Excel as a treatment for BBA? Experiences?

[BSS]

On a WC, you use 5 ml per every 10 gals. The instructions say to use a capful, BUT the capful on the bigger bottles is actually 10ml, not 5ml like the smaller bottles.

[A Hill]

well i finally remembered to get some flourish. when i got home that day i had already moved all the fishies to my 55g so i had no worries about them. so the first day i did a bit over 3 capfulls the next day i did the same the day after that i did 4 capfulls and i did 3 today. its working GREAT! all the algea is dieing or about to die. mine turned a deep purple/blue color before dieing. no red here? it worked fast for me compared to most people but then again this is only a 10g tank and i did no water changes through this whole thing so far!

THANKS FOR EVERYONE WHO POSTED ON THIS! you really helped me. i thought this battle was never going to end........

thanks ALOT!

-=- fish newb -=-

[stcyrwm]

Originally Posted by Fish Newb

well i finally remembered to get some flourish. when i got home that day i had already moved all the fishies to my 55g so i had no worries about them. so the first day i did a bit over 3 capfulls the next day i did the same the day after that i did 4 capfulls and i did 3 today. its working GREAT! all the algea is dieing or about to die. mine turned a deep purple/blue color before dieing. no red here? it worked fast for me compared to most people but then again this is only a 10g tank and i did no water changes through this whole thing so far!

THANKS FOR EVERYONE WHO POSTED ON THIS! you really helped me. i thought this battle was never going to end........

thanks ALOT!

-=- fish newb -=-

What kind of algae did you have?

Thanks, Bill

[m.lemay]

Originally Posted by stcyrwm

What kind of algae did you have?

Thanks, Bill

This entire thread is dedicated to using excel to eradicate BBA (black beard algae). I'm pretty sure that's what his algae is.

[riverrat]

Thanks to this thread I have used excel overdose a couple weeks ago successfully. I trimed out alot after I finished the treatment. I now see a few persistent spots left on some hygro.cory. I will start spot treatment and report back with my results.


riverrat

[[RK]]

Excel got rid of BBA, Staghorne, and even GSA for me!

But now that i have stopped the dosing, i bet they will all come back

[trckrunrmike]

okay BBA and staghorn is not dying from 2 capfuls a day on a 20 gallon.

[BSS]

Originally Posted by trckrunrmike

okay BBA and staghorn is not dying from 2 capfuls a day on a 20 gallon.

I never got a noticeable improvement when I just dropped capfuls into the tank. But, my first attempt at spot treating (applying the same amount, just directing most of it at visible algae with the filter turned off), showed results by the next day.

Give it a try and report back!

[rbittman]

I started the Excel treatment (overdosing for 2 weeks) one week ago and the results are dramatic. I had had a long-standing battle with hair algae, pulling out major handfuls on a daily basis, for at least 3 years. I tried everything, tweaking nutrients, monitoring everything, UV filter, more water changes, etc. Nothing worked. Indeed, it seemed the very same conditions favoring the higher plants, also greatly favored hair algae, as others pointed out.

I have a 40 gallon tank and have been adding Excel at the rate of 3 capfuls per day for 6 days. I turned off the UV filter. There is currently NO hair algae I can see. I did continue to clean it out for the first few days, but I no longer need to pull it out; there isn't any. There is still some (soft) glass algae, but that is normal in my opinion. I am amazed!

Does anyone out there with a uv filter, finally turn it back on when they stop overdosing Excel and continue to add Excel at the recommended rate (which would be 1 capful/day for me)??

Thanks for everyone's experience!

Roxanne

[zelmo]

Originally Posted by m.lemay

I'm not sure why my bba keeps coming back either.

Marcel -

You were in on this thread back at its start. When you stopped the overdose treatment did you continue to add any Excel? If so, at what dose? How long did it take for bba to come back?

[m.lemay]

No not really. I would add some at water change time only since I have a pressurized co2 system. The reason I don't want to use excel all the time is that it's expensive and I don't want the algae to become resistant to the treatment. I prefer to treat the tank only when a problem rears its ugly head.

[Betowess]

Well, I'm certainly glad this thread is a sticky. Been meaning to read this for a long time.

A few years back I licked BBA with a new reactor and pressurized CO2 in my 26G. But it was a bit different looking BBA. Until now in my newer 90, I have not had it at all. Yet I did have a fairly bright red algae on the spray bar which is now gone. Go figure... Now BBA's ugly head is re-appearing on both my bog-wood and also on the edges of older leaves of Anubia and some oldest leaves on my Crypt balansae (which is not a very old plant in my possession (4 or 5 months).

So tonight I have ordered the two liter Excell. I'm looking forward to this panacea and hope it helps wipe out some persistent fuzz algae. I have recently shortened the photo period and the other parms are in order. Thanks to all who have shared this recipe. Great thread!

I am thinking I'll start with about 55ml per day for 10 to 12 days (90G). I might spray the dose directly to the bog wood with a syringe. Does this sound about right or maybe not that high at first?

[m.lemay]

Originally Posted by Betowess

I am thinking I'll start with about 55ml per day for 10 to 12 days (90G). I might spray the dose directly to the bog wood with a syringe. Does this sound about right or maybe not that high at first?

In a 90G 55ml. should be safe. I dose 50ml in mt 75G. After trying both methods, I prefer the spot treatment with the syringe. If your tank is not terribly infested you don't have to treat every day. I spot treat as much as I can with 50ml, then wait a couple days for the treated areas to turn red, which gives me a visual indication of what areas have been missed. Then treat the missed areas. Repeat this as many times as necessary.

Always turn off all circulation when doing the spot treatment to extend the contact time of the excel with the affected areas. Turn it back on after 5-10 minutes.

Also a small tip: when refilling the syringe be sure that the back side of the syringe is empty of water or you will progressively dilute the excel in the container as you draw back the syringe.

[cbennett]

I developed a REALLY bad case of BBA several months ago due to having CO2 disconnected for several weeks due to moving (plus only having DIY CO2 at that). After finding this thread I started doing 2-3x overdose regimen (to the water column) but the change was slight. Then I changed to turning off the filter and every day injecting the same amount of Excel but right up against the evil black tufts, changing which locations I did a little bit each day. This routine was the magic bullet. Depending on how bad the item was engulfed in BBA and how far it was to the CO2 source and light, the BBA would turn red and then WHITE white within a couple of days. Once it was white it would either get eaten by my ancistrus, shrimp and snails or would just sort of disintegrate. The BBA that is in low light areas far away from the CO2 takes a couple extra days but is definitely turning red. I don't see any new growth of BBA on any new leaves or tank walls (switching to pressurized CO2 was definitely part of the fix).

It was baaad before. Like, REALLY bad. Someday, I'll be brave enough to post pictures.

[Betowess]

OK, this is a very sweet "cure". I had about 1/4 of a 250ml bottle of Excel laying around. At least 2 or more years old. So even though my 2 liter Excel won't show up for another 7 or 8 days, I tried a topical spray with syringe. Four squirts of 10ml on some of the biggest BBA puffs.. They are already turning red in 11 or 12 hours. Finally, an easy way to lick this stuff. Yahoo!