dennis

Hoppy,

not sure if I follow how that relates, though it is amusing. If you are refering to using Excel as an "algae repellent or algaecide, that's not my intention. I really like excel but is very expensive in any quantity. If glutaraldehyde is an economical substitute, I'm all for it

hoppycalif

I like Excel too, but when I hear of a tank that is always crystal clear without a bit of algae......well, it reminded me of George's testimonial to heating cables. Sorry, my laugh reflex gets out of synch sometimes.

sarahbobarah

Is this why I shouldn't breathe in the smell of excel? Makes me kinda woozy.

5380

I thought about doing this last summer, but I decided against it thinking that they glutaraldehyde polymer would be much less pungent smelling than normal glutaraldehyde, usually aldehydes, amines, and sulfur containing chemicals stink. On a scale of 1-10 how bad is the smell? A pharmacist can order this for you, the product PDcare is available in the compounding catalogs.

The wooziness is probably a direct result of the irritant on the cells your nose. There is a review article that goes into the effects it can have on medical personell that use the stuff all the time, and have high exposure.

MatPat

Nice work Allen! I look forward to hearing more and getting some of the gluteraldehyde once you reveal your source

I do have a question though, is the Gluteraldehyde a 2.8% solution or are have you mixed it to obtain a 2.8% solution?

chiahead

I am very interested in this thread. Please post more info about how you got the Gluteraldehyde and its long term effects.

allen

Hi Matt

I did a search for glutaraldehyde and found a number of places that sell it online.The solution i ordered is 2.5%.There are other concentrations out there.The higher level of glutaraldehyde the more expensive it is.I chose this one to experiment with because of the price and it is diluted enough that I could dose straight from the bottle.

This is only the first week of using it so I not sure if there will be any problems with long term expose for the fish or plants.

epicfish

The MSDS at Seachem clearly states that the major chemical in Flourish is glutaraldehyde. I doubt there will be long term effects with the use of only a 2.5% solution of glutaraldehyde

I think the increased concentration of glutaraldehyde is responsible for killing of 'fragile' algae when people dose 2x-5x the regular dose to get rid of algae.

MatPat

Thanks for the info. If all goes well this should be another big money sver for the hobby.

I don't think you are going to have any problems as long as you keep the dosing similar to Excel. Assuming Epicfish's calculations are correct I think it is funny that the Riccia in the 10g had issues while the riccia in the larger tank did not. Do you think this may be because the gluteraldehyde was diluted more in the large tank due to the tank's height? Did yo add the gluteraldehyde directly over the Riccia in the 10g?

allen

I added the glutaraldehyde into the flow from the filter and the riccia was on the other end of the tank.It may be the level was to high.I'll move some riccia back into this tank and see.