Lord Nibbler

Yep, the only fish I noticed so far that are really sensitive are kuhlis and ottos. Strangely, the brigs don't seem to care, and they're what move for higher ground first if any other chemical parameter is off!

Lord Nibbler

Update:

After a few days of 3x dose, my water got cloudy/greenish so I replaced about 70% and then refertilized. Some of the lowest leaves on the Ambulias has a bit of algae left, and the glass still gets some green algae.

Question: When green algae gets slimey, does it mean its dying? I don't mean the "slippery" feeling, I mean "slimey" as in like snail mucus.

kiwik

serious? i dose that stuff all the time, my plants grow great, the algae grows great with it

wintor56

Having read all 16 pages of this thread, there appears to be so many variants on the overdosage rate of Excel.e.g.

Some users used the initial/water change dosage rate for 4 days
Some users double the intial dosage then doubled the daily dosage rates.
Some users used the standard initial dosage rate 5ml/10gal and doubled the daily rates from 1ml/10gal to 2ml/10gal

I have tried this last method to kill my BBA and after 1 week,it doesnt seem to have worked.
Can anyone offer any advice on the best dosage?.
Thanks.

Regards,
Des.

banderbe

A week isn't long enough. Overdose for at least a month. I dosed 5 times the recommended amount.

LSD25

My guess is, that Excel is so great, because it's mode of action is based on 3 mechanisms:

1. Algicide: the algea are not able to metabolise it and the glutaraldehyde reacts with the cell walls eventually destroying them.

2. it is a C5-Source for the higher plants. they metabolise it. The downside seems to be, that it uses just one CO2 to produce sugar in contrast to anorganic CO2, where 6 CO2 is used. In other words: there is less O2 produced.

3. It is metabolised by bacteria to CO2. The half life of glutaraldehydse in aquatic systems is around 10hrs. That explains why we have to give it every day. So excess will be broken down by bacteria producing additional CO2

I wouldnt overdose it in "usual" circumstances as it can also kill other "useful" bacteria as well as the higher plants. It has been also reported, that Glutaraldehyde is harming the larvea of fish eggs of some more sensitive fish. It is simply a matter of the dosis.

Cheers,
Marc

Homer_Simpson

My Observations in using Excel to Combat Algae.

Had a 2.5 gallon nano that had algae growing all over the plastic inside. Wide leaved plants such as wisteria, and Hygrophilia corymbosa comapacta, and banana plant leaves remained algae free. Thread algae dominated tips of ambulia, java moss(it is smothered with thread alage), and java fern as well as bare roots. The tank was home to a amano shrimp, cherry shrimp and dwarf aquatic frog. The amano and cherry did feed off the algae on the plastic but not in sufficient quantities to make any difference. The amano and cherry pretty much left the green thread algae alone.

I dosed 1 ml of Fluorish Excel every 2 days. In about 8 weeks all the algae on the glass cleared up, but the thread alage remains and continues to thrive. The shrimp and frog are still alive and appear to have suffered no ill effects from the dosing.

Nothing new here, I guess. Overdosing on Excel seems to combat all types of algae but one: thread algae.

ezalgae

both string algae and floating algae can be removed by ultrasound. It might not be for smaller tanks because he cost is over $800. However it is a permanent solution and does not hurt the fish or the aquatic life. Find it http://www.ezalgae.com
maqrk

quatermass

Yes I've heard of this. I got contacted by a one of those companies a year ago. They're developing an Ultrasonic device small enough for the average tank.

Hmm I wonder if those tiny fog making devices we can buy would do the same job? They use ultrasonics to vaporise the surface water to make fog.
Maybe someone could put one under the water and see if it develops algae or not?
Hmmm I've got one somewhere, maybe I'll give it a try. I'll point it at a glass wall of algae and see if it kills it.

Markl

I just dosed 7x the daily amount and it's cleared up some of the larger particles of crap floating in my water. I'd just posted an update on my tank elsewhere on this site saying the water is way to dirty - it's half fixed the problem. It may also hopefully deal with my guppy fry problem.