Flourish Excel got rid of all my algae

451657 Views 286 Replies 134 Participants Last post by tiger15, Dec 13, 2018

Simpte 27

Discussion Starter · Dec 31, 2004

Well I finally found a local source of Flourish Excel. I was in the process of adding it into my tank when my little girl ran into me from behind. Needless to say I dumped quite a bit in. At least 5 times the recommended doseage. 2 days later my bba, spot, and green fuzz algae is gone. No sign of it anywhere. I think I like this stuff!

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The old man

· #221 · Feb 22, 2009

I hope you meant dosing it with Excel. If so, then I would spray it with excel full strenth as it worked on my anubias in the past. Some plants it may stunt for awhile, but it did kill the BBA.

Indiana Gardener

· #222 · Feb 24, 2009

This seems almost too good to be true?

http://www.petco.com/product/105281/Tetra-Algae-Control.aspx

Anyone used it?

inkslinger

· #223 · Mar 25, 2009

updating this old tread!!
Next best thing to Excel!!

I had a bad case off BBA in my 110g tank 60x18x24 for a long time , My circulation and old lights don't help it was what started it plus low kno3. Will I went to the store an bought the large bottle 32oz of Hydrogen Peroxide Solution 3% and paid $1.69 ,
I added 250m spot treatment for 3 days and shut every thing off for 1.5hrs every time.
It kill my BBA turn it white and my fishes are eating it an are stress free no harm done need to get some SAE to keep it in check .
I still have a little patch here and there. I am planning on getting some new lights , I have a new Blue Line 55 HD 1100gph and Nu-Clear 533,547 with 2 Loc-Line Returns sitting on the side ready to be install but still need a few more thing to get so for now I got another 32oz bottle for now.

quatermass

· #224 · Mar 25, 2009

Yes Hydrogen peroxide kills algae. But not really surprising as this is the active chemical released naturally when you place barley straw into a pond to get rid of algae.

Of course it'll come back if the reason it happened to grow in the first place isn't addressed.

squidlips

· #225 · May 10, 2009

Giancarlo , I think you are spot on about the Gluteraldehyde. I use a product called 'Dinosaur spit' which promotes plant growth in the same way Excel does and , if overdosed , kills algae.
It only contains gluteraldehyde.

Craig

gooey

· #226 · May 10, 2009

just a question, ive been reading almost the whole thread and i think i havent read a post concerning how to use excel with an existing pressurised CO2 set up. anyway i would like to know if i have to dial back the CO2(around 4bps) when i use the excel to nuke the bba in my tank. thanks.

Jeremy93ls

· #227 · May 21, 2009

Great info here.

Although, I've double/triple dosed for 2 weeks now without solving my staghorn algae problem. It's still stuck to the corkscrews and small swords like glue.

I'm about to do some hard pruning and a 30-40% RO water change. Should I continue with the overdosing after the water change?

rich815

· #228 · May 21, 2009

Jeremy93ls said:
Great info here.

Although, I've double/triple dosed for 2 weeks now without solving my staghorn algae problem. It's still stuck to the corkscrews and small swords like glue.

I'm about to do some hard pruning and a 30-40% RO water change. Should I continue with the overdosing after the water change?

Personally I never found Excel to eliminate staghorn. The couple times I've seen it I used an old toothbrush to twirl up as much as I could, severe pruning of all I saw, and watched to make sure of ammonia spikes (pulling up of other plants and stirring up substrate) and kept my CO2 levels good.

Seattle_Aquarist

· #229 · May 21, 2009

just a question, ive been reading almost the whole thread and i think i havent read a post concerning how to use excel with an existing pressurised CO2 set up. anyway i would like to know if i have to dial back the CO2(around 4bps) when i use the excel to nuke the bba in my tank. thanks.

Hi gooey,

I dose Excel (actually I use Glutaraldehyde now) in conjunction with pressurized CO2. Although Excel adds carbon to an aquarium, it is not in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). I find that using Excel (Glut) with pressurized CO2 does not cause any problems with my fish or plants.

Red_Rose

· #230 · Jul 11, 2009

I'm sorry if this has already been asked but I just got home and I didn't feel like reading through 23 pages of this thread.

I have some thread algae in my betta's El Natural tank and although most of it is in the Riccia, which I plan on removing as soon as I get some more floaters, I do get the odd bit of it in my Ambulias and Cabomba. I know that Excel has worked for many to get rid of algae but what I would like to know is are there certain fish and snail species that are sensitive to Excel and which plants should not be exposed to Excel? Below is a list of the plants that I currently have in the tank.

Limnophila sessiliflora
Cabomba caroliniana
Bacopa monnieri
Corkscrew Val
I'll be getting some guppy grass and maybe some duckweed soon.

Below is a Crypt I have in there as well but I'm not quite sure what type it is so I'm hoping this picture will help. On the tag that came with it, it was called Cryptocoryne lutea but it looks different from the pictures I found online of it.

As for the snails, I have:

Brown and red ramshorns
Pond snails
Snails that resemble MTS only a lot smaller
Zebra nerite

I'd appreciate any help with this.

Thank you!

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Seattle_Aquarist

· #231 · Jul 12, 2009

Hi Red_Rose,

Some types of hair/thread algae seem to respond better to treatment than others. I have not had any problems with Excel / Glut affecting any of my fish. My val however, which grew normally prior to treatment now is stunted. The treatment is definitely worth trying however.

quatermass

· #232 · Jul 12, 2009

Oddly enough I've recently discovered the same problem in my 25L Walstad tank.

Thread algae on my Riccia!

I was about to add some Excel too.

Excel as you know is very poisonous if too much is added. But the standard dose is fine with all fish.
It tends to kill off first bacteria and algae, small creatures like Cyclops, etc. leading up to shrimps and snails and then your fish.

We don't have a list as such as every species has different tolerances. Just 'suck it and see'. I'd add x2 dosage and see how it looks after a week.

You may also wish to look into 3-9% Hydrogen peroxide. (Pond owners add straw to their ponds and this decays into H2O2 which kills off algae.)

This when drip dosed over a few hours every day does much the same job as Excel plus it only decays into water and oxygen. I have a small plastic bowl with a tiny hole in it. Which I add a solution and it drips slowly into my tank.

Cheaper and probably safer than Excel too. Just watch the dosage of course.

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Red_Rose

· #233 · Jul 12, 2009

Thank you Seattle_Aquarist and quatermass for your help.

On my stem plants, it's really not a whole lot of algae on them since I try to do my best to keep it at bay by removing it so would I have to double the dose for just a little bit of algae? As for the Riccia, I would be taking the plant out of the tank and treating it in a separate container. Quite a bit of it is starting to die anyway so I'd have to remove the dead bits.

Although I will admit that I don't like the thought that Excel kills off cyclops. I have a lot of them in the tank and that's my betta's live food source. He loves hunting for them.

As for the peroxide, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that bad for a fish's gills? I thought it could seriously hurt the gills of a fish.

Seattle_Aquarist

· #234 · Jul 12, 2009

Hi Red_Rose,

I found that for Excel (and Glut) to be effective as an algaecide, 2X dosage is what worked for me. Dosing at a lower dosage did not have the algaecide effect for me.

quatermass

· #235 · Jul 12, 2009

Red_Rose said:
Thank you Seattle_Aquarist and quatermass for your help.

Although I will admit that I don't like the thought that Excel kills off cyclops. I have a lot of them in the tank and that's my betta's live food source. He loves hunting for them.

Same here, my Galaxy fish use them in my Walstad tank. It's odd having a tank in which you hardly need to feed them is it?

At increased dosages it will. But I've never experimented with dosages to see what level does.

Red_Rose said:
As for the peroxide, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that bad for a fish's gills? I thought it could seriously hurt the gills of a fish.

Again, it's about dosages. I've put in 30ml of 9% into a 200L tank over 24 hours and the community tank of small and large fish have all been fine. No distress at all.
Obviously if you put in too much it'll kill, just like any chemical from a shop.
Follow the levels on the link here on H2O2 and you can't go wrong.

Remember the 1st thing to be broken down will be the TDS in the water. So it may take a while initially for any H2O2 to actually get to the algae.

I've started today with 1ml of 9% H2O2 into my 25L Walstad tank and I'll be adding this once every 12 hours. It has 4x Galaxy (Danio margaritatus) and 3 Dwarf Otos and Cherry shrimp.
I'll be keeping an eye out for the Cyclops and Hydra I have in the tank.

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Red_Rose

· #236 · Jul 13, 2009

Yesterday, I took the time to read through this thread to see what other types of experiences people have had with Excel as well as doing a search on the internet and it has made me nervous. I've heard of people who ended up losing plants and fish from just the normal doses!

Call me a chicken s*&t if you want but I think I'm just going to try adding more floating plants to see if they can compete against the algae and I'll save Excel as a last resort. I'm also going to remove the Riccia, which I think is the real reason why some of my stem plants are getting a bit of algae in the first place. Could be wrong though.

Thanks again though for all of your help! I'm bookmarking this thread for future reference.

btw, that is a great looking tank, quartermass! What is that bushy looking green plant in the back corner of the tank to the right of the phone? I like the looks of it.

quatermass

· #237 · Jul 13, 2009

Red_Rose said:
Yesterday, I took the time to read through this thread to see what other types of experiences people have had with Excel as well as doing a search on the internet and it has made me nervous. I've heard of people who ended up losing plants and fish from just the normal doses!

Call me a chicken s*&t if you want but I think I'm just going to try adding more floating plants to see if they can compete against the algae and I'll save Excel as a last resort. I'm also going to remove the Riccia, which I think is the real reason why some of my stem plants are getting a bit of algae in the first place. Could be wrong though.

Of course another course of action (apart from using Hydrogen peroxide) would be to add a fish that eats thread algae like a young Siamese Algae Eater?

btw, that is a great looking tank, quatermass! What is that bushy looking green plant in the back corner of the tank to the right of the phone? I like the looks of it.

Thanks.
That's my Riccia. I placed small clumps of it in between my Java fern leaves when I set it up and it's grown into those 'rounded lumps'. Every couple of months I have to remove it as it grows huge. I have a mere 11W overhead light on it. I sell the lumps to my local club.

I also have a bit growing on top of my filter outlet, Riccia turns a different shape leaf which looks rather nice when it's just out of the water. You can see this here - Riccia pics (Those are of my 250L tank with Riccia in it).

I also like the way the Frogbit grows its roots down so it touches the substrate.

rich815

· #238 · Jul 13, 2009

quatermass said:
Of course another course of action (apart from using Hydrogen peroxide) would be to add a fish that eats thread algae like a young Siamese Algae Eater?

I had 3 young SAEs once in my 72 gal. They never touched my thread algae. Barely touched my BBA too. Finally got rid of them. What a nightmare catching them was. I'll never do that again.

Zapins

· #239 · Jul 14, 2009

Heh heh heh.... that's exactly why man invented the knob on the CO2 tank

Gasping fish can't swim away

quatermass

· #240 · Jul 14, 2009

rich815 said:
I had 3 young SAEs once in my 72 gal. They never touched my thread algae. Barely touched my BBA too. Finally got rid of them. What a nightmare catching them was. I'll never do that again.

Where you sure they were SAEs? My 6 SAEs are always eating my BBA.

A lot of shops can't tell the difference between a Flying Fox and a Siamese Algae Eater.

See link for pictures.
http://theaquariumwiki.com/SFF

I bought my seventh SAE yesterday, shop tried to tell me it was a Flying Fox.
Pretty obvious it wasn't.
They had 3 or 4 Flying Fox in the very next tank and even they couldn't tell the difference. I couldn't believe it as their body colours are so different!
When I pointed it out, he went 'oh'.
Very different diet requirements between the two.

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