course determining the problem first.

My problem is NEW coral..and when it comes to bryopsis and nuisance algaes H2o2 keeps me safe and it kills other pests too. The dip zaps it and the regular dosing keeps anything that might have made it past the dip, in check.

I had a case of several nuisance algaes last year and in an effort to find a solution that would work for my scenario of keeping both business stock and personal stock I was led to H2o2.


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[EpicWin]

Just an FYI and it may have been said already..... For SPS this is really risky... mine hate even the slightest hint of H2O2

[Mr Cob]

Just an FYI and it may have been said already..... For SPS this is really risky... mine hate even the slightest hint of H2O2

Yup, first post. I killed sps, acans and some other softies. As a dip it does wonders on zoas/palys and live rock or any equipment. That's the only stock I use it on for dips.

For dosing I dose 2.5ml/40g, once a week on all of my systems...this is a low amount but I have found that it works well on my systems containing fish only, lps, sps, softies, clams etc. I would not go anymore concentrated than that for dosing systems with SPS, delicate inverts etc.


*To reefers unfamiliar with H2o2 dipping and dosing.....

No one should ever dose, dip or do anything to their tanks that they have not thoroughly researched themselves.

Use this thread as just one resource for comparing results but definitely do not make it your only resource. Our hobby has way too many variables for one source to cover every possible scenario to one issue.

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[rrasco]

I've dipped an SPS. It was a single branch on a frag disk. The disk and the lower part of the SPS were dipped. The SPS did lose color where it was dipped, but the tips sprouted into 4 branches and it regained color. For other reasons, it stopped growing and at one point I snapped the branch off. The disk is almost fully encrusted now (which includes some encrusting that was dipped). Be cautious dipping anything in h2o2 though.

[Roo&Lis]

I've never had a problem with SPS but I tend to make my solutions pretty weak.

[Mr Cob]

I think rrasco did well with dipping sps too.

*edit...on my phone and missed Robert's reply lol.

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[MadReefer]

Vokda/vinegar is used for carbon dosing. Peroxide is used for algae. Two really different principals. There are a lot of different things that could have gone wrong with carbon dosing.

I think the key here, is to know why you have algae in your tank. While h2o2 works great for dips or spot treatment, if you don't address why the algae is growing, odds are it will be back.

yeah i read this as like "vinegar dosing" not sure why lol. i know what my issue was for carbon dosing. nitrates. 2 excellent food sources followed with po4. the carbon dosing issue i had was not watching ph. i was removing so much that with the death of the algae came a nice ph flux. thats the only thing i could think of. live and learn... to be more aware.

errr "peroxide dosing"....

[1seahorse]

I recently got a frag plate with 4heads of red and green Blasto, it came with some unwanted algae for sure. I tried just dipping a soft brush in the Hydrogen Peroxide solution, and then using the damp brush to spot clean all around the coral, and it worked. Killed off the hair algae amongst others and left coralline algae alive on the flag and coral was not harmed.