Flourish Excel IS Glutaraldehyde

[Ajordan]

I have read that the isomer actually helps keep the aqueous form stable to increase half life. That was on another forum but the chemistry jargon was convincing! If that is true there might be some value added beyond repackaging glutaraldehyde at a markup? Maybe? I guess?

 

[plantbrain]

In my area, Flourish Excel is ~$12.00 per 100ml ... this is NOT cheap by any means ... but ****, where are you buying your supplies at (what state, city?)

Regards,
JS

Big Al's on line, they sell a lot of products pretty cheap.
They also sell Tropica, often hard to get, locally, as well as other good deals.
So it's not just a one item place to buy from for most folks.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[plantbrain]

Really? Can you quote the source you obtained that data from?

I can buy 50% glutaraldehyde for a reasonable price, diluted to 2.5%, that is a LOT!

Regards,
JS

Source?
Err tested it myself ? :grinyes:
It's not 2.5%. I have plenty resources for test methods for plants, CO2, chemicals etc. It's not an off the shelf test hobby kit for 5$.......it's a fairly involved test method. The other thing you can do is simply ask. Not sure if they will tell you. Even so, I still verify things myself. Hach has a kit. But it's about 250$.

http://www.hach.com/hc/search.produ...TVRjNU16WTJPVGdtWjNWbGMzUkZSbFpSVmc9PUJURQ==|

You also need a hot plate to heat the reaction.

So for about 350$ and a hour or so, you can answer the question yourself like I did. I have a spect and the chemicals used in the standard methods as well as hot stirrer plates etc. So my readings are pretty accurate but this is not a bad kit either.

Have you ever used a 50% solution of glutaraldehyde?
It's nasty stuff.
Permanent eye damage, very toxic fumes at this concentration, folks make most of the accident errors ands spills when transferring and diluting chemicals. Think about trying to dilute concentrated HCL or HNO3 to save a few $.

If $ is really an issue, then you should buy CO2 gas or exercise patience and go non CO2.

I mean if this is really about money.

I think the risk and the economics for Excel are good.
At higher concentrations, I can just see some cheap hobbyist causing themselves some real harm. I do not like messing with it at such concentration in a vented lab facility with gloves etc. Foul smelling.

Stick with the lower concentrations.
Dry powder for KNO3 etc is one thing, highly toxic biocides at very high concentrations transferred by hobbyists unaware of how nasty these chemicals are and lacking safety equipment, fume hoods etc......is a recipe for a disaster.

Just to be cheap and save a few $?
I'll gladly pay a few $ for the service for dilution and good labeling and I have the facilities.

Bad trade off there.
Cheap and foolish are not that far off sometimes.

I'd say if you are passionate, then you should seek the knowledge yourself, do not rely on others.:idea: But careful, the road is not what we often think and we spend far more than we would have saved :wall:

I do not suggest Excel much if at all, rather, mostly for algae issues till the CO2 is corrected. Otherwise, CO2 gas is much more economical and safer than toxic biocides.

One guy accidently had a cup of Excel sitting there and drank it thinking it was water, only a tiny amount spit it out and said it burned like Hades and he went running to the bathroom to rinse it off for about 30 minutes. Burned for 2 days.

I did the same thing with brine shrimp once, but shallowed

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[plantbrain]

Excel is good for small nano tanks and for folks scared to add CO2 etc.
It is good for algae control till things are reset.

But for larger tanks and on going use, the economics even if you find cheaper sourcing, it is still much cheaper to use CO2 gas, then sell some of the plants you are growing to off set any cost for electric, CO2 etc.

I sold 150$ worth of plants and paid 40$ in electric cost, maybe 8$ for food, maybe 1-2$ for CO2 and maybe 5$ for ferts(mostly due to traces like Tropica).

So big savings comes from less light, traces.

At least from economics and not assuming labor cost, this is a hobby that can pay for itself pretty well. Excel still assumes these so.........it's really not that good economically.

In general, go with gas, or go with patience and non CO2/non carbon enrichment methods.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[DrNo]

Tom, any reports (or your personal knowledge) of enhanced plant benefits from the addition of both pressurized CO2 gas (at 30ppm) AND a scheduled dosing regimen of Excel?

 

[Bk718]

:bowing::bowing::bowing:

 

[SchizotypalVamp]

thanks for the explanation

 

[plantbrain]

Tom, any reports (or your personal knowledge) of enhanced plant benefits from the addition of both pressurized CO2 gas (at 30ppm) AND a scheduled dosing regimen of Excel?

No, why would you want more than you get with CO2?
Unless you cannot use CO2 the right way:swear:

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[calivivarium1]

Good stuff in this thread, thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

[Tango374]

I know this is a terrible thread resurrection and I apologize for this but I remember this thread from quite some time ago. Found it on Google today.

About two years ago after a lot of reading I had decided to give the 2.5% Glut a shot. Previously having gone with about 2 capfuls of Excel per day for my 75 gallon housing one Serrasalmus rhombeus, I purchased a gallon of 2.5% Cidex for about $13 and started with half-capful daily doses. Increasing the amount of dosage weekly, until I got back up to two capfuls.

Basically I just wanted to tell everyone here that for these two years the outcome has been more than great. This was one of those threads that got me looking in the direction of Cidex and feel that having used this product for over two years, to me, its more then proven itself to be ok for my purposes.

I don't spend a lot of time here by any means so if many successful cases using Cidex have already been posted multiple times here, I again apologize.