Cleaning ornaments with hydrogen peroxide

Hi
I m wanting to use hydrogen peroxide 3% to clean some fish ornaments stone, plastic and wood. Also love plants if I can. What mix is best to use and for how long do I soak them. I will be taking them out of the tank and doing it in a container. Thanks

 

I use peroxide dips for plants. I dilute 2mL of hydrogen peroxide in 1 gallon of distilled water. Soak for 2-5 min depending on how delicate the plants are (usually end up doing just under 3 min) then I rinse again after

 

Hi Croftsy8
Welcome to fishlore.

For ornaments ,stone , wood and plastic you can leave them with H2O2 on them as long as you like before rinsing. One minute is all the time needed but there is no rush with those things.

Plants need only 30 seconds before a rinse .

Val’s are a plant that might do better with only 1.5 % Add 50% water to the spray bottle.
. Otherwise just rinse them quickly.

Frogbit has never survived well for me.

I can’t afford enough hydrogen peroxide to soak things . A spray bottle is what I use to give things a good covering using straight 3 % on most plants.

Are you dealing with black beard algae? Pull off the worst of it by hand, if it’s an inch long.

 

I use peroxide dips for plants. I dilute 2mL of hydrogen peroxide in 1 gallon of distilled water. Soak for 2-5 min depending on how delicate the plants are (usually end up doing just under 3 min) then I rinse again after

Thanks I will give that a go didn’t want to soak for too long and end up losing the colour off them so will try few minutes

Hi Croftsy8
Welcome to fishlore.

For ornaments ,stone , wood and plastic you can leave them with H2O2 on them as long as you like before rinsing. One minute is all the time needed but there is no rush with those things.

Plants need only 30 seconds before a rinse .

Val’s are a plant that might do better with only 1.5 % Add 50% water to the spray bottle.
. Otherwise just rinse them quickly.

Frogbit has never survived well for me.

I can’t afford enough hydrogen peroxide to soak things . A spray bottle is what I use to give things a good covering using straight 3 % on most plants.

Are you dealing with black beard algae? Pull off the worst of it by hand, if it’s an inch long.

I think it’s green algae it’s my other halves tank she had an outbreak and lost few fish and plants. So I ended up taking everything out and cleaned it just got the ornaments and wood to clean before they go back in.
Mainly ornaments that need cleaning

 

Not sure what type of lights you have or if the tank is near a window but reducing light could help with the issue

 

That looks like blue-green algae which is actually a bacteria. If it is it will rub off easily. It does not strongly adhere like most algae. H2O2 will work. It tends to return, so once you have it cleaned up. Keep a look-out for when it starts to come back so you can stop it before it covers everything again.

If you see a small patch starting to grow you can dose H2O2 directly on it without removing things from the tank. A syringe or similar can be used to apply (spot dose) it. Turn your filter off for a few minutes when applying so you don't disperse it. When I've used it, I've waited until the bubbling stops before restarting the filter.

Some people use commercial products that kill it without harming the fish or biofilter.

 

That looks like blue-green algae which is actually a bacteria. If it is it will rub off easily. It does not strongly adhere like most algae. H2O2 will work. It tends to return, so once you have it cleaned up. Keep a look-out for when it starts to come back so you can stop it before it covers everything again.

If you see a small patch starting to grow you can dose H2O2 directly on it without removing things from the tank. A syringe or similar can be used to apply (spot dose) it. Turn your filter off for a few minutes when applying so you don't disperse it. When I've used it, I've waited until the bubbling stops before restarting the filter.

Some people use commercial products that kill it without harming the fish or biofilter.

Thanks how much should I mix with water in a container you think for the ornaments? Shall I leave them in the for a 3-5 minutes

 

Be careful doing a big clean like that Croftsy8 .
The benefial bacteria live on hard surfaces.

It’s just I see you are cleaning parts of the filter as well as ALL the ornaments. As this is not your tank you may not be fully aware of the nitrogen cycle?

If you clean to much you will remove to much bacteria and risk hav fish loses.

Suggest you wait a fortnight before cleaning any more surfaces.

 

Yes if you are doing a large de sterilization process, it is recommended to do it in stages and I would avoid disrupting the substrate if possible

 

Im trying to figure out how the algae is just on the wood and not the glass or sand. That is really strange.

 

I clean my ornaments/resin driftwood pieces off by simply using real hot water and a stiff brush. Put super hot water in a bucket, let the ornaments soak until no longer hot. Then redo the hot water and use brush to clean off. The super hot water seems to kill stuff and it surely makes the brushing easier. I just don’t get into chemicals for my tanks unless absolutely necessary. Others may differ on this, but it works for me.

 

Be careful doing a big clean like that Croftsy8 .
The benefial bacteria live on hard surfaces.

It’s just I see you are cleaning parts of the filter as well as ALL the ornaments. As this is not your tank you may not be fully aware of the nitrogen cycle?

If you clean to much you will remove to much bacteria and risk hav fish loses.

Suggest you wait a fortnight before cleaning any more surfaces.

Yeah ino the nitrogen cycle as I have a saltwater tank. I’ve tested all her water and I’ve done things slowly as this happened just before Christmas plants decaying and nitrates were high so took the bad one out and done water change and cleaned the glass and sand. Not much was on the glass or sand think her stuckers been doing the cleaning. Done a few more water changes every few days since and took ornaments out and left a few still in there. The filter pipes you can see in photo are old ones that have been changed they just never never been cleaned.
I came across the hydrogen peroxide method and thought I would research more about it to get them clean again

 

Im trying to figure out how the algae is just on the wood and not the glass or sand. That is really strange.

That's how it grew in mine when I had issues with it. It only grew on my fake background, not on the rocks, substrate, plants or glass. It made it easier to deal with, for sure.