Does Peroxide effect Chaeto?

[rrasco]

I have been dosing peroxide to combat my dino problem. It has been working so-so, they seem like they are getting used to it...IDK, just a guess. At any rate, this is a relatively new system that I don't have any macro in the sump yet (other than dinos) so I was curious if I put in some chaeto and continued to dose peroxide, would that be counter-intuitive? Will the peroxide kill the chaeto? It is an algae after all so I'm sort of assuming so, just wanted some opinions on the matter.

 

[HighlandReefer]

At what level dosing Hydrogen peroxide to a reef tank that would kill cyano and not kill chaeto could be tricky not to mention the effect it would have on other organisms in your tank you are not aware of. Hydrogen peroxide is a very strong oxidizer that is a sterilant at high enough levels.

From Wiki:

"Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is the simplest peroxide (a compound with an oxygen-oxygen single bond). It is also a strong oxidizer. Hydrogen peroxide is a clear liquid, slightly more viscous than water. In dilute solution, it appears colorless. Due to its oxidizing properties, hydrogen peroxide is often used as a bleach or cleaning agent. The oxidizing capacity of hydrogen peroxide is so strong that it is considered a highly reactive oxygen species. Hydrogen peroxide is therefore used as a propellant in rocketry.[1] Organisms also naturally produce hydrogen peroxide as a by-product of oxidative metabolism. Consequently, nearly all living things (specifically, all obligate and facultative aerobes) possess enzymes known as catalase peroxidases, which harmlessly and catalytically decompose low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen."
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What does this mean, well since organisms can render harmless small levels of hydrogen peroxide, then at these levels hydrogen peroxide will not do much. The trick would be to use it at concentrations above what the organisms can handle and below the level where it kills them or damages cells leading to disease possibly. This can be different with different coral & other inhabitants like algae and macro-algae and there can be a difference among different species of algae as well & the same with different species of cyano which is documented in research. Lighting and other factors can play into the equation as well.

You are simply guessing at this level without any true facts to back it. You don't know the specie of cyanobacteria you are dealing with. Hit or miss so to speak and can cause serious damages to tank occupants if you are wrong. Keep in mind if you play with fire you can get burnt.

I think if one were to add household bleach to a reef tank, most hobbyists would open there eyes a bit, yet sodium hydroxide is a stronger oxidizer than household liquid bleach by a good shot.

Just my two cents.

 

[HighlandReefer]

If you want to delve further into this topic these articles may be of interest:

Hydrogen Peroxide Inhibits Photosynthetic Electron Transport in Cells of Cyanobacteria
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k8857r1501213202/

Combined exposure to hydrogen peroxide and light : Selective effects on cyanobacteria, green algae, and diatoms
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18420025

 

[rrasco]

I know lots of people have had success with h2o2, it's only one molecule off from being water. I noticed an improvement dosing 1ml per 10 gallons, but over the last two weeks it seems the effectiveness is wearing off or I have higher concentrations of phosphate, etc. I have not noticed any effect to the corals. Most of them are beginning to thrive actually.

The problem with bleach is that it will kill your bacterial colonies, unlike h2o2. That's why bleach is scary.

Thanks for the info though, I'm going to dive more into it. Basically I'm just trying to figure out if the h2o2 would kill off the chaeto, I wouldn't want to put it in there only to kill it off with h2o2. Ultimately, I want the chaeto to reduce my nutrient levels so the dinos won't grow at all. In my old tank the dinos consumed the chaeto, it never grew, so I'm not really sure if the chaeto was dead to begin with, but I never trimmed it in a year of it being there. It stayed green, but never grew. I'm sourcing new chaeto this time instead of pulling from my old sump (still running).

 

[bertoni]

If you add enough, hydrogen peroxide definitely will kill bacteria, and most everything else. It might be safer than bleach, although some have been known to add bleach to a tank.

 

[rrasco]

Good to know. I would be terrified to add bleach to my tank though.

The chaeto in my other tank didn't look bad after I blacked the sump out for a week, all the dinos were gone though, so I moved some of it to my other tank and manually removed as much dino as I could from that sump. I also stopped dosing h2o2 two days ago, so we'll see what happens.