Hail Excel!

[BenPursglove]

I want to push out a quickish post to anyone struggling with a tank with a number of live plant's that have had less than reasonalbe / poor growth with no or limited CO2 and also problems with hair algaes that Flourish Excel seems to live up to the hype. I am in no way offiliated with this product for the record.

My first aquarium has a 100% small gravel substrate and I have been battling with getting good greens and to be rid of hair algaes for a while now.

With the use of Flourish Excel and a small daily dose of TPN+ I have managed to turn a durg into a haven that is glowing with green. Without sounding like an advert, I want to say how good this stuff is.

It's goooooood

Has anyone else used it and had good results?

 

[Amunet]

I had it before but never used it on a regular basis.
I did use it to get rid of BBA and it worked like a charm.
Ordered some over the net that should be getting here any day now Have a bit of a BBA problem again that I'm hoping it will take care of heh. Plus I'm sure the plants will love it

 

[DevUK]

EasyLife Easy Carbo is a brilliant alternative, and can be had for a little cheaper usually.

 

[vinylman]

EasyLife Easy Carbo is a brilliant alternative, and can be had for a little cheaper usually.

I'll second that. I took the plunge around ten days ago and bought a 250ml bottle of EC and the same size of Profito on offer from Aqua Essentials. I've split the weekly dose of Profito into twice weekly doses and split the weekly dose of EC into 4ml daily. I don't have any high light or difficult plants, but even the bunches of Elodea Densa have stayed a deep green and look VERY lush. Oxygen bubbles have also appeared on my Vallis - some people have reported that the EC will affect the Vallis badly, but I've found quite the opposite to be the case. I'll be sending for a larger bottle of each next week.

 

[Truck]

EC lasts longer too! and you get more VFM

 

[Gurglar]

Dammit i should have bought this stuff today but opted for something else cause i'd never heard of excel

 

[vinylman]

EC lasts longer too! and you get more VFM

Absolutely; after reading the instructions on the EC, I dosed at 2.5ml for the first week and that made a visible difference. I've only just started the full 4ml daily dosing. It must be very, very concentrated for such a small amount to make a visible difference. If there's not a vast difference between the 2.5ml and 4ml dosing, I'll go back to the former - that'll last even longer!. Either way, I'm very impressed with it.

 

[AdAndrews]

are any of your plants pearling

 

[vinylman]

are any of your plants pearling

Apart from the Vallis, I've noticed (for the first time) the Cabomba is, too. Not a great deal, but it's noticeable. They weren't looking too great, TBH, and I was on the point of replacing them - but now there are several new stems appearing and the existing leaves are fluffing out nicely, too. It's hard to believe such a small amount of EC in a 4ft tank could have such a visible effect, but it certainly does. BTW, just so you have a point of reference, I have 80 watts (Arcadia Overtank Luminaire) over a 40-and-a-bit gallon tank. with a base of Tetra Complete Substrate covered with a couple of inches of fine river gravel. Never had trouble keeping plants alive, but this stuff is something else. And no, in case anyone's wondering, I don't work for EasyLife..............

 

[AdAndrews]

good, im getting easy carbo soon. hope it works

 

[vinylman]

good, im getting easy carbo soon. hope it works

Just give it a week or so on half the dose in the instructions, then increase it IF you need to.

 

[AdAndrews]

i have been told to dose 1-1.5ml on my 35 litre tank daily

 

[vinylman]

TBH, with the measuring cap you get on the EC, it'd be easier to dose 2.5ml every other day. It'd still be better than one dose weekly.

 

[lyotim88]

when i stopped using excel i got a massive outbreak of hair algae. This stuff is good. But now that im re-dosing it, the hair algae won't just like dissolve, right? i'm sure i have to get rid of it all by hand and the stuff i miss just grows back so fast. any ideas?

 

[vinylman]

Isn't it something like three times overdosing to get rid of it?. It's more effective if you can use a small turkey baster to put it right onto the algae, IIRC.