Excel melting plants?

[gmh]

I had some Italian Val that pretty much melted away after dosing Excell. Interestingly, it came back as a stunted groundcover plant. It only reaches a couple of inches now, a couple of years later.
I have also had spiral val, giant hygro and even some crypts melt after dosing the recommended amounts of Excell. Something about my water chemistry seems to react badly with the stuff.

 

[customdrum]

excel can kill moss if you dose directly on top of it.

i had some moss with string algae in it and used excel to spot treat it. it died within a few days. h2o2 is safe for killing algae in moss and wont melt it.

they say excel is only in the water column for 24 hours, thats why they want you to dose it so much.

 

[1oooop]

okay... you guys know what excel is?

It's a dangerous chemical compound similar to nitrate or nitrite. It can cause chemical burns on exposed skin or even fish if not dosed properly.

IMHO, don't use excel. BAD idea to dump corrosive compounds into your tank.

 

[montanafish gal]

is that true??? Anybody else??

 

[James0816]

I've heard that riccia and other liverworts are hit and miss with Excel as well.

 

[barbuto]

okay... you guys know what excel is?

It's a dangerous chemical compound similar to nitrate or nitrite. It can cause chemical burns on exposed skin or even fish if not dosed properly.

IMHO, don't use excel. BAD idea to dump corrosive compounds into your tank.

I have never heard this before. It seems like a majority of people on here use Excel with success and the fish don't seem to be harmed by it. Saying that it is similar to Nitrites and Nitrates? How so?

 

[Hebily]

LOL. How many people here dose nitrAtes? Potassium sulfide? Potassium Chloride? There are a lot of 'potentially harmful' chemicals that people put into their tanks to help their plants. CO2 is potentially quite harmful. If not dosed properly, either co2 or prime can cause fish to suffocate.

Kinda like how a certain fake sugar can cause cancer in rats if they drink the equivalent of 32 gallons of diet soda a day.

The key is to use these products with caution.

 

[Wycco]

Excel I think is based on an industrial cleaner... but harmless in moderation when applied properly in the tank.



I'm actually using Brightwell Aquatic's Florin-Axis as my CO2 substitute. It has a different ingredient mix. Tom Barr expressed some skepticism on it really being an alternate source of Carbon- and I trust his opinion.

... Nonetheless- I've had fantastic results using it... Whether it acts as a carbon source as advertised or not- my plants do grow more with it than without it... and it is 100% safe with all aquarium plants. (won't kill algae like Excel does though- so it's definately not a like for like replacement).

I can't say it's as good as excel because I don't use excel- but when I stopped dosing for two weeks as an expirement I noticed less plant growth... nothing scientific- just from observation.

$8 bottle will last my 55gallon tank 1 year as opposed to excel which is more expensive and you have to use more of it.

Can't say it is better or as good as excel- nor has anything I've done been scientific by any means- but I plan on staying with Florin-Axis instead of Excel for now... I'm happy with my plants and I'm a happy plant keeper!

 

[Hebily]

Wycco: Has Florin-Axis developed a bad smell? This was referenced as a negative side effect on plantedtank.net. I am considering trying it after I run out of excel, so I would like to know what to expect.

 

[Wycco]

I haven't noticed a bad smell... and the tank is in the kitchen so I would expect to notice it there.

I do have a jungle of an aquarium though... lots of plants... perhaps if you put in more than the plants can take up it smells... dunno.