Peroxide How To

I feel we really need a how to thread on hydrogen peroxide. I get tired of typing the same over and over again. Any way looking for your input and then to compile all the knowledge into one thread.
First and foremost hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer. It works by breaking up the cell walls on simple cell orginisms. And it breaks down into simple oxygen and water. Recommended doses vary depending on what and how you are using it. Typical peroxide you buy is 3% so that's what I'm going with for use. Other concentrations can be used just adjust accordingly. For fin rot I typically start at a dose of 1-2 ml per 10 gallons of water. A 50% water change before since it will react to all organic compounds in the water. Add peroxide wait a day, water change again and redose for a total of 3 treatments. I try not to go over over 5 ml per 10 gallons but have been told by others they use 1 ml per gallon.

You can also paint it on by pulling your fish out, laying it on a wet wash cloth and using a q tip with a 50-50 mix of peroxide and water. This method is probably the more direct route with the most benefit but it does stress the fish.

It kills algae in much the same way and concentrations as it does bacteria so you can dose the whole tank if needed. Now this shouldn't be your first course of action since if you don't fix the underlying issue it will just return but it helps knock it back.

Spot treating for algae is very effective on stubborn algae like black beard algea. A syringe works good for this. Simply pull peroxide into the syringe and squirt it at the algea.

Its neutralizes patasium pernaganate.
Potassium Permanganate


It can be used also to clean old air stones.


This ones more of all around uses.
39 Incredible Uses For Hydrogen Peroxide That EVERYONE Should Know

 

HI david1978 I use a 6% strength in
(Sochting Oxydator) I've attached a link of what it dose along with other information for you to use if you want, I also use it in s sprey bottle 6% and sprey it on anything I take out of the tank for cleaning then rinse in water. If I can help in any other way let me know
Aquarium Oxygenator - the Oxydator

 

The cheap stuff you can get from most department stores (what is it - 4%?) isn't all that potent, and won't hurt anything once it's diluted into a few gallons of water. For that reason, I've never had issues with the following steps:

1) Remove the rock/plant/decor you're having issues with, usually during a water change. You can choose to pat it dry with a towel, if you'd like to get a better picture of where the algae is.

2) If there are no sensitive corals, macroalgae, or otherwise sensitive creatures on the rock, you can simply use a syringe full of the peroxide to blast the algae.
2a) If sensitive corals or macroalgae are present, you can choose to swab the algae with a q-tip soaked in the peroxide, or use a cotton ball.

3) The amount of time you can treat your target for depends on the particular situation.
3a) If you're treating live rock that doesn't have any coral, macroalgae, or sponges, you can usually leave it out for 5-10 minutes without any serious issues. If it's a large chunk of your biological filter (a large piece in a nano/pico), I wouldn't leave it out for any longer than 5, personally.
3b) If you're treating live rock that has sensitive coral or macroalgae, I'd limit myself to 5 minutes of being exposed to air. Most corals aren't nearly as delicate as we think they are, but they still won't appreciate being out in the air for too long. Macroalgae shouldn't mind, as long as they're moist, but again, why risk it?
3c) If you're treating live rock that has sponges growing on it, find another method. As soon as you remove sponges from water, they tend to die pretty quickly. A rotting sponge can wreck a nano quite easily - either keeping that part of the the rock completely submerged or manually removing the sponge is your best option.
3d) If you're treating a piece of decor, leave it out for as long as you like. Letting it completely dry up and then soaking it in hot water will ensure that no algae survives.
3e) If you're treating live plants - I have no idea. I've exposed my Anubias and Swords to peroxide for several minutes without any issues, but I'd imagine more delicate plants would be a different situation. I'll abstain from giving advice here.

4) I usually don't rinse my live rock before add it back into the tank, as the rinse can usually cause more stress than the miniscule amount of peroxide that enters the tank. Some people even dose entire reef tanks with the stuff, without crashing their tanks. That 0.05 mL won't hurt anything

Some people will dip their corals in peroxide as an "insta-QT" before putting them into their displays. This isn't always super effective, but it can help with getting hair algae off of frags, and I've used it with some decent results before. Here's what to avoid:

Zoas and palys will NOT appreciate peroxide. I tried a colony of relatively hardy orange skirt zoas in a diluted (50%) solution, and they refused to open for days afterwards.

Euphyllia (torches, hammers, frogspawn, etc.) tend to have some die-off, IME. They'll recover fairly quickly, but it's usually not worth losing half a frag to dip it. If the algae is growing on the skeleton, you can carefully treat the skeleton without any adverse effects.

Macroalgae, in general, will NOT tolerate peroxide. They are just pretty algae, after all. Some of the more calcerous species might survive, but I wouldn't try it.

Anything that you value greatly should never be dipped. I've had great luck with dipping leathers in a diluted solution before - but that doesn't mean everyone will. If you aren't too worried about losing the frag (or, at least a part of it), a peroxide dip can be a quick and easy way to get rid of some pests. But, I wouldn't risk it on a frag that I paid more than $40 for - it simply isn't worth it, especially when most algae poses little threat in a well-balanced tank.

This is definitely more of a salty view on the subject, but I hope it can of help!

 

That's probably the only thing I haven't used it. I have read about those reactors both for oxygenation and constant algae control but have never owned one.
Definatly helps on the salty side. That's beyond my realm of knowledge.

PoorBigBlue I have also seen it mentioned to kill marine ich and velvet. Any thoughts on this? I use it primarily for algae and external bacteria infections in freshwater but have never considered it for external parasites.

 

I've never tried it, but I wouldn't imagine it'd be all that effective, and I've seen posts on other forums that agree.

The main issue is that any concentration of peroxide that would kill ich (and especially velvet) would cause serious stress to the fish - and maybe even kill it. I'm not sure if it'd help kill theronts, either, as you'd have to be dumping in a large amount of peroxide to get anywhere. Which, again, poses a threat to everything in the tank.

Even if it does work, there'd be very little reason to use it, IMO. You couldn't use it in a reef tank, as a concentration high enough to kill most parasites would kill coral, inverts, and pods, and maybe even BB. In a FOWLR tank, the peroxide still poses a risk to inverts and BB. You could try in a quarantine tank, but at that point, why not use the proven method of copper?

The only sure-fire way to get rid of copper or velvet is a copper treatment. It's relatively safe for the majority of marine fish (scaleless fish not included), and I've never personally heard the treatment failing, as long as it's done correctly. You can't treat a tank with coral or inverts in it, but you can't do that with peroxide, either.

The hyposalinity treatment also deserves a mention, but that has it's own issues - an unstable PH, keeping a fish out of it's natural environment, and keeping salinity perfectly steady for weeks on end all make for a lot of stress. Even 0.001 on the SG scale could cause the ich to endure.

That's my opinion from what I've picked up by scanning through forums over the years - I've not tested it, and I've not extensively researched, either. But, either way, my point still stands true - there's better methods out there to treat both of those diseases. I'd be interested to see if it'd work, but I'd imagine it'd be painful to the fish.

 

I have been following your advice for a while to cure fin rot, david1978, but my fish have not gotten better. They event gotten worse, but I am still concerned, the bettas seem to be ok, they just lounge around, and be lazy, which I think is good behavior.
I have been doing, at least a 50% WC, and the doing 5ml of 3% into my 20 gal.
It has helped with the algae a lot though, so it might not be getting to the fish, if that's how it works.

 

I have been following your advice for a while to cure fin rot, david1978, but my fish have not gotten better. They event gotten worse, but I am still concerned, the bettas seem to be ok, they just lounge around, and be lazy, which I think is good behavior.
I have been doing, at least a 50% WC, and the doing 5ml of 3% into my 20 gal.
It has helped with the algae a lot though, so it might not be getting to the fish, if that's how it works.

It reacts to any organic material so it maybe an abundance of algae that's its reacting to. If its not being effective it may be time to switch to an antibiotic. This is usually my plan b.

 

It reacts to any organic material so it maybe an abundance of algae that's its reacting to. If its not being effective it may be time to switch to an antibiotic. This is usually my plan b.
Welcome to API Fishcare: FURAN-2™

Will I regret buying this once I realize that it will hurt my bettas?

 

Will I regret buying this once I realize that it will hurt my bettas?

No this is actually an antibiotic.

 

Thanks

 

Apparently it works for columnaris too.

 

Interesting David
Along with what you've found there david1978 its also been used for Rust spot disease in shrimp which again is bacterial, seems this stuff is very much underestimated

 

The US has 3% and across the pond is 6% .Easy math to convert..
In most cases 1ml per gallon of tank water is safe ,possibly 2x a day even in a low organic load tank.
Most screw up using H2O2 by shutting down filter and pumps in effort to increase 'dwell' time. They want instant results possibly ?
Keep pumps running and dose daily for what you are addressing .
I usually shoot people this wikI link ;

 

coralbandit that's an interesting link not seen that one we have 12% in UK which is very high compared to other parts of the world, I use 6% in my oxydators which keeps algae at bay and dilute by 50%with RO water to bring down the 12% or to half 6%

 

This link also has other links attached and some different info ..

 

i'v been using H202 for a few years but until reading some of the documents coralbandit as put here I didn't know how beneficial this stuff was, I use it in all my shrimp tanks and have never had a serious outbreak of any disease and H202 may be the reason why, if used carefully it as lots of benefits for fish as well, Don't just pass the links you need to read them

 

i'v been using H202 for a few years but until reading some of the documents coralbandit as put here I didn't know how beneficial this stuff was, I use it in all my shrimp tanks and have never had a serious outbreak of any disease and H202 may be the reason why, if used carefully it as lots of benefits for fish as well, Don't just pass the links you need to read them

You sound ready for potassium permanganate !
Once you find out about it you wonder why everybody thinks 'old school' is so hard.. Yea we work on making things harder as we get older !
Oxidizers are killers but these are oxidizers you measure so know how much you can push it .
The larger the issue you need to deal with the stronger the oxidizer strength should be .
H2O2 neutralizes The PP so imagine neutralizing a med [Not just your average med but one of the most effective meds for many things ] with something that breaks down to water and air ???

 

david1978 thanks for (re)posting the link to this page over on that other thread. I've read this thread and the other links you posted, and while I might have missed it, I don't think I saw any reference to a dip for fish (most instructions are for tank treatment).
Since I only have the one fish in a diverse community that is showing symptoms, and a host of other critters that are fine, and also since I want to be sure I don't risk my bacteria colony, and due to the size of the tank, and also because the affected gourami is so easy to net and transfer, I'm thinking a brief dip is my best option.
Do you think I should start with the same rate in the dip as is recommended for the tank? 1mL per gallon?
Thx!

 

I think its the same dose weather you use it as a dip or bath since it works quickly and too much will harm the fish quickly.

Ok this was asked of me on another forum but it scares me. No please do not drink it. It will not cure a stomach ulcer or help with intestinal issues. The best it will do is make you burp the worst it can do is be absorbed by your stomach lining and cause gas bubbles in your blood resulting in death. So please do not drink it.

 

Thanks for this david1978, I'm always for using non-antibiotic treatments first. I haven't used antibiotics in forever since I learned about antibiotic resistance because there are alternatives and I've honesty had better success without them.

 

It can be used as a dechlorinator too. Thanks coralbandit
http://www.h2o2.com/industrial/applications.aspx?pid=107&name=Dechlorination

 

I'm thinking of treating my mothers community tank with H202 which as air algae, I've spot dosed before but never tried the whole tank, any suggestions

 

I'm thinking of treating my mothers community tank with H202 which as air algae, I've spot dosed before but never tried the whole tank, any suggestions

I usually start at 1-2 ml per 10 gallons if its not too bad. I have been told you can dose up to 1 ml per gallon if its a disaster.

 

Keep the pumps and filters running !
1 ml per gallon is max dose .

 

I usually start at 1-2 ml per 10 gallons if its not too bad. I have been told you can dose up to 1 ml per gallon if its a disaster.

Keep the pumps and filters running !
1 ml per gallon is max dose .

I'm taking that's at 3%as I have 12%and normally dilute

 

I came across this thought it worth a post

I often offer that link to people who seem surprised .
I t helps to explain different %s and applications .
Good stuff !

 

by the way coralbandit how often do you clean your hobs filter and any canister if yo have one

 

I clean my aquaclears when they start to pop out the top ! Most monthly some more often .
I have shrimp screens or sponges on almost all of them .
No canisters here ...I know I would not use one for free and pretty sure I could not seriously be paid to use one .
Sorry for all reading this far but they are the filters of neglect IMO.Plug it in and check it in 6 months or year ?
I am honestly surprised they work the way people neglect them .

 

I cover all my intakes with sponge due to the shrimp my 6 canisters are cleaned every 6 weeks but the sponge on the intake is washed every two weeks this also acts as a guide to my canisters, I also back them up with double sponges or power head filters cleaned fortnightly

 

I also have air driven sponges in every tank . All the hoopla about bio material and sponge filters do it all !

 

coralbandit just been looking round your fish room and I read that electric blue rams are placid by nature do you think they would be ok in a community tank or will aggression take over

 

Keep the pumps and filters running !
1 ml per gallon is max dose .

I keep coming back to this thread. Which is a good thing, I guess.
I know a common argument for turning pumps filters off is dwell time, and I also get you argument around why keeping pumps filters running is better for whole tank treatments, but does this not place ones bb at risk?
Thx!

 

it dose affect the bb a little but that soon comes back, with shrimp they are a little more fragile than fish and its a video on one of these with a shrimp expert I found this information

 

I keep coming back to this thread. Which is a good thing, I guess.
I know a common argument for turning pumps filters off is dwell time, and I also get you argument around why keeping pumps filters running is better for whole tank treatments, but does this not place ones bb at risk?
Thx!

It's also suggested to either use powerheads to circulate the water, or remove media from the filter to treat the tank. BB is actually more resilient than we once thought. It doesn't die completely with limited food as once preached. It can even have a 'dormant' phaze and 're-awaken'.

 

Use of Hydrogen Peroxide in Finfish Aquaculture


The how and why of an oxygenator