How Long Does Excel Need To Kill Brush Algae?

[razorkai]

I am fighting against a black brush algae problem at the moment that I have had for years. I finally got sick of bleach treating my wood/rocks periodically and bought some Flourish Excel. I read just about every post on this site about dosing Excel to fight algae, and then did the following

Day 1) 50% water change and dose triple the specified initial Excel amount
Day 2) Dose single recommended daily amount
Day 3) Dose double recommended daily amount
Day 4 onwards) Dose triple recommended daily amount

So far nothing has happened at all to the algae. My plants look great though
I have started to notice a new type of green algae beginning to develop too. I am on day 8 now of my dosing regime, and I would like to know when I can expect to see something happen to this damned algae?

TIA

 

[Egmel]

Did you clear as much of the algae as you could before you started?

 

[aaronnorth]

easiest way i find is to

1) physically remove as much as possible, even on leaves or cut a few off
2) do a 50% w/c
3) use excell

you have to look why you are getting algae if you have had it for yrs, common causes are

low co2
to much light/ nutrients for what the plants can take in
high phosphate although not a problem in EI/ high tec set-ups

take a look at the algae guide in my sig.

 

[Guinness]

Mine was cleared in about a week.

Didn't go in & take off the worst by pruning. My BBA started to turn red after about 4 days with Excell double dose on a daily basis, then vanished after 7/8 days.

Then did a 50% water change & a filter clean up & fingers crossed, plus 3 new SAE's it hasn't returned.

My outbreak was as a result of running out of CO2 & a delay in receiving a new cannister. If you have had a problem for years, then I agree with the last poster, you will have to look for the underlying cause.

Good luck it really is horrible stuff.

 

[wolfwolf]

I just had a very minor outbreak. I used a 1.5 times dose for 3 days and the algae is 95% gone already.

 

[Amunet]

Not too long ago I had a BBA outbreak. I did a 3x the amount overdose of excel. Nothing happened.
Can't remember how long, but I think it was less than a week... I did another water change and did another 3x dose and when I woke up the next day, the BBA was red.
And since then haven't had any show up again.

 

[razorkai]

Thanks for responses.

Egmel - no I did not remove any of the algae before dosing, as I understood the Excel would kill it all.

aaronnorth - Totally agree that I need to figure out what is causing the algae, but then I have been trying to figure that out for years. At one point I reduced my fish feeding down to once a week for several weeks but saw no effect. I also tried to eliminate nitrates by using a tap water nitrate remover (Nitragon) again with no effect. I took some stats before starting dosing.

Tank before water change
GH 160
KH 80
Phosphate 4
Nitrate 60 - 80
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0

Tank after 50% water change
GH 180
KH 120
Phosphate 4
Nitrate 40
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0

I also tested the tap water (a couple of days later)
Tank before water change
GH 140
KH 60
Phosphate 2.5
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0

Anyone make any sense of that? Nitrates and Phosphates look high to me, both in the tap and in the tank.
I am not using CO2 and have fairly low level light - 1 x 18w bulb with reflector on a 96 litre tank.
Not using EI but started to dose Flourish once a week at the same time as I started using Excel last week.

Guinness/wolfwolf/amunet

I have two big SAEs (yes definitely genuine), and the only time they are in the slightest bit interested in the algae is if I kill it first with bleaching. Not fair, I want my algae to turn red too! I was assuming that doing a water change during this treatment was a bad idea as it would dilute the Excel.... Hmm

 

[Egmel]

Disclaimer - I'm still very much a learner but...

I was led to believe that this type of algae is exacerbated by fluctuating CO2 levels. If you're doing large water changes (50%+) on a regular basis without dosing CO2 then it's likely that there is a peak of CO2 in your tank after each water change. While the algae can benefit from this the plants can't. Maybe this is the cause of your problems?

 

[razorkai]

Disclaimer - I'm still very much a learner but...

I was led to believe that this type of algae is exacerbated by fluctuating CO2 levels. If you're doing large water changes (50%+) on a regular basis without dosing CO2 then it's likely that there is a peak of CO2 in your tank after each water change. While the algae can benefit from this the plants can't. Maybe this is the cause of your problems?

Interesting. I don't do water changes that big regularly, but normally about 30% a week to try and reduce the nitrates in the tank. Now I am really confused. Still no sign of the balck brush algae dying off and the new green algae I mentioned is starting to become more noticeable. All I seem to be doing is making a new problem rather than fixing the old one. I don't know whether to continue to dose Excel, do a water change, don't do a water change etc etc.... Somebody HELP! I'm surprised nobody has commented on my test readings too.