pico reef pest algae problem challenge
- Thread starter brandon429
- Start date
brandon429
Active member
On the removed rocks, hit them with undiluted 3% right on the algae, no dips
The gfo and skimmer are ok to run, but during the submerged application just make sure all flow is off for a few minutes before and after dosing to maximize contact time
Use one of our injection tools and inject very slowly across/into the patches to really give them the best contact time
In previous pages we discussed using pill bottles and various contact time extenders, whatever you can think of to maximize contact to the target. We should only run three or four 1:10 dosings and then stop for a few days to watch everything
If its mostly an underwater kill, we should take it slowly and dose a few more times over a months span, no hurry
Any external treatments can be ran as much as you can pull rock out
The gfo and skimmer are ok to run, but during the submerged application just make sure all flow is off for a few minutes before and after dosing to maximize contact time
Use one of our injection tools and inject very slowly across/into the patches to really give them the best contact time
In previous pages we discussed using pill bottles and various contact time extenders, whatever you can think of to maximize contact to the target. We should only run three or four 1:10 dosings and then stop for a few days to watch everything
If its mostly an underwater kill, we should take it slowly and dose a few more times over a months span, no hurry
Any external treatments can be ran as much as you can pull rock out
Dexters Reef
New member
I treated my red brush algae directly, and 24 hours later it has turned orange and is decomposing nicely!View attachment 205291
View attachment 205292
View attachment 205292
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brandon429
Active member
Excellent, that orange transition is the harbinger of death for rhodophyta lol within five days el muerte
Dexters Reef
New member
Let me say, this post has been great. I had never dealt with red brush algae before and had no idea how to get rid of it. I've been keeping nitrates and phosphates at 0 and despite that have been watching it slowly spread. It feels great to have a weapon against it!
Oh an I got another frag from the same guy, and within a week it had the red brush algae. I have now confirmed its source as this new frag is nowhere near my other "outbreak areas". I don't care though and would still buy from him again because his corals are very nice, and now I know how to treat the rock/plugs he provides.
Oh an I got another frag from the same guy, and within a week it had the red brush algae. I have now confirmed its source as this new frag is nowhere near my other "outbreak areas". I don't care though and would still buy from him again because his corals are very nice, and now I know how to treat the rock/plugs he provides.
brandon429
Active member
Yes, literally there are groups of obligate hitchhikers who aren't affected by nutrients unless you overstrip and potentially harm corals, this includes
All rhodophyta
Invasive macro algae
Bryopsis
The bubble algae variants
Dinos etc
All rhodophyta
Invasive macro algae
Bryopsis
The bubble algae variants
Dinos etc
brandon429
Active member
Peroxide is literally the reason my pico is the oldest around, without it, the same red brush you have would have wiped me out
Dexters Reef
New member
Ok Brandon, new challange =)
So a few months ago I bought two frag disks, one with GSP, and the other with blue cespitularia. The GSP has spread on the disk quickly and filled in nicely. The cespitularia however seems to grow slower and has had hair algae overtake it. I want to save the cespiutularia frag. I read that xenia is most sensitive to peroxide, but am wondering if cespitularia behaves the same.
The frag disk is easy to remove from the tank, however, since it is literally growing on my cespitularia, "spot" treatment would be very difficult. I would like to safely dip the whole frag disk to eliminate the hair algae.
What would be the best way to dip a sensitive coral like cespitularia that has hair algae? Right now the hair algae is longer than the cespitularia, and only a little bit of the actual coral is poking through. On my 75G SPS reef, this one plug, is the ONLY spot I have any GHA
So a few months ago I bought two frag disks, one with GSP, and the other with blue cespitularia. The GSP has spread on the disk quickly and filled in nicely. The cespitularia however seems to grow slower and has had hair algae overtake it. I want to save the cespiutularia frag. I read that xenia is most sensitive to peroxide, but am wondering if cespitularia behaves the same.
The frag disk is easy to remove from the tank, however, since it is literally growing on my cespitularia, "spot" treatment would be very difficult. I would like to safely dip the whole frag disk to eliminate the hair algae.
What would be the best way to dip a sensitive coral like cespitularia that has hair algae? Right now the hair algae is longer than the cespitularia, and only a little bit of the actual coral is poking through. On my 75G SPS reef, this one plug, is the ONLY spot I have any GHA
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So here goes, as I cast myself into the fray! My new (used) 34 gallon cube had used live rock that came in with at least one or two species of Bryopsis. I used enough Tech M to raise my Mg levels supposedly by 600 which had no effect on it. I used a bottle of Waterlife Paragon Magnesium Peroxide powder, which had no effect at recommended doses and only some effect when the powder landed directly on patches of the algae.
I don't have any livestock in the tank, apart from some pods and one Turbo snail I was unable to remove to quarantine along with my others without pulling him out of his shell because he was attached so tightly. So he's going to be a test subject here I'm afraid.
The Bropsis is everywhere, rocks, sand, filters, and the rear wall which has rockwork glued to it, so I'm not going to try to remove and spot-treat. I'm going for full and total eradication here, not management of this algae, and I want to extinguish every last spore permanently. If I lose my coralline algae as collateral damage then that'd be a pity, but worth it if I can eradicate these various algaes completely. And I'm going to try to be quite cautious and dip every frag base and other things before they come into my tank after this.
I just received half a litre of 35% food grade Hydrogen Peroxide. And it's dangerous stuff actually, I wore sunglasses for eye protection when I opened it but somehow must have gotten the tiniest bit slightly on my hands and my hands then those bits of skin started to burn and the skin surface turned white for a few hours. Now the skin is normal though, and I'm wearing gloves while even handling the closed bottles from now on. (I also diluted a bit into a bottle of water to make it a little safer to dose with meanwhile).
After reading through various threads and articles, my experiment is going to be for system dosing. I've started with 1 ml which I dripped directly into my tank slowly with a syringe, with the filter on but the powerhead off .That way the filter mix it through the tank and through the sump but the powerhead to aerate it out of the water too quickly. And I'm keeping the tank lights off while doing this.
One ml of 35% equates to four times the usually recommended dosage of 1ml of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide per ten gallons of water. I dosed the 1 ml at noon and by late evening still saw no effect whatsoever, so I added another 2 ml now. One of the articles mentions dosing a concentration which would equate to 10 ml, so right now I'm only at 20% of the way there. I think I will keep on increasing the dosage by 1 ml every 12 hours until I start to see significant melting, and then I will dose that amount each day until I see all of the different algaes are completely gone, or increase the dosage again if they're not going away very quickly.
Hopefully this trial will determine a concentration for system dosing which will effectively wipe out all the algae, and determine whether or not my coralline algae manages to survive that. Whether other animals and corals will be able to survive that dosage is a different matter, but I'll at least see if my snail manages to persevere through this for the betterment of science. He already wasn't very happy or active in the first place with all that Mg in the water, so it's not an entirely scientific trial.
Once I've seen that the algaes are gone, and stay gone for at least two weeks, then I'm going to drain the tank and replace all the water to get my Mg down to nontoxic levels. Then I'll let the tank cycle do a fishless cycle until my biofiltration is happy again and the tank is ready to start stocking finally. I thought it'd be best to start with a completely clean slate while I still fortunately have the chance to do so. And I took before pictures, and will take additional pictures through the course of the treatment.
I don't have any livestock in the tank, apart from some pods and one Turbo snail I was unable to remove to quarantine along with my others without pulling him out of his shell because he was attached so tightly. So he's going to be a test subject here I'm afraid.
The Bropsis is everywhere, rocks, sand, filters, and the rear wall which has rockwork glued to it, so I'm not going to try to remove and spot-treat. I'm going for full and total eradication here, not management of this algae, and I want to extinguish every last spore permanently. If I lose my coralline algae as collateral damage then that'd be a pity, but worth it if I can eradicate these various algaes completely. And I'm going to try to be quite cautious and dip every frag base and other things before they come into my tank after this.
I just received half a litre of 35% food grade Hydrogen Peroxide. And it's dangerous stuff actually, I wore sunglasses for eye protection when I opened it but somehow must have gotten the tiniest bit slightly on my hands and my hands then those bits of skin started to burn and the skin surface turned white for a few hours. Now the skin is normal though, and I'm wearing gloves while even handling the closed bottles from now on. (I also diluted a bit into a bottle of water to make it a little safer to dose with meanwhile).
After reading through various threads and articles, my experiment is going to be for system dosing. I've started with 1 ml which I dripped directly into my tank slowly with a syringe, with the filter on but the powerhead off .That way the filter mix it through the tank and through the sump but the powerhead to aerate it out of the water too quickly. And I'm keeping the tank lights off while doing this.
One ml of 35% equates to four times the usually recommended dosage of 1ml of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide per ten gallons of water. I dosed the 1 ml at noon and by late evening still saw no effect whatsoever, so I added another 2 ml now. One of the articles mentions dosing a concentration which would equate to 10 ml, so right now I'm only at 20% of the way there. I think I will keep on increasing the dosage by 1 ml every 12 hours until I start to see significant melting, and then I will dose that amount each day until I see all of the different algaes are completely gone, or increase the dosage again if they're not going away very quickly.
Hopefully this trial will determine a concentration for system dosing which will effectively wipe out all the algae, and determine whether or not my coralline algae manages to survive that. Whether other animals and corals will be able to survive that dosage is a different matter, but I'll at least see if my snail manages to persevere through this for the betterment of science. He already wasn't very happy or active in the first place with all that Mg in the water, so it's not an entirely scientific trial.
Once I've seen that the algaes are gone, and stay gone for at least two weeks, then I'm going to drain the tank and replace all the water to get my Mg down to nontoxic levels. Then I'll let the tank cycle do a fishless cycle until my biofiltration is happy again and the tank is ready to start stocking finally. I thought it'd be best to start with a completely clean slate while I still fortunately have the chance to do so. And I took before pictures, and will take additional pictures through the course of the treatment.
Ok, I've been reading this thread for like 3 hours (very well done). I am currently dealing with Dino in my 120 and I am hitting it systemically 1ml-10 gallons. It's only been 12 hrs and a marked reduction in stringy brown crap(I'll get some pics soon). Tanks been up for 4 months and all numbers are good (0 nitrates. 0.05 phosphate) I started the tank on ro alone, and now use ro/di (likely the cause). I come from a planted FW system and have used h202 to kill algae in there only at a much higher dosage (like start at 1ml/gal and move up to 3ml/gal without any casualtys) this is 3% of course. Something that I found worked much better was a product called seachem excell. Used in the same or lower concentration worked much better and faster. It is a carbon source as well (designed to help plants respirate) I believe the active killing ingredient in it is a take off of formaldehyde. But had no problems with it in FW (realize they are very different but u never know. Might be worth some testing in a tank with out any fish and just some algae (could start at 1ml/10gal, like has been done with h202. (I'd test myself but won't risk my reef)
What concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide do you hobbyists experimenting with this practice think I need in order to 100% COMPLETELY disinfect my tank?
To try to completely sterilize my entire tank and rocks I could buy either 1 litre bottles or a 5 litre jug of 35% food grade Hydrogen Peroxide. Adding in 5 litres to my tank would turn the water into approximately a 4% solution of Hydrogen Peroxide. And adding 2 litres would turn it into a 1.7% solution. And there is actually only a 28% price difference between those two alternatives. Then I plan to leave it that way for a few days, or maybe a week.
It seems many here are using 3% for their dips, but others are doing a 50/50 mix which would equate to 1.5%. I want to do this only one time to once-and-for-all rid my tank entirely of the various strains of Bryopsis and the Bubble Algae which the rocks in this otherwise unstocked tank are unfortunately plagued with. I see that some people get rid of these temporarily only to have it reappear from spores before long and I certainly don't want that.
I had already dosed 160 ml of 35% peroxide today which has yet to cause my algae to show any signs of melting, so I'm going all-in now.
P.S. Would having my tank water be a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide potentially damage my tank and the equipment itself? I don't want to have my silicon suddenly melt either!...
To try to completely sterilize my entire tank and rocks I could buy either 1 litre bottles or a 5 litre jug of 35% food grade Hydrogen Peroxide. Adding in 5 litres to my tank would turn the water into approximately a 4% solution of Hydrogen Peroxide. And adding 2 litres would turn it into a 1.7% solution. And there is actually only a 28% price difference between those two alternatives. Then I plan to leave it that way for a few days, or maybe a week.
It seems many here are using 3% for their dips, but others are doing a 50/50 mix which would equate to 1.5%. I want to do this only one time to once-and-for-all rid my tank entirely of the various strains of Bryopsis and the Bubble Algae which the rocks in this otherwise unstocked tank are unfortunately plagued with. I see that some people get rid of these temporarily only to have it reappear from spores before long and I certainly don't want that.
I had already dosed 160 ml of 35% peroxide today which has yet to cause my algae to show any signs of melting, so I'm going all-in now.
P.S. Would having my tank water be a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide potentially damage my tank and the equipment itself? I don't want to have my silicon suddenly melt either!...
brandon429
Active member
Thats too fast imo, I wouldn't run it like that. I need to go back and re read to see if you've posted pics of the prob, thats how we can get a good angle.
making the whole tank 3% is likely to kill all but zoanthids, and even they'll expire after a while in a solution of this much free radical oxygen bouncing around in solution
we had good results using less harsh means in several other posts, so before we go hardcore Id like to try anything else first...
my take is this...since you have 35%, and it will kill any invader with a spot treatment, its better to simply dissassemble the rock and spot treat externally, there's no need to wipe out all the benthics with a big tank dose. We do in tank dosings only in cases where the keeper doesn't want to remove the rock structure, but all tanks can have the rock removed, so if underwater spot treatments aren't working (which is strange cuz they do in other pics) then the next step is to treat each rock externally that way you aren't nuking the tank. if there weren't any pics we need some...I get so many pms on peroxide I have trouble keeping up through memory lol
making the whole tank 3% is likely to kill all but zoanthids, and even they'll expire after a while in a solution of this much free radical oxygen bouncing around in solution
we had good results using less harsh means in several other posts, so before we go hardcore Id like to try anything else first...
my take is this...since you have 35%, and it will kill any invader with a spot treatment, its better to simply dissassemble the rock and spot treat externally, there's no need to wipe out all the benthics with a big tank dose. We do in tank dosings only in cases where the keeper doesn't want to remove the rock structure, but all tanks can have the rock removed, so if underwater spot treatments aren't working (which is strange cuz they do in other pics) then the next step is to treat each rock externally that way you aren't nuking the tank. if there weren't any pics we need some...I get so many pms on peroxide I have trouble keeping up through memory lol
I hadn't posted pics, but here they are now below. In any case, this is a new and unstocked tank, which had a host of invasive nasty algaes come in on the liverock I received. So there is no livestock whatsoever to worry about.
I started by dosing 1 ml of 35% 2(HO) per half day day, which was apparently already 4 times the advised dosage for systemic treatment, and then expected to keep increasing the dosage by half until I saw immediate melting. And I just dumped a full 250 ml of 35% into my 34 gallon tank and hour ago and am seeing plenty of bubbles but still no melting yet, (of the tank or the algae).
I have a bunch of dry rock rubble glued to the backwall, which has algae and is why I don't simply wish to remove and dip the rocks.
And my assumption is that the spores of these algaes are everywhere throughout the tank including the sand, walls, and filtration. Therefore, harsh system dosing is still an option being that my tank is unstocked. For otherwise it will just return later on its own.
Adding a quarter litre of 2(HO) just brings the overall tank water up to a concentration of less than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide, so I'm not sure if I'm expecting that to kill anything really, not least every last algae cell. Maybe if I did ten times that dose, with 2.5 litres of 35% to bring the concentration up to about 1% then I might start to see some real melting?
Here is how it looked earlier before I'd been weeding it by the handful and when I was having a bit of die-off on my live rock.
And here is how it looks at the moment still after heavy Tech M and Magnesium Peroxide treatments already, (with annoying reflections). -
I started by dosing 1 ml of 35% 2(HO) per half day day, which was apparently already 4 times the advised dosage for systemic treatment, and then expected to keep increasing the dosage by half until I saw immediate melting. And I just dumped a full 250 ml of 35% into my 34 gallon tank and hour ago and am seeing plenty of bubbles but still no melting yet, (of the tank or the algae).
I have a bunch of dry rock rubble glued to the backwall, which has algae and is why I don't simply wish to remove and dip the rocks.
And my assumption is that the spores of these algaes are everywhere throughout the tank including the sand, walls, and filtration. Therefore, harsh system dosing is still an option being that my tank is unstocked. For otherwise it will just return later on its own.
Adding a quarter litre of 2(HO) just brings the overall tank water up to a concentration of less than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide, so I'm not sure if I'm expecting that to kill anything really, not least every last algae cell. Maybe if I did ten times that dose, with 2.5 litres of 35% to bring the concentration up to about 1% then I might start to see some real melting?
Here is how it looked earlier before I'd been weeding it by the handful and when I was having a bit of die-off on my live rock.
And here is how it looks at the moment still after heavy Tech M and Magnesium Peroxide treatments already, (with annoying reflections). -
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brandon429
Active member
heck yes its rock n roll time. I was thinking yours was the tank with the fire shrimp in it...this will be a quick fix. When you see bubbles on the algae just give it about a day before upping anything or going nuke, for sure we can fix this with a systemic run just like you said.
regarding the filtration bacteria and recycling, we've never seen any dose cause that so again we're at another testing phase to prove harsh peroxide still can't even cut back the nitrifiers, its not the antimicrobial we think it is at common dilutions. I really hope you w include ammonia data after this is all cleaned up, with a little bit of food put in to degrade, and test for ammonia thereafter. I bet its just fine even if you zap the hell out of this tank lol.
regarding the filtration bacteria and recycling, we've never seen any dose cause that so again we're at another testing phase to prove harsh peroxide still can't even cut back the nitrifiers, its not the antimicrobial we think it is at common dilutions. I really hope you w include ammonia data after this is all cleaned up, with a little bit of food put in to degrade, and test for ammonia thereafter. I bet its just fine even if you zap the hell out of this tank lol.
Thanks, any guess as to what concentration of 2(HO) it will take to achieve algae eradication? (As of now I need to order more 2(HO) and I'm not sure whether to spring for the 5 litres of 35%).
There were bubble growing in the algae at lower doses actually, but even then it wasn't melting. If anything the green algae seems to spore as a result of oxidation and I suddenly find a fresh coating of green on the glass right afterwards,
I really doubt the 2(HO) would kill all the bacteria deep within the live rock and sandbed which can grow back easily enough in any case, and I have a solution of Ammonium Chloride to test the bio-filtration performance once the algae is gone and when I'm cycling the tank again.
There were bubble growing in the algae at lower doses actually, but even then it wasn't melting. If anything the green algae seems to spore as a result of oxidation and I suddenly find a fresh coating of green on the glass right afterwards,
I really doubt the 2(HO) would kill all the bacteria deep within the live rock and sandbed which can grow back easily enough in any case, and I have a solution of Ammonium Chloride to test the bio-filtration performance once the algae is gone and when I'm cycling the tank again.
So far im thinking something went wrong...
Monday night I dipped several of my rocks. It cleared up about 50-75% of the GHA but now I have an issue with my star polyps, they havnt opened since the dip.
I removed all the rock I intended to dip. I dipped, scrubbed and let sit for 2-3 mins in 3% peroxide. Then I rinsed them off by pouring distiled water over them and then soaking in SW for a little, gently swishing them around a little until I felt the rock was rinced. I didn't want to risk anything getting in my DT with my skunk cleaner and GBTA. Would the distiled water have harmed the polyps?
Monday night I dipped several of my rocks. It cleared up about 50-75% of the GHA but now I have an issue with my star polyps, they havnt opened since the dip.
I removed all the rock I intended to dip. I dipped, scrubbed and let sit for 2-3 mins in 3% peroxide. Then I rinsed them off by pouring distiled water over them and then soaking in SW for a little, gently swishing them around a little until I felt the rock was rinced. I didn't want to risk anything getting in my DT with my skunk cleaner and GBTA. Would the distiled water have harmed the polyps?
brandon429
Active member
not really, but ive had briareum/fmly pachyclavularia (GSP) close up for no reason in a perfectly untreated tank, they can be picky like that, Id just give some time.
