Hydrogen Peroxide harmful to inverts (Emerald crabs)?

[Alexander1312]

I have restarted spot dosing Hydrogen peroxide due to some still manageable hair algae issues.

I am dosing 2ml daily for a 26-gallon tank.

Unfortunately, the Emerald crab is not doing well, and I am unsure if this is related to the Hydrogen dosing. We have a Fireshrimp and countless other inverts without showing any issues.

The Emerald still seems to breathe but lies on its back and hangs on to Toadstool it loves to harass.

Any thoughts would be great.

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

I’ve never lost any inverts from dosing hydrogen peroxide (assuming 1ml per 10 gallons)

Bump for other opinions

 

[Lavey29]

I'm not a fan of adding chemicals like peroxide to my reef. There are easy natural remedies for GHA.

 

[Alexander1312]

I'm not a fan of adding chemicals like peroxide to my reef. There are easy natural remedies for GHA.

Happy to hear alternative solutions. I thought I had read and researched everything I found, and this seemed to be the least harsh method - FYI - I have 70 types of CUC in a 26 gallon tank, remove the algae by hand from the rocks.

 

[Lavey29]

Happy to hear alternative solutions. I thought I had read and researched everything I found, and this seemed to be the least harsh method - FYI - I have 70 types of CUC in a 26 gallon tank, remove the algae by hand from the rocks.

How old is your tank? GHA is a natural part of the tank maturing process.

 

[Alexander1312]

How old is your tank? GHA is a natural part of the tank maturing process.

September 2022, so certainly still maturing despite several things I have done to accelerate this process.

Do you suggest not addressing the issue and waiting until it finds its balance?

I am just concerned it will go out of control as it did increase over the past few weeks from one or two spots to seven or eight. We are almost only feeding frozen food and not a lot.

Phosphate was relatively high until recently 0.3+, now around 0.1. Nitrate always between 5-10. Nothing on ICP appeared concerning.

 

[Lavey29]

September 2022, so certainly still maturing despite several things I have done to accelerate this process.

Do you suggest not addressing the issue and waiting until it finds its balance?

I am just concerned it will go out of control as it did increase over the past few weeks from one or two spots to seven or eight. We are almost only feeding frozen food and not a lot.

Phosphate was relatively high until recently 0.3+, now around 0.1. Nitrate always between 5-10. Nothing on ICP appeared concerning.

My tank was same as yours at that age. I had a GHA jungle but stayed the course with basic reef keeping fundamentals. Weekly water changes focused on stability. Lots of manual removal. Diverse cleaner crew with urchins and couple turbos. Raise magnesium to 1500. It makes GHA turn white and die off. If you want, you can reduce lights for 3 weeks to 6 hours with blue and uv only. Dose pods and phytoplankton. Increase biodiversity and microfauna so your biome is strong. I dose PNS probio weekly which is a natural heterotrophic bacteria that reduces organic waste which feeds algae.

My GHA jungle lasted 3 months and as it disappeared coralline replaced it. Natural evolution of the tank with no harsh chemicals.

 

[Projects with Sam]

could be a bad molt; have you added any iodide to your tank?
with all those CUC, I bet your iodide requirements in 26 gallons are pretty high.

water changes would also replenish your iodine

 

[Uncle99]

Hydrogen peroxide kills both pest and good algae, so is counterproductive in my thinking.

I have seen just to many people kill all sorts of things with this stuff. I am not sure why so many use it thinking they are helping, your not.

Simply maintaining stable parameters, day in and day out will allow the good guys to outcompete the bad guys leading to clean rocks and sand. But this takes time and patience.

Unfortunately, the best processors are also the slowest to populate.

You mentioned a high phosphate level, .1ppm and stable is enough. A daily dose of live phyto is a big help.

 

[Projects with Sam]

Isn't the new big thing that we shouldn't use hydrogen peroxide to sanitize our cuts now?
I think, in-general Hydrogen Peroxide is very bad for living things.
I think the configuration leaves a binding point free on the Oxygen (because its valence is 2) so it readily oxidizes whatever there is about.... Algae, Crab, bacteria... it don't mater to H2O2.

High school chemistry in the house...

 

[Lavey29]

Isn't the new big thing that we shouldn't use hydrogen peroxide to sanitize our cuts now?
I think, in-general Hydrogen Peroxide is very bad for living things.
I think the configuration leaves a binding point free on the Oxygen (because its valence is 2) so it readily oxidizes whatever there is about.... Algae, Crab, bacteria... it don't mater to H2O2.

High school chemistry in the house...

In simpler terms, there is no hydrogen peroxide in the ocean

 

[Lavey29]

Happy to hear alternative solutions. I thought I had read and researched everything I found, and this seemed to be the least harsh method - FYI - I have 70 types of CUC in a 26 gallon tank, remove the algae by hand from the rocks.

Also remember, these are not overnight battles. It can take several months before you see significant results. The key element in this hobby is patience and I have to keep reminding myself that on a regular basis.

 

[Alexander1312]

My tank was same as yours at that age. I had a GHA jungle but stayed the course with basic reef keeping fundamentals. Weekly water changes focused on stability. Lots of manual removal. Diverse cleaner crew with urchins and couple turbos. Raise magnesium to 1500. It makes GHA turn white and die off. If you want, you can reduce lights for 3 weeks to 6 hours with blue and uv only. Dose pods and phytoplankton. Increase biodiversity and microfauna so your biome is strong. I dose PNS probio weekly which is a natural heterotrophic bacteria that reduces organic waste which feeds algae.

My GHA jungle lasted 3 months and as it disappeared coralline replaced it. Natural evolution of the tank with no harsh chemicals.

This is super helpful; thank you very much!

 

[Alexander1312]

could be a bad molt; have you added any iodide to your tank?
with all those CUC, I bet your iodide requirements in 26 gallons are pretty high.

water changes would also replenish your iodine

Yes, thank you. I thought this could have been another reason. I did not consider the increased Iodine demand; thanks for pointing this out. I am dosing iodine weekly in addition to water changes, but the amount is based on ICP with a lower CUC population. Will look into this!

 

[Alexander1312]

Hydrogen peroxide kills both pest and good algae, so is counterproductive in my thinking.

I have seen just to many people kill all sorts of things with this stuff. I am not sure why so many use it thinking they are helping, your not.

Simply maintaining stable parameters, day in and day out will allow the good guys to outcompete the bad guys leading to clean rocks and sand. But this takes time and patience.

Unfortunately, the best processors are also the slowest to populate.

You mentioned a high phosphate level, .1ppm and stable is enough. A daily dose of live phyto is a big help.

Thank you. I am not very eager to keep using Hydrogen Peroxide so I will reconsider. I have been dosing daily Phyto since defeating dinos a few months ago, but this did not seem to impact phosphates.

 

[Alexander1312]

Ok, so the crab has been lying on its back for two straight days but is still alive and able to walk away if touched, but then lies on its back again when left alone.

If this is a molting issue due to too low iodine, I am unsure if I can get the ICP test results on time to confirm an iodine issue. Increasing my current weekly dose of iodine of 0.7ml (recommended amount from the last ICP test) without knowing it is too low does not seem to be a great idea.

Any recommendations on what to do, as it looks very depressing, are highly appreciated. Thanks.