pico reef pest algae problem challenge

[Tabasco]

So pulling the rock out and soaking in peroxide does not kill the beneficial bacteria?? You can put it right back in your tank?

 

[brandon429]

Yes, the reason is twofold. First is the porosity, the bacteria run too deep to be affected by topical soaking. Second is the misnomer that peroxide kills bacteria. In our thread here we have amassed proof of no ammonia spiking after treatments, and any surface will still test positive for generalized aerobic bacteria after a quick peroxide soak. I've done the tests myself before years ago using 3m sterile media pads and the proper incubation ovens at a microbiology lab i worked in that tested meatpacking equipment.
The filter bacteria we use are in that group so with the other combined observations i can make that statement comfortably. Peroxide is a poor anti biotic, its useful properties in medical situations are the lifting action of the bubbles, and some pathogens and anaerobes dislike the oxygen attack but not so much the aerobic ones.

 

[glxtrix]

Day 3 and all the algae that was on the rocks is gone! There still is a little inside the large birdsnest, however, it is turning white and I'm sure wont be there for much longer. Going to treat the other rocks and finally be hair algae free...thanks Brandon! The 10g is still being dosed, algae is reducing slowly.

 

[chaseg89]

I took some pictures of our 55g finally and will be posting them tomorrow as "before" pictures. If I plan on taking the rocks out individually and soaking them what is the solution of hydrogen peroxide I should use? Ratio of peroxide to water? And how long should I soak the rocks? I assume I soak them and then rinse them with fresh water before placing them back in the tank?

 

[glxtrix]

For just rocks with no corals, I did soaking (for smaller rocks) and pouring 100% of the 3% peroxide you find at the stores (for larger rocks). The ones that could soak, I left in for 3 minutes..pulled out and stood out for 2 minutes. Then I sloshed the rock around in a 5g bucket that had tank water in it....then placed back into tank. I pretty much did the same with rocks that had corals on them...though for safe measures, if you can, keep the peroxide off the coral.

 

[chaseg89]

Ok. None of our rocks have any type of encrusting coral on them, one rock has zoanthids all over it, but honestly if this gets rid of the algae taking over our tank we can always get more zoas. It is disgusting right now, the red slime algae has started growing over the hair algae so everything is basically coated in this red/brown slime. Funny thing is, our water parameters have been almost perfect for the past year or so we have been having trouble...we just can't seem to find the source of our problems :headwalls:. Hopefully this will at least give us a fighting chance. I plan on only doing part of the rock tomorrow and kind of staggering this process, doing it in sections. Post pics tomorrow before I get started.

 

[glxtrix]

I did a dip with zoas and they tolerate the peroxide. They most likely wont open for a day, but they shouldn't be effected. You could do a dip of 50% peroxide and 50% tank water if you're a little nervous with them. The rocks that don't have corals, I'd do a 100% peroxide. They don't need to be submerged in peroxide either (but doesn't hurt), just make sure you get peroxide on the algae you want to get rid of. To finish the last bit of my rock, I got a spray bottle and will spray the peroxide on the areas. And make sure you get a new bottle of peroxide too, once opened, it turns to water after some time.

 

[chaseg89]

Thanks, yeah I read about it needing to be a new bottle of peroxide.

 

[Ralph ATL]

Day 3 and all the algae that was on the rocks is gone! There still is a little inside the large birdsnest, however, it is turning white and I'm sure wont be there for much longer. Going to treat the other rocks and finally be hair algae free...thanks Brandon! The 10g is still being dosed, algae is reducing slowly.

:beer:

great job Lee!

 

[glxtrix]

:beer:

great job Lee!

Thanks Ralph! I had planned on tearing everything down and re rocking the tank....I still will because I want to re aquascape...but this means I can keep A LOT of corals, and don't need to break certain corals from rocks that were badly effected with HA.

 

[Tabasco]

Yes, the reason is twofold. First is the porosity, the bacteria run too deep to be affected by topical soaking. Second is the misnomer that peroxide kills bacteria. In our thread here we have amassed proof of no ammonia spiking after treatments, and any surface will still test positive for generalized aerobic bacteria after a quick peroxide soak. I've done the tests myself before years ago using 3m sterile media pads and the proper incubation ovens at a microbiology lab i worked in that tested meatpacking equipment.
The filter bacteria we use are in that group so with the other combined observations i can make that statement comfortably. Peroxide is a poor anti biotic, its useful properties in medical situations are the lifting action of the bubbles, and some pathogens and anaerobes dislike the oxygen attack but not so much the aerobic ones.

Thanks!! Great info and thank you for lending your expertise. I read that not all organisms can take a bath. There is one rock that I have that I would like to try this on, but it has sponges, and some other type of encrusting organism that I have no idea what it is, but I like it. Also has some real nice micro feather dusters. Will any of those be affected? I also have a couple small pistol shrimp, I have never seen them, they just live in the rocks but move around so I never know which rock they are in. I know you said some types of cleaner shrimp don't do well with this, what about pistols?

I don't know if I can do this until this weekend, but so excited to try! I will definately post before/after pics!

 

[Weejen]

i have my peroxide and im just making up some water. i plan to do a wee test on one rock that i can get out easy

i plan to take rock out scrub it to burst the bubbles and then soak it in 50/50 3% peroxide for 3 mins and then rinse and return to the tank

does that sound ok?

 

[brandon429]

Weejen that will work. Tabasco we don't have pistol shrimp feedback that will be a first. The whole point of external treatment is that you only put peroxide on the target vs a dip where all rock surfaces are treated

 

[Weejen]

how long should i leave between batches of treating say if i do 3 or 4 rock at a time? and if i say leave a few days between can i keep the peroxide mix or will i have to mix fresh?

 

[brandon429]

needs a new batch mixed every time since peroxide is so cheap you don't want a weak mix wasting your time. people usually dip the rock for 3-4 mins when they choose whole rock dipping vs simple external target only treatment, doesn't matter how long you leave it on then...almost any contact time is sufficient as an external treatment

 

[Tabasco]

got it. So if I target I can avoid the sponge. Course if it is exposed to air that might get the sponge anyway or if algae is growing on the sponge.

I will post if I know that the pistol is in the rock at the time of treatment and see how it does.

 

[brandon429]

Also fwiw Ive never had my rock sponges die from air and I leave them exposed for up to 15 mins during my treatments. I know thats been said since the dawn of reefing, Ive just never seen it happen as nanos don't usually support the decorative type sponges that may be weakened in that way. standard live rock sponges as hitchhikers...never lost em they just keep reproducing

 

[glxtrix]

I too have seen no ill effect on sponges. I just dipped a few zoas and they have a yellow type sponge on the rock. 1 was submerged for 3 minutes in 50/50 mix and the other was dipped in 100% peroxide for a minute, then sat out for 3 minutes. Both sponges still alive and kickin.

 

[chaseg89]

Here are some before pics of our aquarium and the mess we have been dealing with. Water parameters are almost always perfect, but something is causing us some real trouble with algae and has been for at least a year, its either been GHA or red slime algae, sometimes both. Please excuse the coraline on the front of the glass it is growing like crazy too (which we like), but cleaning the front glass has been the least of our worries lately. These are some of the rocks I plan on starting with. I will post some more pictures once I get finished with the process.

<a href="http://s899.photobucket.com/albums/ac200/chaseg89/?action=view&current=algaepic3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac200/chaseg89/algaepic3.jpg" border="0" alt="algaepic3"></a>

<a href="http://s899.photobucket.com/albums/ac200/chaseg89/?action=view&current=algaepic2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac200/chaseg89/algaepic2.jpg" border="0" alt="algaepic2"></a>

<a href="http://s899.photobucket.com/albums/ac200/chaseg89/?action=view&current=algaepic1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac200/chaseg89/algaepic1.jpg" border="0" alt="algaepic1"></a>

 

[chaseg89]

Just finished the rock that I was going to do today, I did a good bit, but am going to do the rest at another time. I also did a 10% water change when I was done and changed the filter media in our filter. No pictures yet because the water is all cloudy still, but I will post some soon.