# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Hydrogen peroxide 35%

## mjck

Hi everyone, anyone knows if we can get Hydrogen Peroxide 35% in Singapore? Could only get 3% concentration in pharmacies. Was thinking that the 35% H2O2 would be more effective in some serious spot nuking of BBA, Hair algae ...and we could always dilute it if it is 'too much'.

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## reveru

i'm using the 3% conc from pharmacy and i have to say that it is already pretty strong. it has worked for me in eliminating unwanted algae 100% of the time. i would advise against using something so concentrated even if you can find it. did you try turning off the filter before spot nuking?

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## Fei Miao

Those from pharmacy are strong and effective enough, use it straight from the bottle without diluting it to "spot nuke" BBA with a Syringe.

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## Shadow

I believe you require license to purchase Hydrogen Peroxide with more than 20% concentration

http://www.spf.gov.sg/licence/AE/FAQ...Precursors.pdf

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## mjck

Yes. I was looking that SCDF link too. :Grin:  thanks.

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## zonkkie

Hey, sorry, so we just go pharmacies like Guardian to buy is it? Which section will it be under?

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## Shadow

it should be under the antiseptic/band-aid.

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## mjck

Check with the store assistant, they are quite hard to spot. Didn't manage to find it last time I was there until I ask for it.

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## Shadow

yea it is difficult to spot unless you know how the bottle look like  :Wink:

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## bio_aquatic

Buy the 500 ml bottle, it is much cheaper in term of unit price. Don't buy 100 ml, it will cost you something like $3.50 whilst the 500 ml about $5 - $6, I can't remember the exact price.

It is in a brown coloured bottle. Look under chemical section area at Guardian. Yishun Northpoint Guardian is selling. This is 3% not 35%.

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## felix_fx2

Hi,

Think this image for the 100ML bottle will suffice.
Note that may not stock the 500ml larger bottle in all outlets.

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## bio_aquatic

Agree, not all outlets have but if you want to get the 500 ml, Northpoint Guardian confirm got.

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## zonkkie

Thanks for the pic felix! I went to Guardian (Novena Sq) just now and they don't have even the 100ml bottle!  :Mad:

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## reveru

just a note, do remember to get the big bottle. i bought the 100ml bottle and its disappearing really fast even though i only spot dose a few ml during weekly water change. the big bottle is more worth it. and get a syringe to go with the dosing!

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## Fuzzy

Hydrogen peroxide has a fairly short shelf life, and needs to be stored in a cool dark place. Don't get the 500ml bottle unless you think you're really going to use that much.

Approximate Shelf Life before it starts degrading is: 1 year in sealed unopened container.

Or 45 days after you first open the bottle.

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## bio_aquatic

Just went to Northpoint Guardian Pharmacy just now, saw a lady bought the last 500 ml bot. I too missed the chance.

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## Fuzzy

Another place I've bought Hydrogen peroxide before is Mustafa centre, but their prices have gone up a lot over the years.

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## felix_fx2

When i bought mine, there was only 3 bottles left.
Bought at toa payoh hub guardian outlet, and in a good place.
" If i never bothered, i might not know it exist there at all  :Laughing:  "

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## bio_aquatic

O.K., so much abt where and the qty of the HP. Let's us know what do you with it? As for me, I used it to neutralise the Potassium Permanganate (PP) in my angels tank.

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## mjck

I use them to kill (nuke) algae in the tank. Just carefully dispense the HP with a syringe directly on the algae growth. You will see it working as the algae starts to fizz. Since the byproducts of the 'nuking' is Oxygen and water, it is quite a safe alternative to using Excel to kill algae. Its quite addictive to me since i am always bugged with hair or BGA.

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## Plantbrain

> I believe you require license to purchase Hydrogen Peroxide with more than 20% concentration
> 
> http://www.spf.gov.sg/licence/AE/FAQ...Precursors.pdf


And this is a good thing, 35% is dangerous stuff.
Very.........

Regards, 
Tom Barr

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## jiajuen900

Erm, never used H202 to nuke algae before... But after reading this thread just wondering. We can use it directly in the tank with fishes, plants and filter?

I always thought it was something to use when cleaning tanks when their empty

Pardon this question if its silly  :Opps:

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## bio_aquatic

> I use them to kill (nuke) algae in the tank. Just carefully dispense the HP with a syringe directly on the algae growth. You will see it working as the algae starts to fizz. Since the byproducts of the 'nuking' is Oxygen and water, it is quite a safe alternative to using Excel to kill algae. Its quite addictive to me since i am always bugged with hair or BGA.


That's interesting. My tank has plenty algae, green and brown. So, to clear them, if I simply add it the HP into the tank, do you think it will work? Will this method affect the fishes? 

If I used the syringe method as you mentioned above, I think the whole 500ml bot will not suffice for my 3-ft tank - too much algae in my tank and all plants have it.

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## Shadow

yes it will affect your fish. What you need to do is use syringe for spot treatment. There is a max dosage, although I don't remember. You can just pour the whole think into the tank.

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## felix_fx2

Once before after dosing, half of my cherry barbs and all my otos died....
but the day before i was enjoying the bubbling from it.

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## zonkkie

Pour the whole 500ml I thought its a bit of overkill. Seriously, can anyone share the amount that we can dose per liter of aquarium water? I got mine and tested with 3x5ml syringeloads and the fishes seem a bit stressed. And there seems to be an oily film on the surface.

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## blue33

I've ever try 15-20ml on 2ft tank, shrimps inside, no casualty.

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## bio_aquatic

Thks for the input. I also just did a WC and hopefully, with some HP into the tank, will control the algae. I did manual cleaning of the algae on the plant leaves and some plants that had plenty algae on them, I simply pulled them off and got rid of them.

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## Shadow

if it is on the plant, trimming it is the best action, unless all the plant leaf have algae  :Opps: .

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## felix_fx2

> I've ever try 15-20ml on 2ft tank, shrimps inside, no casualty.


adrian your lucky,

i dosed 20ml shrimp died, but only 1 cause i removed the rest aboard the larger tank  :Grin:

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## blue33

lol... not lucky actually, i often do that  :Laughing:  , still no casualty.  :Huh?:

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## reavery

Hi Blue33,

Once you dose 15 to 20ml to your 2ft tank, does the algae die "Straight" ? or the effective result will only happen in between an hours or longer ?

From,
danny

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## Neutral81

Hi, is there any guidance for the amount of H2O2 to be dosed for 3 feet tank. I am keeping CRS but is always bugged by hair agle. Thinking of using H202 to get rid of the agle but not very sure if it will affect CRS. Anyone got any advise?

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## mjck

i dose 10 ~ 15 ml using 5ml syringe in my 120L tank. So far no issues with the sakuras (mostly babies), yamatos, otos, galaxies or ruby tetras. Turned off all my pumps and filters and let the water still for about 10mins before spot dosing. Also i let the H2O2 do its job for about 15 ~ 20 mins before turning the pumps/filters back on. I believe if you leave the pumps on, the H2O2 will be diluted by the tank water and get to the fishes or shrimps. 

From what i observed, the fizzing will stop after about 15 mins, so i guess thats the effective period where there is breakdown of organic matter by the H2O2.

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## blue33

> Hi Blue33,
> 
> Once you dose 15 to 20ml to your 2ft tank, does the algae die "Straight" ? or the effective result will only happen in between an hours or longer ?
> 
> From,
> danny


The algae will immediately deteriorate, BBA for example, it will change colour after you spot dose. What "mjck" do is correct, never on anything that causes current, my shrimps seem doesnt affected at all and even come close to H2O2. There are times i tried on the shrimp when they come close and they are not affected at all.  :Grin:

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## reavery

Hi All Si fu,

I just bought H2O2 6% from Guardian.. 

Dose around 50ml to the tank .. <- my tank is full of Hair algae, saw lots of zzz bubble up and down.. hmm, hopefully, the hair algae will disappear in one of 2 day or do i still need to manual remove the hair algae??!!!

My tank doesn contain any Livestock! Just purely HC and Rotala SP

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## mjck

HI Reavery, which Guardian did you get the 6% from? In Malaysia? 
I guess you need to remove the dead algae manually. I got shrimps to do that for me  :Smile:

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## reavery

Hi Bro,

THe brand is POLYLAB . i got it from Guardian Tmn Megah, PJ, beside secret recipe and Opposite Pets family ..

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## felix_fx2

> lol... not lucky actually, i often do that  , still no casualty.


Correction, i found the shrimp already. so only the cherry barbs died.
think maybe they were on starve diet  :Crying: .

but its very effective, BBA mostly gone.
downside is they do seem do damage plant tissues also, and my japonica pretty damaged now.

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## blue33

lol... normally after H2O2 we do WC.  :Wink:

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## KWL

> downside is they do seem do damage plant tissues also, and my japonica pretty damaged now.


H2O2 is a bleach, so it is expected  :Opps:

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## mozaqua

Don't use the 35% in your tank without diluting it first! 3% is strong enough for spot application to kill hair algae. I have used 6% for the same purpose and it killed some of my moss, so 35% directly would cause severe problems!

Also 18% is too stronge, believe me! I had a bottle of 18% upstairs that exploded when the weather warmed up. Lucky it was in a foam box and only the cap broke off. 35% would probably be explosive even at 25C or below!

Price wise, if you plan to dilute the stuff you might not really save much money either, so just get the cheap 3% at the Pharmacy.

Regards,
Mo

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## felix_fx2

> lol... normally after H2O2 we do WC.


I think even after my nuking's WC. My heart still say "Got some left"  :Crying:

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## hoverfish

Should have seen this thread earlier, i tear down my tank due to BBA. Really piss, the blackout method don't work, change water 50% also don't work. What i did last was to throw everything out!!! :Opps:  :Opps: 

Do i need to remove my shrimp when i nuke them? Any Adverse effect?

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## felix_fx2

hi bro, you might wish to play safe.Heard from other bro its like bleach.
Cause all my snails seem to dislike the environment after i nuked the place.

Now my japonica looks VERY Ugly (Period) for 2 weeks already.

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## mjck

Remember to spot nuke with pumps and filters off. My snails and shrimps doing fine with the still water so that the h2o2 don't leech all over the place. 
Recently got my hands on some 15% and tried nuking. It proof to be too strong for some plants and my some of the HC melted as a result while other plants seems ok. 
To help you see where the h2o2 is after you squirt them, you can also add some food coloring to it.

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## felix_fx2

> Remember to spot nuke with pumps and filters off. My snails and shrimps doing fine with the still water so that the h2o2 don't leech all over the place. 
> Recently got my hands on some 15% and tried nuking. It proof to be too strong for some plants and my some of the HC melted as a result while other plants seems ok. 
> To help you see where the h2o2 is after you squirt them, you can also add some food coloring to it.


mjck, does your snail avoid zones where you did spot treatment?
They seem to move away (Most climbed up the tank walls) until my 2nd water change after spot nuking. Perhaps my WC after spot nuking was not enough?

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## mozaqua

> mjck, does your snail avoid zones where you did spot treatment?
> They seem to move away (Most climbed up the tank walls) until my 2nd water change after spot nuking. Perhaps my WC after spot nuking was not enough?


Snails are more sensitive than shrimp in my experience with peroxide treatments.
Usally I have a few ramshorns that die after treating.  :Surprised: oO

I don't do any water change directly after treatments normally, unless there is some serious green hair algae buildup which would foul the water if it were to die....
Keep in mind the H2O2 is not applied directly into the filter media or substrate (that might cause some of your benificial bacteria to die off, fouling the water).

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## mjck

> mjck, does your snail avoid zones where you did spot treatment?
> They seem to move away (Most climbed up the tank walls) until my 2nd water change after spot nuking. Perhaps my WC after spot nuking was not enough?


Felix, my snails (ramshorn) didn't behave that way. I usually pick them away before spot nuke. My tank is cube-like with ~120L volume, dosed 20ml without any adverse effects. Infact I didn't do wc sometimes after nuking when I am lazy  :Smile: . You should try adding food colors to let you see where the h2o2 is going.

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## Zeonic

Hi guys can h202 be stored in a plastic container? I'm thinking of buying the 500ml, and recycling them for use to soak my glass lily pipe periodically.

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## tetrakid

What do you mean by recycling them?

Peroxide is just like sodium hypochlorite bleach (household bleach), but more expensive and strong. It is a also a strong bleach itself. So treating it as a bleach won't be far wrong. Using it for disinfecting pipes and accessories is fine, but good rinsing afterwards is important. 

It needs to be kept in dark bottles. Plastic should be fine, and like said by others, it's shelf life is short. Exposing it to light shortens its life fast.

For treating the whole tank, all livestock should be removed. It will also kill all the beneficial bacteria instantly upon contact.




> Hi guys can h202 be stored in a plastic container? I'm thinking of buying the 500ml, and recycling them for use to soak my glass lily pipe periodically.

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## Zeonic

Thanks for the reply.

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## jemswira

Would the 3% H2O2 be enough for preparing rocks from the floor for aquarium usage? Or must higher concentrations be used..
Man that would mean a LOT of H2O2. Poor wallet,

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## Zeonic

You can boil the rocks using water instead.

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## jemswira

Well I'm going to do a cichlid hardscape so It would involve way too much water boiling etc. 
Also i read from somewhere that its dangerous to boil rocks.

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## Zeonic

Oh I see. How about using diluted bleach?

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## tetrakid

Household bleach is a good disinfectant, but it sticks to the objects (eg rocks) after the treatment and is difficult to rinse off. Boiling may work, but then might as well do with boiling alone.

Peroxide is another good method, but if concentration is too strong, it will discolour the rocks by its strong bleaching action, apart from the greater cost. 




> Oh I see. How about using diluted bleach?

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