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The "One-Two Punch" Whole Tank Algae Treatment

411K views 546 replies 219 participants last post by  Dallascowboys16 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
NOTE: Others have reported deaths of shrimp, snails, and fish - particularly known sensitive ones. Please read the entire thread for details before experimenting. For anyone who wishes to try this, I am changing my initial recommendation for H2O2 to 2 tbsp. per 10G, down from 4 tbsp. This treatment seems especially hit-and-miss with shrimp, so for them, I do not recommend this treatment AT ALL - unless you consider them expendable.


PREFACE:


This is a technique I've developed. While I've provided this info in several threads now as personalized help, I feel it deserves a full write-up in its own thread.

In brief: It uses a properly executed H2O2 whole tank treatment, followed by a whole tank Excel treatment, to provide a much greater algicidal effect than either alone; without noticeably increased risk to fauna or plants.

This has been performed by me many times, and by others only a few. While in all cases no adverse effects were observed, I cannot guarantee it to be 100% safe. Only through many more tests in a wide variety of tanks can that be established. Keep that in mind should you decide to try it, and if you do, please share your results in this thread.

Even if you don't try this, you may still find some of it informative.


FIRST PUNCH: H2O2

Whole tank H2O2 treatments don't get much attention. The results are typically very poor, at least until you get into such doses that fauna are at risk; and after a few failed attempts, most folks understandably write this option off.

But the truth is, most people perform this treatment completely wrong.

The WRONG Way:

Typically, the first thing done is to turn off the filters and lights. Already, one mistake has potentially been made, and a path paved to another.

Turning off the filters does prevent H2O2 from flowing through the biomedia. That's good, because we don't want the H2O2 to kill too much nitrifying bacteria, nor want the H2O2 depleted at this point in reaction with these bacteria. But often, this leaves little or no flow in the tank.

The effect of any chemical is determined by: Concentration * Flow * Time.

A H2O2 spot treatment works with no flow, solely because of the incredibly high concentration at the location where it's applied. But in a whole tank treatment, it's far more dilute. So instead, high flow is required to carry it around the tank, to contact the algae and have some positive effect.

Without that, there is only one place where high flow is occurring. Fish gills. And that is the one thing we don't want the H2O2 reacting with!

Moving on now. The H2O2 is added. Some amount of time is allowed to elapse, a half hour or so. Then the treatment is "terminated", by turning filters and lights back on. This is the next mistake.

Virtually all of the H2O2 still exists in the tank, because without flow, very little of it has reacted with anything. While light does break down H2O2, this is measured in days - even in direct sunlight. Not minutes. So the light has no effect, in the time scales we're working with.

The biofilter at least is now reducing the H2O2. And with flow restored, the H2O2 is at last starting to have some effect on the algae. But the fish are already getting close to suffering noticeable stress. The full concentration of H2O2 has been flowing through their gills for a half hour, completely without reason since this time did nothing to kill the algae. And they will continue to be exposed to gradually lessening concentrations, further increasing the stress, as the filter slowly removes it. It may take another half hour before H2O2 is sufficiently reduced.

The RIGHT Way:

As I said before, Concentration * Flow * Time.

So if you want an effective treatment, provide massive flow during the entire treatment period. Since flow is constant through fish gills, to protect them you shorten the time, by wasting none of it with periods where the algae isn't affected, and correctly terminating the treatment. If this is done, the increase in safety is actually enough that concentration can be increased.

First, prepare the tank. You want as much flow as possible. If you have extra powerheads, add them. If your sole source of flow is your filters, you'll have to temporarily remove the filter media to a bucket of tank water, and leave the filters on. Otherwise, this is optional but still beneficial. I have a cheap Koralia clone that with 1,320GPH flow, turned out to be too much for any of my tanks; but I keep it around because it's ideal for this treatment.

If you have Marimo balls, temporarily remove them to a bucket of tank water as well. Cladophora is very hardy, and normally not affected by whole tank H2O2 treatments. But this treatment can burn them badly, especially on sides exposed to direct flow. If they're also infested with undesirable algae, they can be treated simply by keeping them in the bucket in a dark place for a week. They can tolerate extremely long blackouts without harm, unlike other algae.

Keep the lights on. Light has no effect on the H2O2, only your ability to see what's going on.

Now add 3% H2O2, at a dosage of 4 tbsp. per 10G of actual tank water volume (excluding substrate, plants, etc.). Yes, that's double what's typically used; as explained previously we can use a higher concentration.

Allow to circulate for 15 minutes. During this time, redirect flow a few times if possible, to make sure all areas get covered. If you have particular trouble spots, try to ensure they get direct flow during part of the treatment.

Now terminate the treatment. Do a 50% water change, or more if you know it's well tolerated. Return the tank to its normal configuration, including replacing filter media if it was removed.

Less hardy algae may be effectively killed by this alone, especially if flow was good. But all algae will be weakened, and now it's time for:


SECOND PUNCH: EXCEL

Any remaining algae not killed by the H2O2 is now extremely susceptible to Excel.

If you weren't already using Excel, or were using it at the recommended dose, add Seachem's recommended initial dose of 5ml per 10G. No further large doses are necessary in this case. Algae builds up some tolerance to Excel, similar to sensitive plants like Vals. In this case, the H2O2 treatment followed by a single, sudden Excel spike is enough to quickly finish algae off.

If you were already using Excel overdoses, continue using the previous dose.

Enjoy your algae-free tank. If there are any underlying problems that caused the algae outbreak in the first place, correct them so your tank stays algae-free. In some cases, a thorough algae removal like this is enough to improve plant health to the point where algae will not return.


CLOSING NOTES:

I've used this treatment many times over the course of the last year.

It was originally developed to deal with what I call my SOS, "Staghorn On Steroids", as featured in my signature. SOS doesn't behave quite according to the rules. Like most algae it likes high light, but will thrive in medium light if flow is high. It laughs at high CO2, H2O2 spot treatments, and Excel spot/tank treatments. But it falls hard to the "One-Two Punch", and I relied on this treatment heavily when trying to figure out how to keep it from growing. Which took a while, during which time I probably would have given up in frustration if I hadn't found a way to periodically eliminate it, without ripping out half my plants after each failed tank parameter adjustment.

I've tried it on other algae too, mostly out of curiosity rather than necessity. Works great. Burning my Marimo balls was a nasty surprise, but certainly showed how effective it is, as they've never been affected by any other algicidal treatment. Should I ever have an invasive clado problem, I expect this might be able to eliminate it.

I've never seen any adverse effect on the more sensitive inhabitants of my tank; including otos, cories, bamboo shrimp, ramshorn and pond snails. No idea if it's safe for other shrimp, as I keep no other varieties. I'd like to see someone try it on a tank with a few expendable cherries. Java moss was unaffected. I have some anacharis, which is particularly sensitive to Excel, but which I've gradually acclimated to a normal dose; it too is unharmed by this treatment. Hopefully others can soon add their experiences.

Off-topic but related. Recently I see the use of AlgaeFix being more freely discussed, now that certain people have finally softened their views on it, and mentioning it no longer results in guaranteed chastisement. Yes, it works, I've used it, and it's certainly easier than my method. But it isn't safe for invertebrates. Several times I've also had fish severely stressed or killed by AlgaeFix, and although in the majority of cases this doesn't happen, I consider it a gamble. I have an idea why this occurs different from other hypothesis I've seen, and how it might be avoided, but that's a topic for another thread I'll soon post. At this time I consider my treatment possibly safer than AlgaeFix when a powerful full tank treatment is required, and certainly usable in more circumstances.

Hope this proves useful to you!
 
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#391 ·
I can't believe this post is still running!

Just wanted to add that if you are doing the alternative that only uses H2o2 Ottos, in my experience, are very sensitive. Only did it once...it did nuke the algea.
 
#392 ·
My short attention span kicked in and I cant make it through all these pages. Sorry if its been asked and answered already.

But is it ok to still run co2 during this process? (turn it off only during the 15 minutes of h2o2)
Should I hold off ei dosing while doing this treatment?

Repeat every other day until things are gone? Or is it a one and done type of deal?
 
#395 ·
I did a test using only H2O2 on a few chunks of HC that broke off when I was doing manual removal of some hair algae from my HC patch. I took a capful of H2O2 and diluted it in to about 2 cups of water. I threw the strands of HC into the mix and let them sit for 24 hours. Today I went to inspect the progress, and the algae had turned from black to orange/brown. I'm certain it is dead or dying so i am considering removing all 19 fish in my 60gal cube and overdosing the hell out of the main tank with H2O2 and I will probably dose with Excel right after. I'm growing a nice carpet of HC without Co2 and with 2wpg lighting, and the algae is an absolute eyesore.

Thanks for the thread, OP, if you're still around these days. You've helped a lot of people.
 
#396 ·
Going to hit my 40g breeder today - I've been battling a BBA issue in this tank due to a huge imbalance quite a few months ago. I've staggered its growth and spread quite a bit - but what's there currently has been a struggle for quite a few months. It laughs at excel and co2 and bounces back after h202 spot treatments in the areas effected. My SAE's can't seem to chew through it.

My plants are growing like crazy needing big trims every week due to high c02 and a strict fert regiment. Two months ago I popped in a baby amazon sword from a mother plant that resides in my 20g long, and its taken over 1/3rd of the tank like a bush. Adjusting light, C02 and ferts over the course of a few months have given me the upper hand in order to stop the BBA rampant growth, but now its time to hopefully knock it out.

I do have 4 oto's in here - its heavily planted, so its going to be nearly impossible to hospitalize them before treatment - so lets keep our fingers crossed.

I'll update in three or four days and let everyone know how it went. Going to grab some before treatment pics now.
 
#403 ·
Update on my nuking this past Tuesday. My BBA is dead and the SAE's are cleaning house on the red stuff. My black fuzz algae is dead and even the oto's are munching away. No dead loss at all. I'll admit though, at about 12 minutes in my old yellow molly was acting stressed.

I was able to pull three of the 4 oto's before the process. All four are doing fine.

Turned off and pulled my cannister for cleaning and used .45 cups (just under half) of 3% H202 and then followed up with a 50% water change and immediately hit the tank with 16ml of Excel.

Two days later I lost my runt Angel that had not been eating for a few days prior - think the stress of the whole process finally finished her off. It could have been that I beat her up during the washing machine/cyclone effect as well... I don't know.

My water quality has remained solid at:
6.8 ph (tested during mid-day c02 injection)
0 ammonia
0 Nitrites
20 Nitrates
 
#404 · (Edited)
Wanted to chime in that this procedure worked for me as well. I used the 4Tbsp per 10 gallons of H2O2. I removed the fish (5 oto's) and the biomedia from the cannister. Added the H2O2 ran the pumps for 45 minutes. Did a 80% water change. Added the recommended initial dosage of Excel. Let the tank run for about an hour and then added the biomedia and fish back to the tank.

Why did I do it? I had a filamentous algae outbreak after a rescape three weeks ago. The tank had three types, a little bit of staghorn, Long stringy brown algae maybe filamentous diatoms (not sure never ran into this before) and a green thread algae that was growing about 4 inches a day in the high flow areas.

Pretty sure it was all due to disturbing the soil where the Osmocote Root tabs were placed only a couple weeks earlier. Of course I completely forgot about them as I was happily changing the slope.

Here is my observations after the treatment
Same Day:
Almost all algae looked unhealthy by the end of the day. Most of the staghorn turned pink. Brown algae turned grey. Green algae looked a darker green.
Next Day: All staghorn was pink, Brown algae now grey and melting...maybe only 50% of it left. Green hair algae now grey and visibly less of it.
3rd Day: Staghorn is now melting, Brown algae is almost gone...only whitish fuzz left where it was thickest. Green hair algae now grey and about 75% of it is melted.
4th Day: Very little algae left. Anything visible is a grey or white color and looks dead.

Fish: no issues - taking them out I didnt expect any
Plants: Mini Pellia was burnt pretty bad. May lose it but the Flame and willow Moss look fine, Java Fern roots are missing the fine fuzzy appearance when they are healthy. But they were covered in the brown algae so not sure if they were already damaged. No other plants show any negative signs of the treatment.

Plant list: Staurogyne repens, cyperus helferi, Java Ferns, Anubias Nana, varied species of Bucephelendara, HC, Rotala Colorata, AR mini, Crypt Balansae, mini pellia, flame moss, willow moss
 
#407 ·
I have two tanks both of which I do 25% WC on every Sunday. I alternate which tank I start first and add 2TBSP/ 10 gal of H2O2 to the other tank, also turning off the filter and on the power head. By the time I have the first tank done the second tank is ready for the WC. This way it takes me no additional time and each tank is treated every other week. Since I have started doing this I have quit treating daily with excel, in fact I have not used excel at all and both tanks have remained algae free. I have had no loss of livestock or plants although my octocinclus do not seem to like it. I started this after doing the 1-2.
 
#410 ·
Hi DarkCobra,
I've been having BBA issues for months now and am
on the verge of losing all my plants.So after reading your thread here,
I went ahead and followed your "One-Two Punch" procedure,
(Two tbsp. per Gal h2o2),to the letter.I'm already seeing the algae
turn white and pink.I've never used Excell before,so I used the standard
5ml per10 Gal dose.While looking at the reaction under the light,my
daughter pointed 3 or 4 small fry I hadn't noticed until after the treatment.
I'll post again on this thread on further results and how well the fry do.
Thanks so much for posting this thread.
Cheers,David
 
#411 ·
How long does it usually take to see results?

Wednesday night, I took the Betta out, turned off the filtration and put 4 tbls in 5 gallons with tons of air. I let it sit 15 minutes, did about 90% water change and added Excel.

The hair algae looks a little lighter but nothing outstanding and the BBA is still on the glass.

Should I do another treatment tonight?
 
#413 ·
I just finished doing the treatment again.

This time, I used 8 Tbls. in 5 gallons for an hour, after taking out the Betta and my moss wall which does not have any algae. (it's new)

I'll post what it looks like tomorrow.

Thanks
 
#414 ·
The "One-Two Punch" Whole Tank Algae Treatment

I just performed this treatment. And I have strange results.

I have 240 gallons. I drained 80 gallons or so, and accounted for 60-70 gallons worth of substrate, plants and wood.

Turned off filter, closed filter lines.
I put in large aeration and added 300ml (30ml/10 gal for 100 remaining gallons) peroxide.

I let this broil for 15 minutes, then added 3/4 just drained tank water, 1/4 new DI water back in to fill.

Added 100ml flourish Excel and kept aerators going.

All fish seem fine other than the stress of the broiling bubbles... HOWEVER....

My water column is turning pinky RED! I have seen something similar before and I have two theories:

1) I nuked the bacteria in the display tank, and they are turning red as they die

2) I oxidized all of my chelated iron and the water is showing the metallic color of iron (more likely)

If anyone has experienced RED WATER before, please give me some references thanks.

Here are some pics, I will update with progress.

Plant Rectangle Shade Grass Tints and shades

Water Plant Fluid Fish supply Terrestrial plant
Brown Water Plant Fish supply Pet supply


That is NOT a red light lol! Plant Rectangle Terrestrial plant Grass Aquatic plant
 
#415 ·
I just performed this treatment. And I have strange results.

I have 240 gallons. I drained 80 gallons or so, and accounted for 60-70 gallons worth of substrate, plants and wood.

Turned off filter, closed filter lines.
I put in large aeration and added 300ml (30ml/10 gal for 100 remaining gallons) peroxide.

I let this broil for 15 minutes, then added 3/4 just drained tank water, 1/4 new DI water back in to fill.

Added 100ml flourish Excel and kept aerators going.

All fish seem fine other than the stress of the broiling bubbles... HOWEVER....

My water column is turning pinky RED! I have seen something similar before and I have two theories:

1) I nuked the bacteria in the display tank, and they are turning red as they die

2) I oxidized all of my chelated iron and the water is showing the metallic color of iron (more likely)

If anyone has experienced RED WATER before, please give me some references thanks.

Here are some pics, I will update with progress.
I did this with my 220g yesterday. That's normal, but its a cloud grey color of the water. You'll see a lot of dissolved bubbles.
 
#416 ·
Results day 3:

Tank looks super crisp, all algae has lightened, but not been removed.

Lost three small schooling fish, cannot say when, but the rest of the tank is recycling 2 rummy nose tetras and one Cardinal tetra.

I haven't had any fish die in over a year, so I know for sure it was this treatment. Perhaps a slightly lower dose next go round.

Will keep updating over next week.
 
#419 ·
I just did this treatment without the EXCEL because i couldnt find any locally but i did the H2O2 treatment.

My tank is not VERY redish pink. I dont know if this is the bacteria dying off or the algea. I had very little hair algae but it did nuke the Black algae quite nice and see a noticable difference. Ill see how it goes for the next couple days and do a water change in two days.

Im prepping a 75g build with pictures and use this tank to grow some initial plants for my 75g while i look for rock and Driftwood to fit my setup.
 
#420 ·
I just did this treatment without the EXCEL because i couldnt find any locally but i did the H2O2 treatment.



My tank is not VERY redish pink. I dont know if this is the bacteria dying off or the algea. I had very little hair algae but it did nuke the Black algae quite nice and see a noticable difference. Ill see how it goes for the next couple days and do a water change in two days.



Im prepping a 75g build with pictures and use this tank to grow some initial plants for my 75g while i look for rock and Driftwood to fit my setup.

Read my post. Red happens. I think it's iron oxidizing. It clears within 3-4 days.
 
#421 ·
Reporting in: I have a 46 gallon bowfront that was absolutely riddled with BBA and I was at my wits end, so I tried this treatment last Thursday. Removed the filter media from my Aquaclear 50 and Aquaclear 70 and set them aside in a bucket of tank water, then did a 15 minute H2O2 treatment as recommended followed by the 5mg per 10 gallons of Excel. It took a while to drain out the H2O2 and complete the water change, but none of my fish (four goldfish, a BN pleco, and several otocinclus) seemed distressed aside from the customary darting around that the otos do whenever water changes happen. My nerite snail made a beeline for the top of the tank, but settled down soon afterwards.

There wasn't a whole lot of change on Friday aside from possibly a slight red tinge to some of the algae. Checked my water parameters and my cycle was intact. After that, I had to go away for the weekend, so I blacked out the tank on Saturday and Sunday for good measure.

I came back today on Monday, and ALL the algae is gone except for a few red-tinged strands on my Anubias! Even the gunk in my HOB intake tubes is gone! All my fish are alive and looking healthy, and my plants have thrown dozens of new leaves now that they can breathe. Thank you so much for writing out such an effective and easy-to-understand guide--it was a lifesaver.
 
#422 ·
Wow, great thread, I had an imbalance in my 60p tank a couple months ago due to getting married and slightly losing interest in my tank. BBA started to grow on some leaves of my anubias, bucephalandra, crypt, bolbitus and driftwood (my tank currently is a low tech, low maintenance, slow growing tank). There isn't a lot of BBA, I'll have to look in specific places to see some, but it's there and they don't seem to be going away. Anyway, it's good to know there is a working solution to combat BBA should I decide to totally get rid of it.

I currently have 40+ fire red cherry shrimp, along with small tetras and some rasboras and pygmy cories. If I decide to do this down the road, I'll make a trap and get as many shrimp and fish as I can out of the tank before I nuke it.

Good luck to you guys, and thank you for sharing your experiences! BBA is the slithering serpent of planted tanks...
 
#428 ·
I did this method and my Rasbora's were in such distress that I had to make up an emergency 5 gallon bucket. They were easy to catch in their state. I lost 3 out of 8. The catfish and snails did OK. I lost a few RCS.
 
#423 ·
I read up through page 9, and skipped here to the end. That's alot of reading. Enough to where I'll start forgetting what I read previous. Forgive me if I skipped something and am asking an old-hat question.

I was referred here by someone on my tank journal listed in my sig below. My tank is a 75 gallon medium tech planted. I've been running it for years and years and years, but broken down and rebuilt several times after becoming bored/dissatisfied. The only filter on the tank is an Eheim 2217 which has been in operation now for about 5 years solid, cleaned about once a year or so. Knowing how pitiful flow they have, I'm on the low end at about 150 gph maybe (with the 4 foot head, and spraybar) so I've only got 2x total tank volume turnover. I had previously tried to put a koralia 750 on the tank years ago, and killed several dozen fish who were not adapt to handle those kinds of currents. I'll soon be installing a co2 reactor that will add a little flow to the tank. Considering adding the koralia again, and maybe just cycling it 30 minutes on/30 minutes off all day? Give the fish a chance to recover and build up their swim strength?

Anyhow to the root of the thread. I'm considering the one-two punch treatment. I recnetly tore down the tank and re-did the substrate with brand new floramax and Miracle gro organic choice potting mix, and ditched most of my plants but kept a few. I've replanted alot since then, but most my plants are still young and haven't quite filled out. Shooting for the dense Dutch scape look.

Tank is now at the 3 week old mark, but still using my same filter which is mature and working. I've had BBA off and on for a couple years now, usually just growing on the oldest leaves of my old amazon sword I used to have, and here and there on some of the older dwarf sag leaves. I would typically trim them off every month or so as it was at a pretty stable level.

Ever since redoing the tank, BBA has began to explode. Its starting to cover even the lower 1/2 leaves of the sunset hygro, all over the remaining dwarf sag, all over the crypts, covering the driftwood and filter intakes. It's even starting to form large patches on the back glass/acrylic panel. I've increased my co2 heavily after this rebuild, trying to get a healthy carpet going. Runs an hour before lights on, to an hour before lights off (so about 8 hours a day for 8 hour photoperiod) and turns off via solenoid timer. Drop checker is yellow and bubble count is about 4 bubbles per second.

I also do the full strength EI dosing recommendation, dosing both csm+b and kh2po4 and kno3 all together, monday, wednesday, and friday. 50% water change on a weekend day (whichever is convenient).

Light is coralife 2x54 watt t5ho with GE 6500k bulbs, directly on tank rim, bulbs about a year old

Livestock:

Synodontis Eupterus (featherfin catfish)
3 Otos
several dozen black bar endler/guppies
one tiger barb
one neon tetra
one clown pleco

Plants:

staurogyne repens
pogostemon helferi
hygrophilia thai (brown)
hygrophilia polysperma (sunset)
dwarf sag
crypt wendtii
lobelia cardinalis
bacopa caroliniana
rotala rotundifolia
rotala occultiflora
alternanthera reineckii

Plan: on water change day (kill 2 birds with one stone right?)

Cut eheim filter entirely, put koralia powerhead in tank, at one end, top blowing across, this should essentially create a gyre bringing flow everywhere, but I can move it around if necessary

Dose 2 TBSB per 10 gallons (estimated 60 gallon water volume) = 12 tablespoons

wait 15 minutes

perform 50% water change. This will take about 30 minutes. I may buy a thicker diameter hose to help drain the tank faster. my 1/2" ID hose takes painfully long to drain

Refill tank, leave koralia in, turn eheim filter back on

Dose 30 mL of excel (5mL per 10 gallon). Leave koralia running another 30 minutes or so to ensure even distribution of excel

Does this plan look decent? What concerns should I have based on my flora and fauna listed above?
 
#424 ·
I also do the full strength EI dosing recommendation, dosing both csm+b and kh2po4 and kno3 all together, monday, wednesday, and friday.
CSM+B should be dosed opposite of your kh2po4 and kno3. If you do kno3 and kh2po4 on M,W,F then you's dose CSM+B on T,T,S. Something about one making the other precipitate out.

BBA is attributed to inconsistent CO2 from what I've read. There are lower flow powerheads that you could go with to create current throughout your tank. If you can't address the "why" of the algae problem then it's just going to come back.

Aside from that I did this treatment in my 40b with a BGA issue, lost 2 small tetras in the process is all. I followed the instructions to the letter and everything was fine, your plan sounds good.
 
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