# Controling Algae with Hydrogen Peroxide?



## ricoishere (Jan 23, 2009)

I was reading some notes on another website, and came across these, referring to using HP to help control Algae. (see link). Anyone ever heard about this, or tried it?

http://www.njagc.net/events/meetings/meeting_2008_01_19.htm

:flock:


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## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

It works well on both BGA and BBA. It will get rid of the algae, but you still need to address the root cause or it will come back. If you apply too much on moss it will kill the moss as well.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yes I have used H2O2 quite a bit to kill off clado algae and green spot algae from anubias leaves. It doesn't kill BBA as effectively as excel does, but I prefer the H2O2 over excel in general because it is so cheap and it also leaves a bubbling trail where it touches algae so I can more easily keep track of what parts of the tank I have treated.

It is good to know that the dose maximum is 3 ml / gallon. I was wondering what the upper limit was. Use a syringe and squirt the peroxide onto the algae slowly for best results.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

yea you still need to do your water change and all that. It is like a drug man just don't over doing it.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I think using these chemicals is great. Sometimes there really isn't a root cause for certain algae. For example, clado and BBA (the bushy kind not the staghorn stuff) seem to grow in the same conditions that plants do. Even so, the best thing you can ever do for plants or fish is regular HUGE water changes assuming you have decent quality water with no sodium, toxins or too many nutrients. If I could change 100% of the water in my tank every day I would (soon.... soon.... when the auto water changer is finished... mauahhaha).


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

did you make your own auto change system?


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## fish dork (Dec 5, 2007)

I agree with using chemicals. I have found that whenever my CO2 gets out of wack (the last time it was a fish that got stuck in the intake and slowed the filter that drives my reactor)I get BBA. And I can't get rid of it without some help. Like Zappins said, excel does work better, but H202 is cheaper. I started using gluteraldehyde as a replacement for excel, it's pretty cheap as well. A gal of Metricide 14 runs me about $20 in Canada. The nice thing about the excel (or knockoff); it doesn't seem to matter where it's dosed, I just pour the right amount in the tank daily for a week and the BBA goes red and dies.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yep fish_dork is right about the excel. Just poor and laugh as BBA writhes in agony.

armedbiggiet - yes I did make my own WC system, I still need to do some tinkering with it on monday and then wait for a few more parts to arrive and it will be up and running. Unfortunately I have 2 problems now with it. The first is that the sump pump I bought online isn't pumping water for some reason, so I'll probably have to get another pump. Then I need to dig an infiltrator ditch in the yard to drain the runoff water to. In my area it isn't legal to connect a sump pump to the house mains, so I'll have to tear down my hard work there and take the hard route...

When its all done in a week or two I'll make a detailed DIY post about it.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

Zapins said:


> Yep fish_dork is right about the excel. Just poor and laugh as BBA writhes in agony.
> 
> armedbiggiet - yes I did make my own WC system, I still need to do some tinkering with it on monday and then wait for a few more parts to arrive and it will be up and running. Unfortunately I have 2 problems now with it. The first is that the sump pump I bought online isn't pumping water for some reason, so I'll probably have to get another pump. Then I need to dig an infiltrator ditch in the yard to drain the runoff water to. In my area it isn't legal to connect a sump pump to the house mains, so I'll have to tear down my hard work there and take the hard route...
> 
> When its all done in a week or two I'll make a detailed DIY post about it.


cool, can't wait for the post! dying to get ideas to build one.


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## mountaindew (Jul 22, 2007)

Zapins said:


> Yep fish_dork is right about the excel. Just poor and laugh as BBA writhes in agony.
> 
> armedbiggiet - yes I did make my own WC system, I still need to do some tinkering with it on monday and then wait for a few more parts to arrive and it will be up and running. Unfortunately I have 2 problems now with it. The first is that the sump pump I bought online isn't pumping water for some reason, so I'll probably have to get another pump. Then I need to dig an infiltrator ditch in the yard to drain the runoff water to. In my area it isn't legal to connect a sump pump to the house mains, so I'll have to tear down my hard work there and take the hard route...
> 
> When its all done in a week or two I'll make a detailed DIY post about it.


You should be ok to plumb a water change system to a waste drain in your home. This is no different then a dish washer or cloths washer drain lines. 
Building codes generally do not allow you to pump water out from under your home "sump pump" for many reasons. Increased waste water volume to treat, minerals even water rights are a factor.
hth
md


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

mountaindew said:


> You should be ok to plumb a water change system to a waste drain in your home. This is no different then a dish washer or cloths washer drain lines.
> Building codes generally do not allow you to pump water out from under your home "sump pump" for many reasons. Increased waste water volume to treat, minerals even water rights are a factor.
> hth
> md


Yea, I thought this too, so I attached it to the house drain, then after it was built I called the health department in my area and cross questioned the guy (who was very helpful) about what is and isn't allowed. He said that this definitely isn't allowed in my area even though it is just fish water and it is just a small amount (it has nothing to do with the type of pump being used either). I feel I was pretty thorough in questioning him about the whole thing and the bottom line was that its not legal where I live. That being said, different areas have different rules, so what holds true up here in CT might not be the same elsewhere. The guy said that I could build an infiltrator system, or a dry well to hold the water in the yard and nobody would have to inspect it (that didn't work because I had no room to construct one due to our hoses leach field being all over the back yard). The health official also said that the water could be discharged into the garden as long as it was about 10-15 feet away from the house foundation (so as not to have water on the foundation wall) and that it wasn't going to drain onto a neighbor's property.

It's a pity it wasn't allowed since I think this would have been the best solution (and cheapest). I actually ended up renting a very large drill from home depot for 42$ which I used to drill a hole through the basement foundation concrete wall. I ran a 1" diameter pipe through the hole and angled it into a gutter pipe outside that gets carried off underground towards the woods. So altogether, the method I chose was probably about 55$ (drill through basement wall) versus about 25$ (attaching to house drain). I may have to add a short heating cable in the winter around the 1 foot section of pipe that sticks out the wall leading into the gutter pipe depending on whether or not it freezes. All in all I think this solution is pretty cost efficient and easy too.

I'm almost finished the system. It is actually up and running as we speak (and has been so for 3 days now). I just need to get a few more protections in place for it to be fully trusted. But the mail man is slow this week  Then I will post how I built my system.


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