Flourish Excel ?

[Triggs]

Hey everyone how's it going?

So when I first started my nano up I decided to use some 'Flourish Excel' in my tank as my larger main tank had a BBA problem which at the time I assumed as a lack/inconsistent supply of Co2. (I've since worked out it's got more to do with the positioning near a window and keeping the lights on for too long)

However after meeting 'plantnut aka wolfgang' at EA I stopped dosing as he suggested that it's not really good for shrimp. I respect his advice and follow his suggestions as well, crap he knows far more than I prob ever will.

I'm just wondering what all your thoughts/experiences are with this product in Shrimp tanks?

Thanks in advance guys. :encouragement:

[Sprae]

I would agree with Wolfgang. Excel will affect shrimps adversely as many have mentioned in various fourms. If your main concern is shrimps, then try not to add any ferts. If its plants, then keep cherries and have a larger tank to be safer.

[Loach]

Nothing wrong with using excel if its just Cherries were talking about. If your getting CRS etc, not reccomended. O personally triple dose my 4ft tank and the cherries are breeding like mad. Also, rather than excel, i would reccomend Dinasoar Spit from Aquagreen. 3x the concentration and its cheaper too! Even with postage + You can buy extra plants & shrimps :)

[Spizz]

+1 on the Dinosaur range, I'm just using the standard dosage and haven't had any issues

BBA came out of no where when I stopped using it for a while but now its just about all gone and like Loach said, you can get some nice natives at the same time

[Eshrimp]

Excel has proven to be toxic to my otocinclus, every time used it I lists my ottos so I stopped and taaaadaaaa no more Otto deaths.

[Triggs]

Cheers for all the replies guys!

Will have to hit up Dave @ AquaGreen when I get some time, First I got a list of orders for Dean :P

[Gino]

Hi Triggs, limited knowelege on the subject but me thinks as a general if your trying to fight bba prob best to do it the good old fashion way, correct the imbalance....

I too, was blessed by the info of the "nut" and my understanding is that if you can stay away from the bottled stuff probably best, all co2 liquid fertz have one common ingredient (glutaraldehyde), this includes the other known brands too..

In doing some research on it I found its main use is used to disinfect medical and dental equipment. It is also used for industrial water treatments and as a preservative (curtosy of Wikipedia lol) The main reason you will find some brands work better than others is because the concentration of glut. is higher in some brands than others, As a general rule not really high enough to cause too much harm to livestock but most algae is classed as a simple celled organisms, and hence practically choke on the stuff. As most plants we deal with are slightly higher forms of cellular structures they are more resistant to the dosages we use. The down side to glut. is that it remains in its original form for a fair while when compared to other alternatives.

I have found spot dosing with h2o2 to be a slightly more effective manner to deal with bba and any other unwanted's as shrimp are clever enough to swim away and 10ml (at 3%) in a syringe is more than enough to spot dose a whole tank really u probably only need 5ml and you can repeat every 24hours but usually 1 dose is enough to see most algae die. also in that strenth you will find you are adding 0.0003 ppm to a 100L body of water.

The main reason behind using h202 is that it breaks down rather quickly in water, namely it breaks down into water and oxygen. not bad considering thats a good thing to have in a tank :)

h2o2 is just as harsh on anything organic as glut is, but as its a simpler compound it breaks down so much faster in water and doesn't have time to give any other adverse effects to your tank

I'm sure someone can correct me if I have misrepresented anything but this is the info I have on the subject so far, I hope to broaden my knowledge more on it too so will be keen to see any thoughts on it....

Cheers

G

[Sprae]

Having used H2O2 for quarantine/cleaning dips and filling up oxydators, spot dosage via syringe will work well with little to no side effects. Just remember don't get H2O2 anywhere near marimo balls.

I have to say this is a key product to have when you're keep shrimps ;)

[Triggs]

Having used H2O2 for quarantine/cleaning dips and filling up oxydators' date=' spot dosage via syringe will work well with little to no side effects. Just remember don't get H2O2 anywhere near marimo balls.

I have to say this is a key product to have when you're keep shrimps ;)[/quote']

Have you noticed much difference since adding the oxydator? Any positives or negaties?

Cheers

[Sprae]

Benefits overall tank stability regarding oxygen levels. Think about it, even with all the moss I have it doesn't hurt to supplement it. It's not a requirement but helps a lot.

[plecofan09]

Hi Triggs' date=' limited knowelege on the subject but me thinks as a general if your trying to fight bba prob best to do it the good old fashion way, correct the imbalance....

I too, was blessed by the info of the "nut" and my understanding is that if you can stay away from the bottled stuff probably best, all co2 liquid fertz have one common ingredient (glutaraldehyde), this includes the other known brands too..

In doing some research on it I found its main use is used to disinfect medical and dental equipment. It is also used for industrial water treatments and as a preservative (curtosy of Wikipedia lol) The main reason you will find some brands work better than others is because the concentration of glut. is higher in some brands than others, As a general rule not really high enough to cause too much harm to livestock but most algae is classed as a simple celled organisms, and hence practically choke on the stuff. As most plants we deal with are slightly higher forms of cellular structures they are more resistant to the dosages we use. The down side to glut. is that it remains in its original form for a fair while when compared to other alternatives.

I have found spot dosing with h2o2 to be a slightly more effective manner to deal with bba and any other unwanted's as shrimp are clever enough to swim away and 10ml (at 3%) in a syringe is more than enough to spot dose a whole tank really u probably only need 5ml and you can repeat every 24hours but usually 1 dose is enough to see most algae die. also in that strenth you will find you are adding 0.0003 ppm to a 100L body of water.

The main reason behind using h202 is that it breaks down rather quickly in water, namely it breaks down into water and oxygen. not bad considering thats a good thing to have in a tank :)

h2o2 is just as harsh on anything organic as glut is, but as its a simpler compound it breaks down so much faster in water and doesn't have time to give any other adverse effects to your tank

I'm sure someone can correct me if I have misrepresented anything but this is the info I have on the subject so far, I hope to broaden my knowledge more on it too so will be keen to see any thoughts on it....

Cheers

G[/quote']

Thanks for that Gino i will give that a go.

like Triggs i have been double dosing with excel,in my planted tank.

but will try the H2O2.

[Gino]

Less is more mate!!! Start off with 5 ml and if your at all concerned dilute it with a quarter of the volume with water, make sure you turn off all your filters so that it has a chance to hit the algae and watch it fizz wait a minute or 2 and turn it all back on :)

[plecofan09]

Less is more mate!!! Start off with 5 ml and if your at all concerned dilute it with a quarter of the volume with water' date=' make sure you turn off all your filters so that it has a chance to hit the algae and watch it fizz wait a minute or 2 and turn it all back on :)[/quote']

So do you just dose it straight on the algae?

[Gino]

If u have a syringe fill it up turn off all the flow of the tank so u have still water (takes about 30secs) and just apply sparingly to the area you wish to treat, careful around sensitive mosses and such. anything its eating will oxidize (fizz) if its bba your getting rid of should turn redish pink in a day or two.... works a treat with clato too..... :encouragement:

[jacet]

Is this the wolfgang that use to live in qld

[Triggs]

Is this the wolfgang that use to live in qld

Yup, Plantnut, Wolfgang, bridgt (Can't spell his name)

[jacet]

He is a good man.... he helped me out with my planted tank on another forum.... what this man does not know is not worth knowing about plants IMO

[Gino]

He is back in QLD now :(

[Triggs]

Is he back in QLD?

Shattered.

I've watched him at EA Create scapes in less than 5 minutes that would make anything I did in hours look amateur.

Was also a very nice bloke, Can't blame him though, I'd be in QLD over VIC if I could any day.

[NoGi]

I'll drop by Fishchicks to see when I get a chance. I need to look for those tetras anyway.

[Gino]

Triggs, He is:( trust me when I say I hammered him for as much info as I could, tricky to ask him a question now when he cant see what im yammering on about...

Nogi, Im not sure where fishchicks is, but the Austrian has decided to go to cairns for this portion of his journey, pretty damn far from Melbourne (may as well have gone all the way to Europe), I really dont think he could have gone any further north :)