Forcing ground cover in baby tears with H2O2 shock

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wschalle

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Jun 28, 2004
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I did a little experiment with baby tears recently... I had 2 2.5 gal tanks set up with 2 in. of fluorite substrate, and baby tears planted stem by stem in each.

Both tanks are lighted by a single 28 watt aqualight 6700K compact. Each tank has a pair of female platies and a (cycled) nano filter.
I allowed the baby tears 1 week to adjust to the new tank, then i shocked one of the tanks with 1/2 oz of hydrogen peroxide. The h2o2 killed most of the leaves on the baby tears, and the platies ate the dead leaves. In about 3 days, the baby tears started to put out shoots very close to the fluorite. The new shoots almost exclusively crept along the bottom of the tank. I gave it another week, then pruned the mostly dead tops off, as well as the non-creeping stems. The baby tears in the other tank has put out a few (maybe 2) creeping shoots in comparison, most of the shoots are at the top and growing towards the surface.

This was a very interesting experiment for me, as it turns out to be a fairly quick and easy way to shock baby tears into creating a nice "lawn" effect.

I've used the oxidative properties of h202 with varying success in other applications, such as clearing certain types of algae like hair and brush, but it always seems to seriously throw the whole tank out of wack. Removing the filter media and doing a 50% water change an hour after dosing helps to keep the imbalance effect down, but water params always fluctuate wildly after the procedure.

Does anyone else have any H202 stories?
 
Though the original post is a few days old, I'm rather interested in what you did. I have a few questions:

How did the fish survive the H2O2 shock?

Did you just buy all of these and then create the tanks using new water?

How much plant material did you get for the tank?

Would eco-complete substrate work just as well?
 
H202 Shock

Signus:

The fish involved, platies, are like tanks. I find it rather hard to kill this species, short of a serious ammonia or nitrite strike. Larger organisms, I've read, have a much higher capacity for neutralizing H2O2 with the enzyme catalase than plants do.

The baby tears came as cuttings from a 10g planted tank I keep. The average size of each was about 6-7 inches long. I planted about 20 stems in each tank, fairly evenly spaced.

The tanks were initally set up with substrate (heated at 200 degrees for 30 minutes to sterilize) I salvaged from tearing down another tank, and with filter media robbed from the tank the baby tears were taken from. The water initally used was 50% from a 20g platy growout tank, 50% tap.

I also didn't explicitly mention that I removed the filter media for about 4 hours after dosing with H2O2, and did a 50% water change an hour after dosing. I didn't think the bacteria in the filter media would survive such a high concentration of H2O2, and the platies certainly wouldn't have survived without at least a marginal biological filter.



As for eco-complete... I've never used it, so it is hard to say. My guess is that this technique would be substrate independant for the most part, as long as the proper trace minerals were present in the water column.

My main source of information regarding the effects of H2O2 was http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/hydrogen-peroxide.html

:o
 
I'm rather curious about this all because I'd like to do a carpet effect in a 5-gallon aquarium. Do you think it would work for hair grass or something as petite?
 
Not likely.

With hairgrass, it's just a matter of planting it strand by strand and letting it do its thing. I don't think H2O2 would help with this as it is not a "stem plant" as I understand it.

The tricky part with baby tears is that you have to prune it repeatedly to get it to put out runners instead of just growing vertically.
 
Redox

hey that H2O2 experiment sounds interesting to me too. we've been studing oxidation and reduction in chemistry and i have to admit i started wondering what it would do to my black brush algae, plants, and fish. I wonder if there any harmful affects to the fish if it is just left in the tank. I understand that the bio filter would probably suffer but i think that can be restored with out to much hassle.
 
Well, if you just take out the filter for a few hours, most of the peroxide should be neutralized by stuff in the water.... then you can put the filter back in without worrying. Also, the only fish I've ever had die of this was an otto. If it's a sensitive fish, i'd say don't do it without taking it out first.
 
I wonder if dosing with h2o2 for a few hours is enough to actually kill algea. do you know how the h2o2 reacts with the algea to kill it? If this worked i think it would be an awesome DIY remedy to solving or preventing algea outbreaks. Maybe you could dose it a few hours before doing your weekly water changes while the tank is new until things get established to help keep new tank algea out breaks under control.
 
Hydrogen is comprised of two hydroxyl ( O-H ) groups linked together by a very weak bond. It has a strong affinity for bonding with other hydrogen and oxygen atoms in organic compounds. It effectively strips a cell or an organic compound of its structural lipids and proteins, helping lyse the cell or breaking down the compound.

Actually, a lot of bacteria are more resistant to hydrogen peroxide than your own tissue. You might want to keep that in mind next time you get a cut. It is great, however, for getting rid of necrotic tissue in a wound.

Animals make a lot more hydrogen peroxide as a result of bodily functions. Actually, your cells will self destruct by releasing inside their bodies.

Alright. Time for me to shut up about all this geeky stuff.
 
You'll get a nicer carpet simply adding things that grow, rather than 1/2 kill a plant.

All that's left is some stems and roots after treatment.
If you want a lower laying carpet, prune it.
Rotala green does very nicely if you add enough KNO3/CO2.

I trimmed 2 varieties of my pearl grass for many years as a foreground.
It grows back in 1-2 days after a hair cut or you can replant small clumps.
Easy to do, looks good.

Anyway, the test does not show you anything other than correlation.
It might be the H2O2, it might be loss of the leaves. 2.5 gal with 28w is not an ideal set up for a tank, small tanks need much more attention if you plan on high growth rates. Plants will fill the tank out and grow to the surface in a day or two depending on species.
It could be quite a few things.

I can get the plant to grow along the gravel also, I have it in a non CO2 tanks and have seen it in other non CO2 tanks doing the same thing.
Small non CO2 tanks are ideal, they do not need trimmed often as nano CO2 plant tanks.

Sand always produced lower growing Gloss than Flourite for me.
Your Redox chem will come in handy if you think in terms of cycling processes and the substrate.

H2O2 is harsh stuff, be very careful and make sure you realize you can kill all your fish easily.

I don't use it, I trim the plants well, add the right nutrients.
Much easier, less risk, focuses on the plants.

If you think this through, that is what it's about.
Getting a plant to run along ther gravel can be done a few ways, 1/2 killing it does not seem to be the best idea IMO/IME.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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