Sodium percarbonate an alternative to bleach to nuke live rock?

[holdyourlight]

I've been reading some old threads about folks using hydrogen peroxide/sodium percarbonate instead of bleach on filter socks. Under a scope there were still algae spores after bleaching but the h202 killed everything. I about about to do a tank reboot due to some nasty red turf algae and wondering what amount of sodium percarbonate powder ( 99.9% purity) i should use per gallon for the soak?

 

[holdyourlight]

if pure sodium percarbonate is 32.5 % hydrogen peroxide, i'm thinking roughly a pound per gallon will get me roughly into the ballpark of the OTC 3% H202 solution that is commonly used to kill algae?

 

[NoahLikesFish]

I've been reading some old threads about folks using hydrogen peroxide/sodium percarbonate instead of bleach on filter socks. Under a scope there were still algae spores after bleaching but the h202 killed everything. I about about to do a tank reboot due to some nasty red turf algae and wondering what amount of sodium percarbonate powder ( 99.9% purity) i should use per gallon for the soak?

Why do you need to nuke live rock?

 

[holdyourlight]

the reason i mentioned in the original post. Doing a tank reboot and killing the red turf algae on the rock.

I'll use a different word instead of nuke: kill. Render all live on the rock inert including the algae.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

the reason i mentioned in the original post. Doing a tank reboot and killing the red turf algae on the rock.

I'll use a different word instead of nuke: kill. Render all live on the rock inert including the algae.

But it makes the live rock into just dry rock. I’d honestly put it in a qt, fight the algae and then buy dry rock. If you loose the fight give it away for free

 

[holdyourlight]

But it makes the live rock into just dry rock. I’d honestly put it in a qt, fight the algae and then buy dry rock. If you loose the fight give it away for free

Not an option. Dry rock is what i want, and i want to use these exact pieces. I can turn it back into live rock quite easily. The options are bleach or hydrogen peroxide. Plenty of threads here of people bleaching their rocks to start over. I want to use hydrogen peroxide in this case for several reasons the most important of which being that evidence has shown it to provide a more complete kill than bleach.

If someone can help with the mixing instructions to turn sodium percarbonate into a 3% H202 solution that would be very helpful. People are using it on their filter socks instead of bleach but in such tiny amounts it isn't being measured.

 

[piranhaman00]

Dose H2O2 into DT at 1mL/10gal 2x a day, turn lights off for a few days.

 

[holdyourlight]

Dose H2O2 into DT at 1mL/10gal 2x a day, turn lights off for a few days.

Thanks but again this doesn't answer my question. The tank is being broken down regardless. The rock will be treated separately in a tub. I just need a rough guestimate at how much sodium percarbonate to use but someone who has either done it or better at math than i am

 

[piranhaman00]

Thanks but again this doesn't answer my question. The tank is being broken down regardless. The rock will be treated separately in a tub. I just need a rough guestimate at how much sodium percarbonate to use but someone who has either done it or better at math than i am

There is just no need to nuke the rock. Bad move.

 

[holdyourlight]

There is just no need to nuke the rock. Bad move.

Again, not the question. I've actually tried month long blackout's with this red turf algae before to no avail. You'll find many on these boards have broken down tanks due to this particular strain of rta. It's besides the point though. The tank is being taken down temporarily for this and other reasons and i just need help with the ratio of sodium percarbonate to use. Please only respond if you can help with the actual question at hand

 

[piranhaman00]

0.76 lbs/gal

 

[piranhaman00]

Again, not the question. I've actually tried month long blackout's with this red turf algae before to no avail. You'll find many on these boards have broken down tanks due to this particular strain of rta. It's besides the point though. The tank is being taken down temporarily for this and other reasons and i just need help with the ratio of sodium percarbonate to use. Please only respond if you can help with the actual question at hand

 

[holdyourlight]

0.76 lbs/gal

This is fantastic, thank you! Can you elaborate a bit though on where those numbers are coming from? I'm not quite following

 

[piranhaman00]

Here is all the math, I rounded differently this time during a conversion.

 

[piranhaman00]

This is fantastic, thank you! Can you elaborate a bit though on where those numbers are coming from? I'm not quite following

oops above.

 

[holdyourlight]

This is incredible. This is still somewhat over my head, but i'm not here for a math lesson!

Will report back on how this goes.

It will certainly be more expensive than bleach, but i'm gonna give it a shot

 

[holdyourlight]

oh, i've figured out one part.. mw must equal molecular weight. Wild

 

[piranhaman00]

This is incredible. This is still somewhat over my head, but i'm not here for a math lesson!

Will report back on how this goes.

It will certainly be more expensive than bleach, but i'm gonna give it a shot

oh, i've figured out one part.. mw must equal molecular weight. Wild

Yes I am assuming some chemistry and math knowledge

 

[holdyourlight]

Yes I am assuming some chemistry and math knowledge

"some", but not enough, that's why i come to this wonderful forum

 

[Dkeller_nc]

I've been reading some old threads about folks using hydrogen peroxide/sodium percarbonate instead of bleach on filter socks. Under a scope there were still algae spores after bleaching but the h202 killed everything. I about about to do a tank reboot due to some nasty red turf algae and wondering what amount of sodium percarbonate powder ( 99.9% purity) i should use per gallon for the soak?

One comment about this particular thread's subject. If used in sufficient concentration, bleach will absolutely destroy any organic substance that would be found as a constituent of a cell wall, spore or protoplasm of a life form. In other words, it will absolutely, no-ifs-ands-or-buts destroy any and all algal cells that it's left in contact with, provided that it's sufficiently concentrated, the solution concentration isn't rapidly depleted by other organic compounds in the container, and the user leaves it in contact with the cells/spores to be destroyed for a sufficient period of time.

Since you've already settled on hydrogen peroxide, the reason that I mention this is that the same caveats hold true for its use for sterilizing items. In one sense, using sodium percarbonate has some drawbacks over using commercial bleach for your purpose. Specifically, "bleach" isn't just sodium hypochlorite. It's sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. The sodium hydroxide component does two things - it inhibits the degradation of the bleach solution under storage conditions, but it also acts to hydrolyze proteins. Hydrolysis of proteins under alkaline conditions aids in the surface removal and destruction of those proteins - this is one reason that commercial laundry detergent formulations are all quite alkaline.

But the more applicable consideration for your use is contact time and effective concentration. 3 percent hydrogen peroxide is fairly rapidly degraded to just water in contact with an excess amount of biological material. Depending on how "dirty" your live rock is, you very well may use most of the active hydrogen peroxide in the solution, and still have organic material left behind. For this reason, I'd recommend thoroughly cleaning the rock you intend to nuke, either with a pressurized garden hose or (preferably) with a scrub brush, before it's immersed in the hydrogen peroxide solution.

One other caution that you may have already thought of - hydrogen peroxide works by the organic component being oxidized, and the "leftovers" are oxygen gas and water. That's a good thing, as there's no harmful residue to be concerned about. However, and depending on the temperature of the solution and the degree of fouling on the rock, the reaction may be very violent, and given that most live rock has components that act as surfactants, the tub of rock and peroxide may foam - perhaps more than the container can hold. I'd therefore advise doing this outdoors, make the solution of peroxide in the tub, then cautiously add a piece or two of the live rock to ensure that the reaction doesn't make a mess.