Excel: Should I?

[gmh]

If you do use Excell ignore the instructions on the bottle and start off with a half dose or less, then work your way up if the plants cooperate.
I have bad luck with this stuff even at half dose but many people love it.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

why not look into some diy co2? yes i do hate it but even diy gas is better then adding excel. i think you prob dont need it but still i would do diy over excel in your tank.

 

[xpirtdesign]

diy is cheaper, easy, and will help at any light level

 

[naturestee]

More equipment= more different things for my cats and rabbits to try to chew on. Yes, one of the cats likes to chew cords and tubing also so a minimum is nice. Took me three tries to properly protect my computer speaker cords over the last few years... and that meant three sets of computer speakers.

I thought gas CO2 wasn't worth it in a low light tank like mine?

 

[xpirtdesign]

aside from the cats and rabbits, co2 at any light levels is worth it

 

[Mgamer20o0]

what do you think excel is then?

put it on top of the tank then.

 

[naturestee]

Excel is some sort of liquid organic carbon, no tubes, wires, etc. Also doesn't CO2 injection lower pH (or require lower pH or something..)? My mollies wouldn't be happy.

But this is also why I'm asking- is it worth it in a low light tank?

 

[xpirtdesign]

co2 injection can lower ph, slightly with diy, but from my understanding most fish wont mind, but im not sure about mollies.

 

[jpappy789]

pH doesn't matter...TDS does, which Co2 has no effect on.

With lower light I found that less is more. My tank did better without dosing liquid ferts on a regular basis so even with the use of excel you might not see much improvement.

 

[67chevelle]

I would recommend root tabs.I use them in only lowlight,plain gravel,or sand tanks.I just recently started using them with the occasional dose of excel and have noticed a lot more growth in the plants.Just my experience.

CO2,like the others mentioned,will help.