I didnt have clove information so thanks for pointing that out I'll try to remember that one
Every few pages I like to summarize the last few weeks work around the web and through pms with various people about how peroxide is working.
As the years/pages unfold this is my guesstimation summary, good and the bad, every few pages here.
The best part about peroxide is the collateral loss control, whether it works long term for you varies but you still have a great chance, it does for me. the day its not the fastest easiest algae control (the percentage I use) is the day I'll never use it.
We can tell with near perfect accuracy what will- not- be harmed by using it, and every day we get more input like the cloves statement above. You lost a few pods in a straight dip? and your fish ate some that day too, they'll be back
Verify the clove information above across a few different forums and cloves will join the ranks of zoanthids that aren't killed by even direct undiluted contact, like a majority of corals. its fun to watch that new knowledge develop. In another year we'll have every known common macro reef inhabitant listed, at least as a tolerant or intolerant.
The old days of fear of tank wipeouts is no longer founded and not every chemist will still agree with that, perhaps when we get to 1000 pages they might consider it.
Initial kill rate, any target deemed susceptible to peroxide, of
35% is 100%
-I have yet to find any algae that would not die within hours, its battery acid strong.
Its all I use now, 3% is too weak to concern me. initially I thought 3% was good enough for everyone, guess Credabel knew to start out with the good stuff and not waste time with toy water.
this is something to consider on the tanks who don't respond well to 3%... don't drag race your car with 87 octane gas, and dont give up on peroxide if your situation is really bad until you use drag fuel 35% on it. you can get a quart from your health food store. it will permanently blind you if you mess up with it, be careful. Im amazed they sell something so dangerous otc at a place you buy hippie granola.
I recommend 3%, and we work with it here almost exclusively because of the safety around animals but I'll tell you this, zoanthids and mushrooms still won't die from 35% Ive purposely injected them with it to try. its in my video below, that red mushroom coated in 35% frothing like a rabid dog just multiplied ten babies over the next three months.
it actually makes mushrooms reproduce, not die, its strange. My tank is so infested with them now we are taking extreme measures to kill them, with a majano wand.
The inability of 3% to meet my kill needs may or may not be an indication of adaptability in plants and corals to free radical and oxygen poisoning...the hallmarks of peroxide use. Are we creating mutant plants? i don't know, but my tank sure is clean and will live indefinately because of it. 3% used to kill the green haze that developed on the inside of my tank, now it doesn't phase it at all. so, thats some adaptability directly observed. 35 cuts it like butter and I don't have to wipe for another two weeks. it prevents coralline from taking over my tank yet the coralline on the non wiped surfaces (rocks) is piled in stacks. I predict its too powerful to be adapted to any time soon by basic algae we attack.
3% still works on about 80-90% of initial kills, with fair enough sustain that people still use it. As the months go by, those tanks that don't respond as well to 3% are pm'ing me and we are considering traditional routes of p04 control/magnesium dosing etc
they were getting fast regrowth and peroxide didn't remove their specific bryopsis etc...
in the end, its about controlling what grows in your tank the easiest way for your tank.
Knock something out w peroxide and then try to find a better preventative if the initial kill doesn't hold for you.
My corals are taking regular baths for just 20 seconds in what I would guess is a residual solution of peroxide 5-10
times above what you guys are putting into your tanks that are systemic or drain and treats. In this video, I am using 35% to bubble mushrooms and wipe off the inside of the glass. you can see the CBS shrimp and all corals bathing in heavy 35% diluted into my gallon upon refill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fk8R3clElQ
Then I have to fill up the whole tank to present the peroxide back into the water column so it can be siphoned out, and refilled with clean water. This is a boring video, but peroxide dosers will see how much I am using, then you don't have to worry. I made the vid just to show how rough I am with my dosing and water changes, so your big reefs need not fear.
This interim refill period is a total systemic tank input of about 2-3 mils 35% into -one- gallon of water with 14 kinds of coral long term established. the 1:10 method is pixie dust safe in comparison lol, and the old timers used to freak out on us recommending 1:10...my recent video updates to the reefbowl here show the pods and brittle stars and coral who bathe in 35% and are adapted to it.
this is after a year on 35% and another year on 3%
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNZstT8MnE
The reefbowl gets more peroxide put into it than any tank on the planet, whether thats good or bad remains to be seen, but its a helluva study into adaptivity. the coral growth cannot be contained, its faster than ever. The tank is perfectly algae free
I have crap lighting so don't knock an old timer and the last guy on the planet using power compacts from 1999. Dude its the same ballasts and 13w setups that can't be knocked other than having no blue LED POp lol. it grows coral just fine and I'll use it until tax return and then upgrade to LED so ya'll will quit making fun of my non popping sps lol.
what isn't panning out perfectly:
- peroxide fad of 2012-?... is it a one off treatment? will I have to redose? is it a bandaid?
and my answer so far is it depends. Is any common method of algae control one off? Do you bring your mag up to 1800 one time and never dose mg again? Does GFO get put into your tank one time and then never purchased or swapped out again? You need to experiment with whatever method gets you the best outcome for the least work, peroxide can work but I don't feel bad if it doesn't, its just more challenge for us.
Post those tanks here that didnt work out, we'll burn the crap out if we have to. No lost tank goes unchallenged here.
