Overdosed Excel to Kill Algae, Lost Half My Fish

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eeyipes

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Jun 11, 2008
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Never doing that again.

I've been battling black algae spots on my slow growing plants, so I thought I'd try the excel method. So yesterday I turned off the filter, piped some excel over the worst areas, let sit for about 20 min, and turned everything back on. Last night I noticed some of the fish looked a little distressed, so I did a 25% water change and increased aeration. I lost one old serpae tetra, but otherwise the other fish seemed improved by bedtime.

Checked on them first thing this morning, and at first they seemed ok. No more losses. Then over the course of an hour, I started loosing fish one by one. Did a 50% water change but lost 8 fish total. There's 6 left now, 2 of which look in a bad way. I'm keeping an eye on them now, and will do another big WC if needed.

I'd much rather have algae than dead fish. So ya'll can add me to the "bad fishkeeper" list today. Ug. :headshake2::cry:

Surprisingly, the winners in this mass extinction event seem to be a pair of geriatric diamond tetra. Tough old farts.
 

Star_Rider

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Dec 21, 2005
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I use 3% H202 in a spray bottle ..at water changes (usually min 50%) I spray exposed leaves and surfaces.. bingo.. works like a charm...it doesn't even affect the more sensitive fish(Discus and Altum) the new water neutralizes the H202

I have heard you need to be careful when over dosing excel..btw how much was the over dose??
 

gmh

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Feb 5, 2007
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H202 is certainly a safer way to go for spot treating since it dissipates pretty quickly and can be redosed daily if need be.
I've had bad luck overdosing Excel as well. It can also kill many plants if introduced suddenly. I use a small amount of Excel daily but avoid large doses.
 

vanillarum

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Jan 4, 2008
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I use Excel in double the dose with every water change (approx 30%) in every tank (currently 5) once a week. Never had any issues with losing fish. Are we sure it was the Excel ? Bummer for your losses...
 

eeyipes

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Jun 11, 2008
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I was simply using a dropper to dose where I wanted it, and not measuring. I didn't think I was adding much ... but I was obviously very mistaken.

Also this bottle of excel was over a year old as I don't use it much. Does the stuff go bad? At any rate, it's definately something I won't be trying again!

I've moved the smaller survivors to the 10. There is only one giant danio left in the 36 now. The water is a little cloudy, when it clears I'll think about restocking ...
 

jpappy789

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Feb 18, 2007
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Seachem claims it has an indefinite shelf life. I'm assuming it's in the sense that it doesn't "expire" per se, just degrades and becomes less effective over long periods of time.

Glut itself can be a nasty thing...so I'd personally hesitate to overdose Excel under any circumstances.
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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Heck. I know I've over-dosed my surgical sterilization product by a bit in the past (Metricide 14). Fish are squeaky clean.
 

gmh

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I dose about a bit over 1 milligram/ 10 gallons of Excel on a daily basis . I use a syringe or dropper so measuring is easy. I doubt that spot treating Excel using this dosage would present any problems.
H202 is cheaper for spot treating unless you already dose Excel anyway.
 
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