# Shrimp and Hydrogen Peroxide.



## timewalker03

I am rescaping my tank, and want to kill a bunch of nusience algae. I am going to pour Hydrogen Peroxide into the tank to do this. I have some red cherry shrimp in the tank though and want to know if this will harm them or if they should be OK. 

Sean


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## Sunstar

it depends on how much you use. I have used Hydrogen peroxide in my ghost shrimp tank to eliminate BGA. I eyeball it actually, but too much can also kill your plants. I felt I used too much the other day and did a partial water change and removed one shirmp that was looking stressed. he's in a quarentine tank recovering.


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## Afyounie

Its nice to know that H2O2 doesn't do anything bad in small quantities. I'm trying to kill clado, but I'm dosing directly into the moss that the clado has grown into.


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## apistaeasy

dose up to 3 ml per gal with all filtration and powerheads off. Let it sit for 20 min followed by a WC. I've never had fauna die off from it.


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## DonaldmBoyer

I have found that spot treatments using an eyedropper or syringe work well, especially if you apply to a high-light set up with CO2 during midday. The algae have no way of preventing the uptake of extra oxygen, and they "explode" essentially during peak growth conditions.

As Apista said, no more than 3mL's per gallon, and I would do it using an eyedropper to squirt under water directly onto the problematic areas. My algae would be an orange-yellow the next day, and then I would do a WC. The algae (in my case, hair algae growing in my mosses) would disintegrate within three days. Too much will either brown out or kill your mosses; there is some trial and error involved in this, so test it on one problematic area first, if possible!

Ideally, you should treat the entire tank over the course of a few days, and not all at once. It is a bit of a pain, but in ensures that you don't go overboard. I would divide my tank into "quarters," and treat over a period of four days.

I would not "pour" peroxide into a tank though! That would lean towards "excessive" and your shrimp could die from it. Keep in mind that when you start seeing bubbles, the peroxide is reacting and becoming H2O and O2. If used in slight doses, peroxide is harmless to plants, fish, and inverts. Too much at once can get into the gills of the inverts and fish and kill them by suffocation, or into their digestive systems (if they happen to be eating) and....well.....kill them that way. Excessive H2O2 can kill your plants and your bacterial populations. Don't destroy your entire tank over some measly algae by overkill with the peroxide! Patience is the best practice with this type of algae killer.


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## timewalker03

Thanks for the advice. I will dose slowly once I vacuum out the tank so I am dosing with a water change.


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## Sunstar

apistaeasy said:


> dose up to 3 ml per gal with all filtration and powerheads off. Let it sit for 20 min followed by a WC. I've never had fauna die off from it.


That's it! I remember now. Thanks.


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## DonaldmBoyer

TimeWalker---I wouldn't do a WC while you are dosing! You run the risk of creating such a large current that the peroxide won't even really come in too much contact with the algae!

I would either turn off the filter as Apista said, and then apply the peroxide, wait 20min. and turn the filter back on; OR, I would turn the filter down and apply. If you aren't applying the peroxide directly into the filter uptake, I wouldn't worry about turning the filter off if it doesn't create a stong current in the tank. You will notice that as you apply it with a dropper that the peroxide actually sinks as it is slightly denser than water. Use this to your advantage! Applying directly over the problematic areas and gravity will do the rest.


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## edwardn

There is another angle to peroxide tratment. It relates to the question: why lawns grow so fast after rain vs. any other kind of watering?

The answer is because rain contains... hyrogen peroxide, which stimulates growth! Watering house plants with water containing 1 oz of H2O2/gal. also will do the trick.

I dont think that just 3 drops of peroxide/gal. would harm anything on condition that it is well mixed with water, and not sinking as such to the bottom, where it may land on shrimp, etc.


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## apistaeasy

edwardn said:


> I dont think that just 3 drops of peroxide/gal. would harm anything on condition that it is well mixed with water, and not sinking as such to the bottom, where it may land on shrimp, etc.


3 drops does not equal 3 mL, and you don't put it in the tank well mixed with water.
H2O2 always sinks to the bottom as it is heavier than H2O.

Apply the H2O2 locally, as was previously said, with a dropper or coral feeder to algae infected area.


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## cbwmn

I don't have any success using a syringe and spraying H2O2 directly on the plants.
I tried shooting 10 ml directly on the plant(That tank is a 46g BF.)
Whe I do a PWC, I uproot the plant(s) with algae on them and dip into a pan with H2O2. Then I replant and the next day the algae is a pinkish red and falls off in a day or two. However I don't immediately do another PWC. Since I'm raising DD Black angels I do 3 PWC's per week. And I test every day for NitrItes.
I do feel that H2O2 is much safer that other dips for controlling algae.
Charels


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## Squawkbert

So, would any of you rate peroxide via syringe as more effective than doing the same w/ Excel (for clado)??


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## DonaldmBoyer

I would, for sure, Squak! It seems to be way more effective than Excel and can treat a multitude of different algae species. Plus, it reacts to only form water and oxygen so it is only "dangerous" to tank dwellers for a few minutes. I have discovered that excessive amounts of Excel can lead to other algae problems by increasing the fert load in the water column.

By hey, it is just my experience. I'm sure many others swear by Excel only. Bottom line: if it works, it works.


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## Afyounie

I am wanting to try H2O2 on fissidens that is covered in spirogyra. Will the H2O2 have the same effect on the fissidens as excel or will the moss be okay?

I have also noticed that using excel can cause other algae problems. I dosed a little into a tank to kill the little bit of algae that was left and instead caused a bloom of spirogyra.


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## apistaeasy

Afyounie said:


> I have also noticed that using excel can cause other algae problems. I dosed a little into a tank to kill the little bit of algae that was left and instead caused a bloom of spirogyra.


In no way would Excell ever cause an algae outbreak. You must have had some other cause that simply coincided with Excell

Both Excell and H2O2 work by killing cells with weak cell walls, and not killing cells with stronger walls. Typically plants have stronger cell walls than algae, but in the case of moss the cell walls are not as significantly stronger as other plants. What I'm getting at is that the results are very similar.


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