Reef2Reef Pest algae challenge thread hydrogen peroxide
- Thread starter brandon429
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Now we wait...
I have successfully pi$$ed off everything... lol
I was able to snag two rocks, one with my month on it- and another with Zoa type things. While I was at it, I did a 30% water change...
my sand bed IS REALLY cloudy, @brandon429 so I think I will have to do the sand siphoning/ cleaning at some point...
But I feel good at least taking SOME action, rather than let my tank turn greener and greener...
I have successfully pi$$ed off everything... lol
I was able to snag two rocks, one with my month on it- and another with Zoa type things. While I was at it, I did a 30% water change...
my sand bed IS REALLY cloudy, @brandon429 so I think I will have to do the sand siphoning/ cleaning at some point...
But I feel good at least taking SOME action, rather than let my tank turn greener and greener...
Ryengoth
I wish I was in St John USVI
I found that substrate stirring just encouraged the algae to grow back while I was treating it. Not sure about anyone else. The sump would collect a ton of detritus and the skimmer would go crazy requiring several dumps over a few days. I'd have to swap out the polishing media 4 or 5 times. Right after that the alk would drop and things would go bonkers. I got fed up with it after several months and just left it alone.
OP
OP
But for his tank its fueling the invasion directly, too much avail. he needs to start from a totally clean palette like we do in the sand rinse thread, but that doesn't have to be done today 
just a lil' modeling of growback is right/get a vision of how this invader seats well or not
Not being able to access the tank for even medium rock access wo causing a cloud indicates action as well. The sandbed needs to wait to be addressed until we're ready for full takedown cleaning in a few upcoming steps. The actual gha in place is a mop for detritus; any rock shaken about in tank (don't) will release its own separate fuel cloud.
we're about to buzz saw all that stuff. reinstate full accessibility, if the system stores a little detritus thereafter not such a prob when put back into balance imo. his system is lacking some of the dilution that helps larger tanks get away with some mulm accumulation.
just a lil' modeling of growback is right/get a vision of how this invader seats well or notNot being able to access the tank for even medium rock access wo causing a cloud indicates action as well. The sandbed needs to wait to be addressed until we're ready for full takedown cleaning in a few upcoming steps. The actual gha in place is a mop for detritus; any rock shaken about in tank (don't) will release its own separate fuel cloud.
we're about to buzz saw all that stuff. reinstate full accessibility, if the system stores a little detritus thereafter not such a prob when put back into balance imo. his system is lacking some of the dilution that helps larger tanks get away with some mulm accumulation.
Last edited:
OK, so I know this post was supposed to go up after I watched my algae grow or not grow on the rocks that I treated after three days. We have been so busy at work – we own a restaurant – and then there was Super Bowl… Anyway. The great news is this. Five days later, no algae. It was actually gone after three days. There is no difference in the rock that I scrubbed or the rock that I simply poured hydrogen peroxide over. My Zoa ‘s are recovering nicely, but I really think I upset the Monty on the larger rock. So… What is the next step? And I do have a few corals that are growing on the back wall of the tank that I cannot remove to dip. What is the recommendation for this?
OP
OP
thanks tons for follow up looks great
so that means now if we were to take apart your tank and follow the skip cycle ordering so the sand bed is handled/cleaned safely, these rocks will clear and stay clear mostly
we do not expect total compliance from a set-in invasion right off the bat. if it works fine, and we do see them, but what we're changing here is the accessibility of that system for you to access it next time wo delay
right now if you reach in and knock over that rock stack and bump the sand, the combined effect might/can cloud enough such that kicked up waste can be a problem. it certainly is nutrient upwelling, which gets caught in the other algae areas and they hold the detritus pockets for localized degrading/feed to that algae..
so your test modeling is awesome because that's what we can expect from the whole system once you take time to rebuild it/clean it. the big job
So at this point most people will not do the cleaning, they'll stick with the topical kill only to save effort and if you choose that it will not harm anything. the risk is quicker growback, dealing with that clouding feed later vs now.
at no time is cleaning your whole tank hard on it, or stressful, its what it takes to fix your issue and anything shy of it that causes topical kills (our peroxide, fluconazole, vibrant doser etc,) simply leaves the fuel for tradeoff invasions like cyano and new gha to contend with later.
If you don't want to clean the tank, take out each rock and spot apply/remove the algae wo getting peroxide on corals in some way, rinse, and put back leaving the sandbed.
if you want to clean correctly, the next step is we plan the full sandbed rip clean or ideally, full replacement all at once. either way is fine. another nice aspect of our system is that we don't have to move forward till things are looking balanced, we get to work in safe increments.
so that means now if we were to take apart your tank and follow the skip cycle ordering so the sand bed is handled/cleaned safely, these rocks will clear and stay clear mostly
we do not expect total compliance from a set-in invasion right off the bat. if it works fine, and we do see them, but what we're changing here is the accessibility of that system for you to access it next time wo delay
right now if you reach in and knock over that rock stack and bump the sand, the combined effect might/can cloud enough such that kicked up waste can be a problem. it certainly is nutrient upwelling, which gets caught in the other algae areas and they hold the detritus pockets for localized degrading/feed to that algae..
so your test modeling is awesome because that's what we can expect from the whole system once you take time to rebuild it/clean it. the big job
So at this point most people will not do the cleaning, they'll stick with the topical kill only to save effort and if you choose that it will not harm anything. the risk is quicker growback, dealing with that clouding feed later vs now.
at no time is cleaning your whole tank hard on it, or stressful, its what it takes to fix your issue and anything shy of it that causes topical kills (our peroxide, fluconazole, vibrant doser etc,) simply leaves the fuel for tradeoff invasions like cyano and new gha to contend with later.
If you don't want to clean the tank, take out each rock and spot apply/remove the algae wo getting peroxide on corals in some way, rinse, and put back leaving the sandbed.
if you want to clean correctly, the next step is we plan the full sandbed rip clean or ideally, full replacement all at once. either way is fine. another nice aspect of our system is that we don't have to move forward till things are looking balanced, we get to work in safe increments.
Ok- so I am in.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I am assuming I prepare some salt water, put the fish in one bucket – put some corals that don’t have algae in a bucket… And either wash or replace the sand- correct? do you recommend full replacement or washing the sand? Is this why some tanks have no sand on the bottom?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I am assuming I prepare some salt water, put the fish in one bucket – put some corals that don’t have algae in a bucket… And either wash or replace the sand- correct? do you recommend full replacement or washing the sand? Is this why some tanks have no sand on the bottom?
OP
OP
*I just noticed that monti is under full light, reduce and ramp back up is best, peroxide is a mild oxidizer and so is strong light, ramp it back up or shade that zone a little as intercept.
yes on the bed cleaning or removal its because over time people have figured out sand mainly just catches and holds waste. its atypical for a sandbed below a group of fish to be balanced, so most are removing or just cleaning/replacing them, especially when they're associated with challenges. as long as you don't stir up the waste in contact with fish and corals, nothing can go wrong in the bed removal or replace. Keep sensitives isolated
I would replace sand, it looks nice, and can be occasionally cleaned from here on out to avoid less full takeaparts. *key detail, when you buy the new sand, rinse it under tap, all of it, until its 100% free of silt. then the final rinse in clean distilled or ro water, so that the rebuilt reef isn't back on top of tap.
This is how new beds are made ready. If you dump them in fresh out of the bag, per instructions, it will cloud massively.
fish and shrimp and corals come out first into some bucket or holding container leaving rocks and sand and water only. whatever corals are affixed to rocks remain.
then, rocks are taken apart and detail cleaned, rinsed in saltwater only, then set aside for reuse when the sand is prepped and the greater tank is cleaned out while empty.
you then set the rocks back on perfectly clean new sand, or perfectly rinsed old sand. the rocks have no clouding cuz it was detailed off
then refill w all new water
re acclimate animals, they'll be fine
ramp back production lighting slowly not next day as a final tuning, and, increase the blue levels and decrease the whites as well compared to current settings.
I don't recall the last time we lost an animal in a rip cleaning done truly right with no mixing of clouding and animals. If a cleaner shrimp or some other single organism were to die by accessing an entire reef at once, and then the entire investment's destiny was changed for the positive thereafter Id not call that a fail, though we really don't commonly lose animals during tank cleaning.
yes on the bed cleaning or removal its because over time people have figured out sand mainly just catches and holds waste. its atypical for a sandbed below a group of fish to be balanced, so most are removing or just cleaning/replacing them, especially when they're associated with challenges. as long as you don't stir up the waste in contact with fish and corals, nothing can go wrong in the bed removal or replace. Keep sensitives isolated
I would replace sand, it looks nice, and can be occasionally cleaned from here on out to avoid less full takeaparts. *key detail, when you buy the new sand, rinse it under tap, all of it, until its 100% free of silt. then the final rinse in clean distilled or ro water, so that the rebuilt reef isn't back on top of tap.
This is how new beds are made ready. If you dump them in fresh out of the bag, per instructions, it will cloud massively.
fish and shrimp and corals come out first into some bucket or holding container leaving rocks and sand and water only. whatever corals are affixed to rocks remain.
then, rocks are taken apart and detail cleaned, rinsed in saltwater only, then set aside for reuse when the sand is prepped and the greater tank is cleaned out while empty.
you then set the rocks back on perfectly clean new sand, or perfectly rinsed old sand. the rocks have no clouding cuz it was detailed off
then refill w all new water
re acclimate animals, they'll be fine
ramp back production lighting slowly not next day as a final tuning, and, increase the blue levels and decrease the whites as well compared to current settings.
I don't recall the last time we lost an animal in a rip cleaning done truly right with no mixing of clouding and animals. If a cleaner shrimp or some other single organism were to die by accessing an entire reef at once, and then the entire investment's destiny was changed for the positive thereafter Id not call that a fail, though we really don't commonly lose animals during tank cleaning.
Ok- I am filling buckets with RO water now... I am not sure how to remove my anemone from one rock, but the rest will be ok.
I will send more pictures soon! Maybe even progress shots! Wish me luck! [emoji1303][emoji1317]
I will send more pictures soon! Maybe even progress shots! Wish me luck! [emoji1303][emoji1317]
Last edited:
OP
OP
That is a real dedication you've got, you weren't joking in our messages at all. Rare
I'd leave the anem on rock and just treat around him. Be mindful in my opinion about storing rocks separate from sensitives as the rocks might have a little detritus mixed in, if I had to back analyze twenty pages of the sand rinse thread to sum up what prevents loss it's never the depth of the cleaning, it's the relocation of detritus back into the main display somehow. If rocks and sand are clean, no detritus, no loss. I'll also use your work example in the sand rinse thread as well
I'd leave the anem on rock and just treat around him. Be mindful in my opinion about storing rocks separate from sensitives as the rocks might have a little detritus mixed in, if I had to back analyze twenty pages of the sand rinse thread to sum up what prevents loss it's never the depth of the cleaning, it's the relocation of detritus back into the main display somehow. If rocks and sand are clean, no detritus, no loss. I'll also use your work example in the sand rinse thread as well
OP
OP
Just saltwater no peroxide as a general pore dislodging rinse, I once commandeered a buzz lightyear squirt gun for directed sw rock blasting wear goggles lol or just swish cleaned and peroxided rocks around heavily in a 5 gal bucket of sw...you might go through lots of water but you won’t have to repeat any time soon as you are re assembling a cloudless reef that will allow future cleaning of the pockets of detritus these rocks express now that they’re cleaned.
Getting the rocks as clean as you can of detritus w be harder than making the sandbed comply. The sandbed grains are fully accessible but the lr only allows you to access the top 1/100th pore layer. It cleans itself over the coming weeks simply by having the pores cleared out as much as possible, this is specifically the reef tank surgery that cures old tank syndrome and no pill, doser or parameter adjustment would’ve ever actually opened up the pores, only handworking can do that for this specific reef.
Peroxide is only on cleaned surfaces ideally, not as a general application since it’s a burner
Getting the rocks as clean as you can of detritus w be harder than making the sandbed comply. The sandbed grains are fully accessible but the lr only allows you to access the top 1/100th pore layer. It cleans itself over the coming weeks simply by having the pores cleared out as much as possible, this is specifically the reef tank surgery that cures old tank syndrome and no pill, doser or parameter adjustment would’ve ever actually opened up the pores, only handworking can do that for this specific reef.
Peroxide is only on cleaned surfaces ideally, not as a general application since it’s a burner
OP
OP
Not to add confusion, but this is a whole separate page of tank reworks just like yours and I pointed them here to watch your tank, your willingness to work is quite rare. Based on your outcome you could potentially convince others to force-clean their tanks and instantly opt out of being invaded, we had some very skeptical reefers post in this thread below
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...p-cycle-reassembly.525310/page-5#post-5668087
Our method here is seen as pretty harsh. Let’s show them how we’re harsh on target, but planned and deft and accurate around nontargets. Let’s show that to entertain an invader is a choice, and to make your reef look like rock and roll is a choice, the methods are known and repeatable.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...p-cycle-reassembly.525310/page-5#post-5668087
Our method here is seen as pretty harsh. Let’s show them how we’re harsh on target, but planned and deft and accurate around nontargets. Let’s show that to entertain an invader is a choice, and to make your reef look like rock and roll is a choice, the methods are known and repeatable.
hotashes
Well-Known Member
Can it be advised when rocks go back into tank that they’re not put in top of sand.
Sorry, can you explain why buckets need to be filled with RO water?
A.
OP
OP
Excellent proofreading agreed
People like to place rocks first in the tank then pour back the new clean sand around the rocks where possible. It allows for sturdier rock stack to sit on the glass, and it allows less detritus to be caught up under rocks in the new setup. If we’re too late on this part it’s ok, but if not then that little adjust allows you to clean the sand around the rock base better without accumulating waste directly under it
And on the ro water, i didn’t see that part. We r hoping that was made into saltwater for the rock dip or wash portion
People like to place rocks first in the tank then pour back the new clean sand around the rocks where possible. It allows for sturdier rock stack to sit on the glass, and it allows less detritus to be caught up under rocks in the new setup. If we’re too late on this part it’s ok, but if not then that little adjust allows you to clean the sand around the rock base better without accumulating waste directly under it
And on the ro water, i didn’t see that part. We r hoping that was made into saltwater for the rock dip or wash portion
Morning! I guess I didn’t state that clearly enough. I was making saltwater holding buckets for fish etc. the water was filling the buckets and that was all I was thinking about.. lol
To my husbands GREAT DISPLEASURE I forget about the water quite often and we end up with a small lake in the dining room... [emoji23][emoji23]
I started thinking I would read everything in this thread but as I am at work I won't commit to that yet. I have had an invasion of what I think is green hair algae. From what I did read, the problem I had was seeing it and saying I'll get it later it's not that bad. Fast forward to a problem now. I am convinced mine started when I let my source water hit about 3 TDS before I caught it. I have resorted to get a siphon running into a bucket with a filter sock and then a pump putting it back in the tank. I have had two 1 hour sessions of this and am making progress. I just found this thread today, so I'll put up the couple of pictures I have and see what you think. It's a picture of the worst rock of all and a spot that I cleaned last night. I will take any suggestions you have for any advantages I can get over the pesky plant growing in my otherwise healthy tank.
OP
OP
hey were you able to lift out the rock and apply peroxide to test areas, rinse then put back in
that's the basic assessment we model here as a mini job before upscaling to the full tank
that's the basic assessment we model here as a mini job before upscaling to the full tank
Hey, no I guess I should have waited till had more time to read through before I posted. My scape is actually three large pieces and one large rock by itself. I guess I could take it out, but it would be tough and nearly impossible to get back in right. I'm kind of stuck doing in the tank.
Similar threads
