just something to share about blue green algae.

[zerg66]

just thought i would share something because i could not find anything on this method so far..hopefully its not a repeat post on something said before.

recently discovered a method to get rid of this annoying algae that is actually bacteria. Used 3% hydrogen peroxide you can find from any pharmacy. Simply get a syringe to suck the hydrogen peroxide up and apply directly onto the BGA. You will see it start to bubble. got rid of most of it in my tank within 3 days. my tank was previously infested...

just in case you are wondering, does not seem to have any adverse effect on my live stock (malayan shrimps, rams, SAE and whiptail) or my plants and mosses. In fact i even applied it on the leaves of plants which were covered with the algae. This was done in my tank without removing anything.

word of caution, i dun know if more expensive critters like crsytal shrimps may react badly to it so use it with care.

[ZackZhou]

This method has been around for quite long and number of forumers here had tried and indeed it works well. However, please do not try on pricy shrimps as its a CONFIRM death if the shrimp happens to be around the area when you dose the h2o2.

[tetrakid]

Incidentally, I use the same method to treat my fish when they have initial fungus on the body.

I simply dab the local spot with salt solution with a dropper. It only needs a short while for the salt to work on the affected spot/s with the fungal organism. But I have to ensure the strong salt sol does not reach the eye/gills. I have used this method with other anti-micro-organism chemicals too. The treated fish must first be transferred to a shallow tray, and only the experienced should try this method, since it can easily harm the fish.

[dc88]

This use of H2O2 to treat fish sickness was mentioned in the book "The Tropical Fishlopaedia" by Mary Bailey & Peter Burgess (on page 314) first published in 1999.

http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=...page&q&f=false

But probably had been a known practice even earlier than this.

And don't know when/who the first started to use this to treat algae infestation .....

[zerg66]

thats the strange thing about this method actually... it seems very effective for BGA and does not seem to harm livestock. so why is there not much on this method out there..However, that is not the point of starting this thread anyway.
Anyone know more abt this cheap and straight forward method of clearing BGA? i'm intending to apply it long term but am abit cautious on doing so as i am not sure how much is too much (rest assured i won't dump my whole bottle of it into my tank lol !).
When i started having this problem and asked around, was constantly either refered to using some strange chemical which i have no clue about or tearing down and restarting the whole tank.

[barmby]

BGA is a kind of bacteria, smelly, and to remove, you need to get rid of it completely. Therefore, more hydrogen peroxide is needed to nuke the tank. Then you will have to follow-up with ample supply of CO2 and nitrate.

[ralliart12]

But the thing is, wouldn't the hydrogen peroxide stay in the water column/tank after it is administered? Besides leaving fish unaffected (as claimed), what are its effect on plants (like moss & HC), & shrimps?

[zerg66]

thats what i guess we are very curious about.. from the little I managed to read about, it should not affect the fauna much.. i kinda doubt it if you constantly nuke the tank with it nothing will be affected.. even though technically its just hydrogen and oxygen..which is the same stuff water is made up of something bound to happen.
I am actually very impressed that bro tetrakid managed to use it to treat fungus on his fish.. if i attempted something like that i;m sure my fish would probably end up being melted..

very curious if anyone has done this method b4 perhaps can share more? ..in my case so far nothing lah.. even spotted some shrimplets yesterday..

[barmby]

just be vigilant. once it tip beyond the threshold level, you will know death is a point of no return, just like adding more CO2 into a shrimp tank

[felix_fx2]

Anything in too much excess will kill.

For most nuke instructions, notice you'll have to turn of filtration. Then turn it off so it is dissipated or rather dissolved into small concentrations.

[ralliart12]

...notice you'll have to turn of filtration. Then turn it off so it is dissipated or rather dissolved into small concentrations.

Huh? Turn it off...& then turn it off again?

[Navanod]

But the thing is, wouldn't the hydrogen peroxide stay in the water column/tank after it is administered? Besides leaving fish unaffected (as claimed), what are its effect on plants (like moss & HC), & shrimps?

thats what i guess we are very curious about.. from the little I managed to read about, it should not affect the fauna much.. i kinda doubt it if you constantly nuke the tank with it nothing will be affected.. even though technically its just hydrogen and oxygen..which is the same stuff water is made up of something bound to happen.
I am actually very impressed that bro tetrakid managed to use it to treat fungus on his fish.. if i attempted something like that i;m sure my fish would probably end up being melted..

very curious if anyone has done this method b4 perhaps can share more? ..in my case so far nothing lah.. even spotted some shrimplets yesterday..

The hydrogen peroxide most people can get their hands on would be the extremely diluted 3-5% type from pharmacies. H2O2, once in the water, is a very potent oxidizer that strips electrons (hydrogen ions) from everything it comes into contact with. This is deadly to the BGA and algaes and the reaction normally produces harmless H2O (water) and O2 (pure oxygen, the bubbling that is observed).

Most larger creatures however, are mostly protected from oxidizer through one form or another of anti-oxidant or catalytic enzyme that can break H2O2 into water and oxygen harmlessly, so at low concentrations, the H2O2 we dose into the tank is quickly broken down by reacting with the dissolved organic waste in the water, bacteria and algae. The tiny bits that make it to the fishes and shrimps will be taken care of by their own enzymes.

I recalled an old lab experiment where we pour H2O2 on a piece of fresh raw pork liver and it started bubbling as mammal have the enzyme for breaking down oxidizers in the liver.

The real danger of dosing too much is there however, and it'll also skew the redox potential (which can kill off all the bacteria in the filters) of the tank so go easy on the thing. When I was battling BBA last time, I use H2O2 and Seachem Excel (which is a reducer, so hopefully I balanced it back?) alternatively. I still managed to zap a shrimp that swam too close and it was knocked out, although it later got up again.

Lastly, this chemical is an explosive precursor and is controlled by the police and only very diluted forms can be sold. If you see any concentrated H2O2 (mostly 30% or higher), especially overseas, do not buy it, thinking that it'll be better or cheaper.

[benjidog]

Wow!
Hydrogen peroxide = nuclear bomb!

I recently brought a bottle of Ocean Free 'O' Algae.(another quality product from Qiana Hu Corporation Ltd)

I read through the instructions and there is no specifications of the active ingredients. A 125ml bottle claims to treat 2500litres of water. The product claims to treat all forms of algae.

My question is - what is the active ingredient?
There is no listing of ingredients on the box or the bottle.
Is it possible that diluted hydrogen peroxide is added?

[Navanod]

Algae removers are normally not hydrogen peroxide based. Instead, copper is commonly used and would be deadly to all invertebrates and bacteria.

However, I googled the product and someone from the MAC forum in malaysia claimed that he used it successfully without any (cherry) shrimp deaths after 6 days. Very little info for this product online though...

[ZackZhou]

Algae removers are normally not hydrogen peroxide based. Instead, copper is commonly used and would be deadly to all invertebrates and bacteria.

However, I googled the product and someone from the MAC forum in malaysia claimed that he used it successfully without any (cherry) shrimp deaths after 6 days. Very little info for this product online though...

There is 2 threads over at af thou. The reviews are really had. It was not tested on shrimps, but larger fish. Killed a few of his plecos.

[Navanod]

I ain't surprised. Anti-algae chemical cannot be good news.
There's no sliver bullet when it comes to fighting algaes

[Nic88]

Wow, when i first read this I thought it would kill off all the fish..going to do some research on this!
Valuable information indeed =)

[polyho]

There's no sliver bullet when it comes to fighting algaes

So we have to let the algae continue to dominate the tank until one day we reset the tank. Any method to recommend to remove them safety without killing the shrimps? I hate algae!!!

[dc88]

Just focus on growing healthy plants. Algae will eventually retreat. Healthy plant also bring happier shrimp- win win approach.

[felix_fx2]

So we have to let the algae continue to dominate the tank until one day we reset the tank. Any method to recommend to remove them safety without killing the shrimps? I hate algae!!!

Pure shrimp tank?
Lighting control will work.
Focus to have sufficient and not excess to grow what little plants you use in a shrimp tank. The no choice left overs still have to be manually remove intermittently.

Planted tank.
Your hobby is growing plants, NOT killing algae. A planted tank with plants growing well and healthy will keep algae in check at low or Nil. Algae is bloom is a indicator somewhere is not in balance and optimum for plant growth.