Excel On Plants

[cherabin]

I'm comtemplating the overdosing of Seachem Excel in an attempt to rid the remaining BBA that's residing in my tank (back aching from manual removal ).

However would the Excel dosing have an adverse effect on plants? I'm particularly worried about my C affinis and nurii. Other flora includes java fern, anubias nana, C wendtii, C cordata var blassi, C walkeri and C willisi. Will remove as much fauna as i can possibly net and house them temporarily elsewhere. Really appreciate if those with hands-on experience can give their personal account. Big thank you.

Best regards,
Bajin

[|squee|]

For me, I overdosed at least twice daily on my 2ft tank with crypts and T.Espei. Nothing happened to them, crypts didn't melt or anything. My crypts are common ones though, wendtii and becktii.

[Phillipians]

hi there, sorry to ride on your post but i was also wondering how much does the seachem excel cost in general? Rather interested to try them out heh. Also, where can i obtain them from?

[cherabin]

Wouldn't be too nice if the price is posted here Seachem Excel is sold at quite a number of places, C328, NA etc.

[Phillipians]

as in a general price guide like from 10 - 15? etc or why dont you pm me the price you got it at so i have a rough guide thanks so much

[vinz]

About $12 to $14 if I'm not wrong, for the 250ml bottle.

Excel should not have any adverse effect on your flora nor fauna. You shouldn't have to remove them. No point over-dosing excel too much... plants won't use more, they'll only use what they need.

I would worry that the uprooting of the plants would cause you more problems (cloudy water, algae, etc) and more work. Even if the crypts melt, they'll more then likely yo grow back. They usually melt to adapt to new conditions, so uprooting and moving them about might cause that too. Replanted crypts will take longer to recover then a well establish colony of rhizomes in the substrate.

[cherabin]

For me, I overdosed at least twice daily on my 2ft tank with crypts and T.Espei. Nothing happened to them, crypts didn't melt or anything. My crypts are common ones though, wendtii and becktii.

Did you apply via a syringe to the affected areas or just overdose over the water column?

About $12 to $14 if I'm not wrong, for the 250ml bottle.

Excel should not have any adverse effect on your flora nor fauna. You shouldn't have to remove them. No point over-dosing excel too much... plants won't use more, they'll only use what they need.

I would worry that the uprooting of the plants would cause you more problems (cloudy water, algae, etc) and more work. Even if the crypts melt, they'll more then likely yo grow back. They usually melt to adapt to new conditions, so uprooting and moving them about might cause that too. Replanted crypts will take longer to recover then a well establish colony of rhizomes in the substrate.

Thanks Vinz for your reply. It's reassuring to hear that no negative effect would be impacted on livestock. I thought overdosing of Excel is used to combat BBA (Already have them stopped growing, just want to blast away all remaining survivors )?

[|squee|]

cherabin, I overdosed the water, didn't specifically "shoot" it at any of the BBA. I also increased my CO2 to the point where fishes didn't gasp at the water surface.

[vinz]

Seachem Excel is a carbon source for plants. It cannot kill BBA per se, so you should not have to "blast" the BBA with Excel filled syringe.

Algae usually appear when the plants are not healthy or lacking ceratin nutrients. When plants are getting what they need, most algae have a hard time getting a foothold and thriving.

Appearance of BBA is usually a sign that the plants are not getting enough CO2, or more accurately, not enough carbon. This is assuming that the plants are getting enough of everything else they need. Dosing excel helps by providing more carbon to the plants. So "blasting" the BBA does nothing, except to give them a good dose of carbon which they need to.

[PeterGwee]

Just to add...BBA loves high CO2 as well but up to a point and adding further stops the matured ones from producing new young spores. That is when you have it beaten.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Noddy65]

Just as a warning, an overdose of Excel melted my Narrow leaved Val and a little aussie native (whos name I dont know).
Three weeks later the val is coming back now though but the little native is gone for good i think.

Mike

[cherabin]

Seachem Excel is a carbon source for plants. It cannot kill BBA per se, so you should not have to "blast" the BBA with Excel filled syringe.

Algae usually appear when the plants are not healthy or lacking ceratin nutrients. When plants are getting what they need, most algae have a hard time getting a foothold and thriving.

Appearance of BBA is usually a sign that the plants are not getting enough CO2, or more accurately, not enough carbon. This is assuming that the plants are getting enough of everything else they need. Dosing excel helps by providing more carbon to the plants. So "blasting" the BBA does nothing, except to give them a good dose of carbon which they need to.

Referring to the bolded statement, does it mean contrary to what most had practised, overdosing in Excel would boost BBA growth instead of killing it off?