My algae feasting fish died a few months ago, and I haven’t had time to replace him. He did a damn good job eating algae over the years, apparently, because it sprang up surprisingly quickly in his absence.
Following directions online for cleaning an icky, algae covered air bubbler (this one) that hardly made any bubbles anymore due to the build up, I soaked it in 3% hydrogen peroxide overnight. Then I rinsed it off, scrubbed it with a new toothbrush, and soaked it in clean water. I also hooked it up to see if it bubbles again, and boy does it.
And it’s been in the bucket of clean water for two days because I don’t know if the 3% hydrogen peroxide will leave any residue that could be harmful. I didn’t read any cautions to dilute the peroxide until after I’d already done the soaking. Oops.
Is it possible that there’s still enough of a residue to harm the fish? Should I change out the water a few times or do something else before putting it back in the tank? Should I just give up on it and buy a new one?
FTR, the fish in the tank are tetras (2 glowlight and a few neons) and danios (2 celestial pearl and a zebra who was supposed to be a black neon); and I’m mostly concerned about the neons given their reputation for fragility. Tank’s 27 gallon.
I think you’re OK. H2O2 will break down to H2O and oxygen. It’s been a long time since I took chemistry, but there is nothing that is going harm the fish. If you have been in clean water for two days, even if it hadn’t broken down in this time, the dilution would be so great that it would make no difference to the fish.
That tiny amount of peroxide won’t hurt your fish. A little more would be beneficial for the entire aquarium environment by releasing oxygen as it broke down. I used to have an oxygen generator that used more concentrated peroxide than that.
Yeah … let the water sit overnight so all the chlorine evaporates off … hydrogen peroxide breaks down pretty quick … days and dilution, it’s chlorine that’s your enemy here …
You could also let it dry. Once dry, there’s no dissolved chlorine from tap water, or dissolved peroxide from the soak.
You’re talking about a trace of a trace of a trace here: It was 3% hydrogen peroxide, the volume soaked into a stone, diluted into a bucket. Take straight up hydrogen peroxide 3 %, leave it out for 3 days without diluting, check if its still hydrogen peroxide – i.e. it bubbles when mixed with a drop of blood. I don’t have chemistry guarantees for you, but maybe its all gone?
You’d kill a goldfish if you dropped it in straight up 3% hydrogen peroxide, that’s true. But a few drops, washed out, and aged, and then diluted into an aquarium tank?
Hey, you love your pets, and don’t want to hurt them even slightly, even accidentally. But if the mountain of dilutions doesn’t make you confident, then we can’t even help.