[mindy]

i finally ordered some and got it in the mail the other day.

i thought it was a good thing for the tank but i was warned about it by a few people on another forum.

i am not overly worried but i want to know if there is anything that i should be cautious about. i read here not to do the initial dose they have listed on the bottle and just stick with the daily dose amount so that is what i have done. i only dosed 2 times so far, monday and today. i am too nervous now, thanks to the people on the other forum. :S

should i dose every day? my tank is 66 gallons so i dosed 1 capful, the recommended dose for 50 gallons.

please tell me your experiences with excel. the good, the bad, and the ugly!

 

[jeremyTR]

I used it and I only keep shrimp in my 40B. I even overdosed it without any ill effects. even with my baby rili shrimps

but that's just my experience.

 

[mindy]

thanks.

i don't even know what they are warning against, just that i should "be careful"...

 

[jeremyTR]

yea, i ran out of it too. I needs moar!

 

[radioman]

Shrimp are sensitive to it so you have to be careful about dosing with them.

 

[jcgd]

Well don't drink it... cause it's toxic and could kill you. But in the aquarium you could probably do 5x the dose and the worst you would do is melt some plants.

Vals don't like it... so I dose it heavy trying to kill the buggers from hell. I mean, I stripped a tank of all my plants and two weeks later there are vals everywhere. They are like the plague.

 

[jeremyTR]

Shrimp are sensitive to it so you have to be careful about dosing with them.

Is that right? Funny because it didn't do anything to any of my shrimp...

 

[Jonny Rotten]

I dosed heavy at first,as recommended,then a capful everyday.Doubled up thinking it would help with BBA.Didnt help but no ill effects

 

[fusiongt]

I add a little each week for my tank. I never had a problem with my CRS and it.

 

[kevmo911]

Read through this thread. It used to be a sticky, but was un-stickified for some reason. It deals primarily with use of Excel (or, more specifically, glutaraldehyde, the only active ingredient in Excel) as a treatment for algae, but a number of people post about the collateral damage at 2, 3, and more times the recommended daily (not initial) dose.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/algae/20172-excel-treatment-bba-experiences.html

By the way, daily doses should be fine, as glut breaks down within 24-48 hours in our tanks.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi mindy,

Everything you wanted to know about dosing Excel for algae or about Glutaraldehyde, the active ingredient in Excel.

I use pressurized CO2 and still dose Excel/Glut and I have done this for years. I can tell you that it minimizes and/or kills hair type algae and Black Brush Algae. I find that it has minimal (if any) effect on Green Spot Algae (GSA) or Green Dust Algae (GDA). What I have found with BBA is the glut kills or weakens it enough that my SAE can eat it but it seems to kill the hair type algae completely.

I dose the initial dose after water changes at the recommended level of 5 ml (1 teaspoon) per 10 gallons. The rest of the week I dose at two times (2X) the recommended daily dose 5 ml (1 teaspoon) per 25 gallons. I have never had any fish related issues from dosing at these levels.

 

[DennisSingh]

Is that right? Funny because it didn't do anything to any of my shrimp...

It will slow down their activity and reproduction depending on how much you use.

 

[mindy]

thanks guys. i will have a look at those threads that were linked. maybe i will dose 5 mL every 2 days if it stays in the water up to 48 hours.

also, if excel doesn't do anything for green spot algae is there anything at all that does make it go away? or is scraping it off the only way?

 

[LB79]

I'm afraid the only really effective measure against green spot algae is water changes. Balancing your light-nutrients-co2 will also keep it at bay.

 

[mindy]

i am doing 40-50% water changes every few days. it seems the algae on the glass is getting worse. i have reduced my lights from 8 hours to 6 hours. i am keeping my curtains closed during the time when the sun is shining directly on the tank.

i was dosing aquafin liquid fertilizers but finally got flourish in the mail last week. i used that once so far. i also have nutrafin fertilizer sticks under the sand.

i don't have co2 yet but i have excel that i just got last week too. i have used it twice. i plan to dose 5 mL every 2 days. i have a 66 gallon tank.

what else can i do??

 

[DKRST]

Glutaralydehyde is considered a hazardous chemical for shipping purposes at 25%+ concentration. Excel is somewhere between 1.5-1.8%. It's a mutagen, a respiratory hazard, and a sensitizing agent. What that means is, don't drink it, avoid eye contact(!) try not to sniff it, and after using, wash your hands - simple, good advice for using any chemical! Extended exposure, which you shouldn't be doing if you follow directions, can lead to an allergic reaction (sensitizing).

Exposure is more of an issue for people using the concentrated form as a lab instrument disinfectant, not the aquarium hobbyist concentration! I mix my own 1.5% "excel" from 50% reagent grade glutaraldehyde and, as a precaution, I use gloves and mix it under a chemical fume hood in a lab at work.

FYI - the glutaraldehyde manufacturer recommends storing it in the 'fridge, so I'd suggest refrigerating Excel if you have the space. That may help maintain potency over time.

 

[mindy]

thanks.

it is strange, on the flourish bottle it says to store in the fridge but on the excel bottle it doesn't say that. hmmm. i will put it in the fridge now.