Hair Algae - Experiment with Hydrogen Peroxide

Hi All,

Following some information on RC, R2R, and TCMAS I am attempting an algae treatment for some of my frag plugs/colonies that have a mixture of Hair Algae and Bryopsis. Using the information on the sites I have decided to attempt a 4:1 mix of Saltwater to 3% Generic Hydrogen Peroxide as a dip for two zoa colonies.

The first one attempted was a live rock with a small colony of eagle eye zoas. This rock has been plagued by hair algae which has caused he zoa growth to diminish or shrink over time. I dipped this rock in the mixture for approximately 5 minutes. There were lots of bubbles and the hair algae started to basically fall off when the rock was shaken in the mixture. The rock was then blasted off by my closed loop output and placed back in the tank. Zoas were open within 20 minutes of placement back in the tank.

The second one was a large frag plug with blue steel zoas. This plug had a mixture of bryopsis and hair algae. It was so bad that you couldn't even see the zoas, which was causing some die off of the polyps. I dipped this one for 5 minutes as well. The plug is almost clean but may require another dip. The zoas didn't open though after the dip, but this could be caused by the lights being off as well by the time the dip was done. As far as I can tell no zoas released from the plug.

Note: no critters survived the dips, this includes all bristle worms, pods, etc. The rock bubbled more and more as the dip got into the different holes and cleared things out. I do not know how this will affect flatworms, nudis, etc as I do not have those pests in the tank.

I will continue testing other frags as well and see what happens to the corals and algae and report my findings. It is mentioned on the sites the ability to add the Hydrogen Peroxide directly to the water column but I don't know if I am comfortable doing that at the moment. I don't like to add foreign chemicals to my tank so I don't think I will attempt that method as well. This testing will continue as testing as a coral dip only.

Let me know if anyone else has attempted this method and what sort of results you have seen.

Curtis

Hey--why don't you try that on birdsnest? The FIF I got from you are covered in HA and I was trying to figure out how to remove it. I may try on my own when I get some peroxide.

Zoas are first, then I may attempt some SPS and see what happens. If the HA is just on the plug go ahead and just use a dropper or something to put the peroxide directly on the plug, or just clip it and move it to a different plug.

Not sw related but may help. In fw planted tanks peroxide is used to help with black brush algea, fill syringe and apply right in tank. I have heard it is not much different than seachem excel. excel is used as a liquid co2 sorce. Excel and perixide don't mess with PH like gas co2. Most people would overdose excel to help with algea problems so I don't see why it would be a problem to use right in the tank.

hmm... good info. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing your results. I hadn't heard of this.

yesterday after work the two dipped corals were fully open and algae free. I'll be attempting others tonight (maybe even a b-nest frag) to see the reactions.

Damm to bad this was not out there when I was battling the hair algea, I would have dumped a whole bottle in my tank..LOL

cdness wrote:yesterday after work the two dipped corals were fully open and algae free. I'll be attempting others tonight (maybe even a b-nest frag) to see the reactions.

I predict this won't go as well with the SPS but anxious to hear results. We're getting HA in that tank for Holly so it would be nice to give her a way to make it pretty sooner. Although I plan to just tell her order CUC right away (anyone need anything from Blue Zoo?), lights for short times initially, feed little, W/C's...you know the routine.

Yeah there are always the miracle cures out there that usually do more harm than good but for a dip I don't see this as an issue. For the tank itself I'd stick to the tried and true methods and just let it work itself out. But I have heard of them dumping it into the water column as Hydrogen Peroxide just breaks down into oxygen and water...

Well I gave it a shot. The first one I tried was a small rock with blue cloves on it. The rock was almost completely covered with HA so much that it was drowning out the polyps. I dipped it and pulled off some HA and then put it back into the tank. It took about 1 1/2 days but finally recovered and cloves are coming back. The second was a b-nest that I wasn't sure if it survived the tank crash and I figured--hey if it is already dead I certainly can't hurt it. The HA came off but I am still unsure if coral is dead. Will give it a few more days to recover before I throw it out.

Keep up the tests. Would love to see before and after shots!

Ok, this works great on Zoas but not on LPS, specifically candycanes and sun corals. I think I sentenced a candycane coral to death last night with a 5 minute dip. The sun coral is only half out but I also only dipped it for 3 minutes. It looks like it will survive though

Next up is a test on SPS corals...

I'll try find another zoa colony with algae in it and do the dip for before and after pictures. I hit the majority of my massively overgrown colonies and frags already. I do still have one that has algae in it so I'll see what I can do.