[nanomania]

i want to know how to dilute glutaraldehyde in water to make a proper solution to dose. I also want to know that i read on wikipedia that it is bad for mosses. and also read somewhere that it is bad for shrimps. i want to know that has anyone ever had any experience with this? i dont get Metricide here where i stay so ill have to purchase glutaradehyde 25%.

 

[RandomMan]

I've never had a problem when using normal dosing with any of my mosses. I've got java, Christmas, Rose, and Flame. I've been direct dosing some flame moss in one of my tanks to try and kill off some hair algae that's been growing, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm.

I do believe however it caused my Foxtail to brown when applied too close to it.

I've also heard it may kill shrimp, and is best left out of a shrimp tank.

 

[nanomania]

i just have shrimps in my tank as i breed them, no fishes. not using co2 coz mya parents are against as it blasted.

 

[Sharkfood]

Gluteraldehyde isn't good for any animal. It is beneficial to plants in low concentration, but will melt anything in a concentrated enough solution. I've melted sword leaves when spot dosing.

It's famous for melting Vals, but I don't know about mosses.

It's very effective for spot dosing algae however.

 

[guppygolucky]

Isn't glutaraldehyde the active ingredient in Excel. Don't people dose it in their planted and shrimp tanks?

 

[jasonpatterson]

From what I read, excel is roughly 2.5% polycyclogluteracetal by weight.

You're actually making something closer to API's CO2 Booster which is a 1.6% solution of gluteraldehyde in water. You should be able to make a 1/15th dilution of your 25% solution (1 part of your solution to 14 parts water) and it ought to work just fine. Dosing according to their instructions is 1 mL per 40 liters daily. I've been using this product in conjunction with DIY CO2 and have seen a significant difference in the growth of my plants and things like pearling in the afternoon/evening. It hasn't bothered any of my shrimp.

Take care with the 25% solution. The 1.6% solution is nothing to laugh about, but it takes less than a mouthful of the stronger stuff to kill a child. (LD50 for gluteraldehyde is only 134 mg/kg, so roughly 10mL of the 25% solution would be enough to kill 50% of 20kg children who swallowed it.) It's also fairly nasty stuff on your skin and inhaled. Like many things, it's perfectly safe if used and stored properly, but it's fairly awful if not.

Isn't glutaraldehyde the active ingredient in Excel. Don't people dose it in their planted and shrimp tanks?

More or less, excel contains polycyclogluteracetal, basically polymerized gluteraldehyde. I imagine it's a stability issue, both in the tank and in the bottle. In any case, if you spray it onto the plants it can cause problems, and it's reasonably toxic stuff.

 

[redfishsc]

I've been dosing 2-3 mL of Metricide 14, once a day, in a tank slam full of red cherry shrimp, a few Crystal Reds, lots of dwarf saggitaria and LOTS of subwassertang.

The tank holds maybe 8 actual gallons of water.

Everyone told me the subwassertang would melt.

Nope.

It grows for me just fine.


Start your dosing slow. Stop increasing the dosage if you see any signs of deterioration you don't like.

 

[nanomania]

wel can i grow all plants using just glut.? i no longer have pressurized co2 as it blasted and my parents arnt allowing.

 

[nanomania]

what will be the ratio for me to dilute as im getting glut. 25%

 

[nanomania]

in msds its polycycloglutaracetal not glutaraldehyde.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

You can try it in a shrimp tank, but expect to easily kill them. Back when I dosed Excel, the shrimp wouldn't survive in my tanks, I've tried 5 times, each time around 10 shrimp or so, each time, they would all disappear within a week.

Finally I tried again for the sixth time, without diy co2 or excel, and after 4 months, I have 80+ shrimp now in my 17 gallon.

I wouldn't risk putting glut/excel in the tank, you may start with minimal amounts and all is well, but eventually you will get greedy and start to increase the dose in hopes of "helping" the plants, before you know it, you've killed the shrimps.

 

[fresh.salty]

I lost nearly all shrimp in a 3g using Metricide.

I've also killed 4 BNP's in my 90 after spraying it on a couple pieces of exposed driftwood during a WC. 4 BNP in the tank along with at least 35 cory cats. Only the BNP perished. It's strong stuff and I'm done with it for in tank use.

 

[redfishsc]

I guess we'll all just have to experiment, or not take the risk.

I've had no shrimp deaths and I do have a bristlenose ancistrus in my 45g tank which gets about 10-15mL per day of Metricide 14.


BTW most folks consider polycylcoglutaracetal to be roughly the same thing as glutaraldehyde. Folks get about the same results as long as the concentration/dosage is kept in mind.

 

[fresh.salty]

I think my problem in the 90g was a combination of things.
• Spraying more in the tank than I thought I was
• Water level was really low at the time
• Spent some time after the spraying cleaning the glass, filter intakes and center brace

So the fish sat in the water with the stuff dripping down and there was zero circulation.

The 3g may have been an overdose since it wouldn't take much for that to happen.

 

[nanomania]

diluting a 25% highest concentration. i also want to know that can i grow high light plants like glossostigma too? as im not using pressurised co2 because my parents are not allowing since it blasted at night 2am. iv had success with all plants mosses before. i have seen people abroad soding only flourish excel and graoing all dam plants even under metal halides. since flourish excel is not always available here, the ingridient is glut. thats what seachem declared in MSDS. glut is actually a source that plants extract from co2 for photosinthesys. please let me know if anyone has grown everything successful using only glut.

 

[nanomania]

any comments on this?
heres a link who has grown everything using just glut and no co2:
http://aquapetz.blogspot.com/

 

[Capncrunch7]

I have used Excel, and I have had plants and shrimp die on me, but I have never had any reason to suspect that the former caused the latter.

 

[redfishsc]

I dose only glut on my tanks, no CO2.

Both also have LEDs and only occasionally get fertz.

One tank, everything grows wonderfully.

The other tank, everything grows much slower, but it grows. Oddly, the light is brighter in this tank than in the other tank (according to the PAR meter on the substrate). But if I drop light levels, plants start to deteriorate. And---- we're talking about largely the same plants. Beats me lol!

 

[[email protected]]

in msds its polycycloglutaracetal not glutaraldehyde.

Chemists will tell you that polycycloglutaracetal is a made up name.

 

[nanomania]

I dose only glut on my tanks, no CO2.

Both also have LEDs and only occasionally get fertz.

One tank, everything grows wonderfully.

The other tank, everything grows much slower, but it grows. Oddly, the light is brighter in this tank than in the other tank (according to the PAR meter on the substrate). But if I drop light levels, plants start to deteriorate. And---- we're talking about largely the same plants. Beats me lol!

do u have shrimps in tha tank too? how much do u add? or do u make a diluted solution? please help me in making a diluted solution as i have 2 30gal 1 15gal and 1 1.5gal. i only keep shrimps and moss and a few carpet plants coz i breed them so no fish.