I had enough

[barmby]

member x: Colin, my moss not growing. I put phosphate, nitrate, all branded stuff..

member barmby: did you add CO2?

member x: Yes. I put seachem excel. they give CO2 to the tank. but my moss kena those white white thin tread thingy..

member barmby: that's hair algae

member x: how come get algae? i pour alot of excel into the tank!

member barmby: for god sake! excel is not meant to be CO2 for plants. it is just supplement on top of the CO2 that you add into the tank on a weekly basis!



I don't know what the other LFSs crap tell you. Excel is just supplement for Carbon Once and for all i set the record straight.

[Shadow]

, Colin you bring life to my sleepy morning

[felix_fx2]

Pour alot excel into tank? Whaaa

[Peanut8787]

Lol... Alot of people keep thinking that CO2 can totally be replaced by excel which is always not the case... Easy, if excel can be used for plant and don't need CO2 then wouldn't all the CO2 stuff trade gone bankrupt??

Nice thread.. hahaha

[blue33]

Yes you can if you know how to properly use it. LOL.

[Aquanoob]

Adrian, seldom see you online recently. You want to share how to properly use Excel with the mass members here?

[Navanod]

With a half life of about 24 hours according to Seachem, it may be possible to slow drip it into the tank to maintain a constant level of Excel and hence CO2 in the tank?

[magpie]

I do drip excel to my nano tank daily as a source of CO2 for the plants, it works well and no algae seen till now.

[zonkkie]

i think depends on what plants you grow also. Excel doesn't work for all plants.

[Shadow]

Take note that if CO2 is 10, excel is only rated as 5 or 6 (according to seachem). Thus you can't use the same light as if you are injecting CO2. Also remember that Excel is polycycloglutaracetal derived from glutaraldehyde which is toxic and used as a strong disinfectant (in high concentration). So what happen if you pour a lot of excel? trying disinfect the tank?

[michael lai]

I see during my absence, excel has been elevated to new heights!

[vinz]

Ok, two things...

1. Excel is NOT liquid CO2. Or even CO2 bound in some other compound. Excel is a CARBON (C) supplement. Plants need the C in the CO2. Excel provides the C in a different compound.

2. Some plants can grow healthily with Excel and no CO2. Flip it around, it means not all plants can grow well with Excel as the main source of C. I have grown JAva and Xmas moss really well with just Excel as the main source of C.

Actually, Colin, the problem with Mr. X is not that he thinks a lot of Excel will grow plants well. The problem with X is he thinks he can grow plants well with just requires CO2 (in any form)... and probably light. He is missing the big picture about planted tanks.

Edit:
I guess the best way to look at it is: Plants that can grow in a low light, no-CO2 (not even Excel) tank will grow even better when there is Excel. But not as well as with CO2 injection. All else tweaked to match as well of course.

[mincedmeat]

I think vinz just sums it all up pretty perfectly.

Actually i add in Excel only without CO2, just so because the plants I have don't so much as to require CO2 in the tank (hardy plants ftw?). Besides, I have plenty of fishes (read: high bio-load) in the tank which dispel some CO2 when they respire, so in the sense of it all, I suppose my not adding CO2 is also a pretty decent move I would say. Plants are doing thus far, except for the hair grass that crypts amazingly slowly.

[Peanut8787]

And to add something to this thread.

Alot of people always think that CO2 is expensive thus always tried to use other supplement to suppress the usage of CO2. In fact CO2 is not expensive at all. The expensive is only the beginning where you purchase your tank, solenoid etc. In the long run, what you probably will spend are just a tiny sum like $15-$20 every 2-3 month if you are blasting your CO2, well if you are those 0.5-1bps tank then a 2L might last you 4-6 month and also changing the washer inside the regulator cost about $2-3 every 2-3 month...

All these are based on personal opinion and only if you dont "upgrade" too often.... GLA needle valve really addicting... Lol

[felix_fx2]

And to add something to this thread.

Alot of people always think that CO2 is expensive thus always tried to use other supplement to suppress the usage of CO2. In fact CO2 is not expensive at all. The expensive is only the beginning where you purchase your tank, solenoid etc. In the long run, what you probably will spend are just a tiny sum like $15-$20 every 2-3 month if you are blasting your CO2, well if you are those 0.5-1bps tank then a 2L might last you 4-6 month and also changing the washer inside the regulator cost about $2-3 every 2-3 month...

All these are based on personal opinion and only if you dont "upgrade" too often.... GLA needle valve really addicting... Lol

I do feel most people feel setting up co2 is costly & keeping it running is acceptable.

Initial co2 tank: 50-70
Regulator single double: ---
Needle valve: ---
Solenoid : 80-150
Diffuser: 10-40
Piping: 3
Bubble counter: 3-10
Check valve: 3-5

Lump that together $200 plus to some for the 1st month quite painful. Still the fact that thinking every 2-3 months still pay to top up.

Feeling the pain in the pocket on and on. Not nice haha.

[Peanut8787]

I do feel most people feel setting up co2 is costly & keeping it running is acceptable.

Initial co2 tank: 50-70
Regulator single double: ---
Needle valve: ---
Solenoid : 80-150
Diffuser: 10-40
Piping: 3
Bubble counter: 3-10
Check valve: 3-5

Lump that together $200 plus to some for the 1st month quite painful. Still the fact that thinking every 2-3 months still pay to top up.

Feeling the pain in the pocket on and on. Not nice haha.

Lol... Hobby are expensive?

[felix_fx2]

Lol... Hobby are expensive?

Nothing compared to model of ironman mk2 or mk3. $270 for collector edition lol.

[prodrive]

Wah. Sound like me. Lucky I not Mr X. Hahaha. Recently I dump quite abit of excel into my tank! Disaster! But no, I didn't dump it in because of giving plants more carbon or co2. I'm already blasting co2 from pressurized tank at 3bps daily 8 hrs.

I read somewhere that I can use excel to clean my algae infested co2 atomizer's ceramic disc. After submerging my atomizer in excel and cleaning it(damn, this chemical is a bleach!), don't waste, pour back into tank. The rest is history! Hehehe.... No thought process going on during my moment of folly. Big mistake.

Anyways, just my personal experience with excel and not base on any expert or scientific theories. excel and too much of it does kill plants. I notice my plants either wither and turn brown if dose too much. Want to do planted especially co2 demanding ones like HC, just buy the co2 system. No excel or mini disposable co2 or co2 tablets is going to achieve the same results if that is what you are hoping for.

Cheers,
Happy planting