Anyone try hydrogen peroxide for hair algae??

[jansenwrasse]

Ozone would be an expensive venture and also pose risks to people in use around it (potentially), So the peroxide is not a terrible choice just not mine personally, but there is no way I would play with ORP levels and Oxidizers without the use of an ORP probe regardless of ozone, peroxides, or any other.

The algae is actually helping the aquarium remove the nutrients and keep them out of the water, thus killing them is reverting the process, but we could all learn something from this thread if ORP levels are noted.

 

[RockStarFish]

Does a UV help with algae

 

[jansenwrasse]

I assume you mean a UV sterilizer? If so then no Phosphates are not a living organism that would be killed but the UV light, and neither are nitrates.

 

[A.T.T.R]

im sure that once the algaes gone he will say it was cause of the dosing ( and leave out the phosohate binders that he has on order) and some one else will try it and wipe out the tank


anyways.. we gave you alot of info.

do as you will with it

 

[DNickell]

This chemistry stuff is all numbers to me, but would adding H2O2 cause potential harm to the anerbic organisms in the sandbed and liverock?

I'm trying to get a grasp on how chemistry is driving the biological functions in my tank, and I just have these visions of the biological filter going down with a mighty crash.

Please keep us posted. This drama is certainly better than anything on TV.

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13089764#post13089764 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RockStarFish
Does a UV help with algae

It will kill waterborne algaes that flow through it such as diatoms and other phytoplankton reducing greenwater and perhaps cyano that may be in the watercolumn as well as spores. But it will not remove nitrate or phospate and will not kill filamentous algae.

 

[JMaxwell]

Fastest and easiest way to kill off that algae is to turn off the lights for three days.

then you have to fix your water quality problem or it will grow back. Change lots of water, feed less, run phosban, etc.

 

[jlinzmaier]

Brutuscz

Your problem with your tank isn't that it has a lot of algae, the problem is the excess nutrients that are feeding the algae. Killing the algea will merely remove the means removing the excess nutrients from the water column.

You will not solve this problem until you remove the source of the excess nutrients. It sounds like your sand be is a significant nutrient bed with all the detritus settled in it. Vacuuming the sand be might be a good start at removing some of the detritus.

I've been in your same shoes. Algae growing like crazy an tried all conventional methods of nutrient reduction without success. About three weeks ago I started the zeovit regimen and my algae continues to die off while my corals and other inverts are looking better than they have. Maybe you should look into that instead of risking the health of your whole tank by dosing a risky oxidizing agent that isn't going to solve the real problem - excess nutrients.

Jeremy

 

[brutuscz]

I know your right...Definitely an excess nutrient problem. My choice of fish is part of this with a lionfish and harlequin tusk. I added water flow..pointing low...to clean up the sand/gravel bed. I added the sand sifter to stir it up as well. I use top off water with a tds of 5. I have really cut back on feedding from twice a day to twice aweek. So...I'm working on it. I also have algone and phosphate remover. I will add more phosphate absorber soon. I even have 2 tangs..a yellow and powder blue to help. I'm really trying to get the nutrients under control. But...man, I'm sooo sick of a tank that looks like garbage with green stringy stuff growing over the corals. I feel like if I get rid of it...I can keep it away with the changes I am making. Just...losing patience with it!!! So far...the h2o2 has done nothing. I will try 1oz today. I wont go over 6oz total...that is my limit..over a weeks time.

 

[JMaxwell]

If you want to kill the algae, turn off the lights for three days.

May 2007 Thread of the Month

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532

This may deep six already damaged corals, but you will lose them anyway. Healthy coral will be fine.

Yes, excess nutrients stored in thr algae will be released, so change the water and skim wet for a while. Fix the nutrient problem.

Try zeovit if you like, bu that requires some committment.

Good luck.

 

[jlinzmaier]

I use top off water with a tds of 5.

That's bad for a reef tank. TDS should be absolutely 0. Some reefers can live with a TDS of 1 but that's the max. 5 is too high.

I even have 2 tangs..a yellow and powder blue to help.

Keep in mind, the tangs aren't fixing the problem, merely recycling the nutrients.

If you want to kill the algae, turn off the lights for three days.

Yes it may kill some algea, however I don't recommend this. By killing off a mass amount of algae your going to have a mass dump of nutrients as that dead algae decomposes. Again, I stress, the problem isn't the algae it's the nutients and that's where your efforts should be focused.

Jeremy

 

[lukinrats]

I had a hair algae problem @ one time... What I did was worked on my nutrients until I had them as low as I could get them... I did not worry about the algae until this was done... I did large water changes every other day until I reached a goal (NO3 less than 10 mg/l, and PO4 .25 ppm or lower)... After I did that I mixed enough water to fill up 5 x 5 gallon buckets, plus a little extra to fill up the utility sink in my laundry... I took out all the rocks, and starting @ the first bucket, I dunked and swished each rock... Then I moved on to the next bucket, the next, the next, and so on... After all the rocks had been done this way, and most all of the detritus was removed, then I began scrubbing the HA away... I put each rock in the sink of water, and just scrubbed with a tooth brush... I then did the dunking system with each rock, again

Then right before I put all the rocks back into the display, I vaccumed the gravel, and did a 20% water change... I put all the rocks back in there, and I have not had the serious issue with algae, cyano, etc, since

Anyway, that was my method, but what I had done was to take the advice of all the people on RC... I may have taken it to an extreme, but I was determined to remove the nutrients by taking them out of my tank... Just my 2 cents

Later,
Nathan

P.S. Edit: this procedure will not hurt your corals!!! They can be out of water for a while... Plus, even though you have removed the rocks, you are still dunking them, and everything is getting wet again... You will not lose any life either... I looked back @ my buckets, etc after I did this... I removed some snails and crabs to put back in the display, but everything else that lives in the rocks just stayed in their hole for the most part

 

[DustinLH00]

What ever happened with this? Did you ever get to 6oz? How did your tank do? How was the algae affected?

 

[wharfrat48]

Not to hijack, but someone mentioned a TDS over one is too high. Why do you think so? Is there any data to support that? Is that really the general consensus amoung reefers?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not to hijack, but someone mentioned a TDS over one is too high. Why do you think so? Is there any data to support that? Is that really the general consensus amoung reefers?

The purpose of using TDS on RO/DI water is to monitor when the DI starts to deplete. When it starts to deplete, the first things out can be undesirable. Ammonia and silicate, for example, are among the weakest bound ions in a DI resin and can flood out in higher concentration than they went in when it is first depleted.

So I do recommend swapping in a new DI as soon as the TDS rises from 0 ppm to 1 or more ppm.

I discuss such issues here:

Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Systems to Purify Tap Water for Reef Aquaria
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.php

 

[jlinzmaier]

Glad to have you back on-line Randy!! There's been some controversial discussions while you were gone.

Jeremy

 

[Drag Racer]

Too bad you cant just grow hair algea in your sump and not get it in the DT. Seem to do a real good job at eating up all the garbage.