If Excel helps kill algae.....

When I started using Excel, it killed my BBA, but the algae balls were unaffected.

I've only hear of excel hurting anacharis and vals. I've experienced the vals...killed them overnight.

I suspect my swords aren't fond of it either, but only because they looked slightly melty from it. They lived just fine.

Your algae balls might be mosses. Not sure. Post a pic. =)

yes, you're right epic! That didn't even occur to me, doh.

I still can't figure out why Excel kills algae. See my thread http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86950
The manufacturer (Seachem) makes it sound very mysterious, too.

I just read the other thread. The active ingredient in Excel is polycycloacetylaldehyde or something similar. Basically, it's glutaraldehyde, which is toxic to algae, even at low concentrations. At higher concentrations, it's also toxic to plants and livestock, but I'm sure the makers of Excel doesn't make Excel too easy to OD in an aquatic environment.

The main reason I think Excel/glutaraldehyde is dangerous to algae is because of the fact that some algae are prokaryotes and have different cellular structures compared to plants. Also, since they're so simple, they might not have defense mechanisms against the glutaraldehyde. I don't know...

If you check on APC, the chief scientist has also stated that we should "think big picture, there's no chemistry involved" in which algae won't feed on Excel. But again, I haven't been able to think of it yet. =)

And the chief scientist is correct.........


Regards,
Tom Barr