yeah, maybe I did that little play on words in the title on purpose a little...
but back to the point, The only thing that changed was the excel, a few hours after I added it (35ml initial dose for 34 gallons of water) the water was looking pretty cloudy. I just kind of ignored it and the next day added another 6ml before going to work. The next day (today) I did the same 6ml and when I got home there floated the cat.
There was one other bit of strange behavior from my sae's on the second and third days, they just continuously swam toward the filter outlet, and I mean continuously, like salmon swimming upstream to spawn. after the water change they have gone back to their normal more relaxed selves.