Help with seachem flourish excel

[CraigDalton]

If someone could help me it would be great. I have a 200L tank that is planted with java fern and dwarf saggartia (probably spelt wrong) i am using seachum flourish excel and the bottle says after a large water change I need to add 20ml then every day its 5ml for the 200L. Am I over dosing it because I do have some BBA and it's not shifting at all, it's pretty much on the filter and a large ornament I have and on some individual pieces of gravel on the substrate. But I've done it daily for weeks now and nothings really happening. I have the lights on a timer to reduce exposure to light and I do water changes once a week. If I dosed less would it help? Thanks

 

[StandbySetting]

I would ditch the Excel all together, it is a powerful disinfectant and is toxic to fish, inverts and true aquatic plants. The benefit it yields in terms of providing plants with carbon is negligible. Treating algae with Excel is papering over the cracks so to speak, you need to tackle the root cause which will be a lighting/nutrient imbalance.

If your lighting is quite intense you could reduce the photo period. Please could you post some more info regarding your tank lighting and tank dimensions so I can ascertain the lighting intensity?

From personal experience I have found 3/4 day total blackouts to be effective in removing problem algae once the root cause has been fixed.

 

[Byron]

I concur. Excel is dangerous when dosed as recommended, but can be deadly if even slightly overdosed. The substance is a derivative of glutaraldehyde which is a powerful disinfectant used in embalming fluid, antifreeze, ship ballasts to kill bacteria, in hospitals to kill everything...no one wants to be putting this into an aquarium. The very fact that it does (or might) kill algae is a warning. Even Seachem do not advise its use for algae, they know the risks at least partially.

To the BBA...this is only an issue if it is growing on plant leaves. It is caused by an imbalance of light and nutrients; imbalance meaning these factors are not in balance for the plants and no more, and problem algae like BBA takes advantage. Reducing the light period may be all you need, but if the plants are doing well, it would be better not to mess with things. Java Fern is a low-light plant and floating plants might solve your problem as JV does well under these. Keep an eye on the Sagitteria, it is faster growing and thus more demanding of light than the JF.

 

[foxgirl158]

I would recommend a nerite snail to help with any algae issues. They are the best little cleaners. I have one quarter size in my 30g and he keeps it clean all by himself!

 

[CraigDalton]

Everyone has been very very helpful. I've got to admit ive only been keeping fish 1 year exactly now. I jumped right in and got what many wouldn't class as a starting tank. I got a jewel lido 200 tank which as you maybe know is the 200 litre square tank. Although I only just got a tank I didn't get it completely ignorant of the hobby. For a long time before I followed youtubers etc that were in the hobby and I've always had the interest just not the resources to enter in it myself. The lighting is beyond my knowledge but it is the standard light that came with it. If I am to get rid of the excel altogether what should I use? I use root tabs for the saggartia and as java fern isn't rooted in the substrate I use a liquid fertiliser also. My thinking was the excel helped the plants get the extra little boost to out perform the algae for nutrients.

I have use floating plants previously but in my opinion it hampered the look of the tank. I know that's not the main concern but when you have a tank you want it to look to your liking as long as the fish's welfare is in check too.

I have the lighting on a timer also at around 9 hours of light per day. In my tank I have just the single SAE which I hoped would keep algae at bay too but in all honestly I dint think Ive ever seen him eat algae or attempt it. I have had him a little while now bit I originally planned to get 3 or so but here in northern ireland it's hard to source fish and when you do find a supplier with brexit and covid supply isn't easy.

 

[Byron]

No fish will deal with "problem" algae. Siamese Algae Eater are said to eat BBA, but this is frankly hit and miss, and in any case the SAE is a shoaling fish which means a group, and they get largish which means more impact on the tank. Acquiring any fish is never the answer to resolving a problem (not being judgmental, just sound advice).

You could reduce the light by an hour, or two. I have dealt with bruh algae a few times in my 20-30 years of aquaria, but I have not seen it now for five or six years. I got the light/nutrient balance established and that was it. It is delicate--even the increased light intensity and duration in summer can cause BB to increase (solved that with window coverings blocking all light, easy to do in a fish room, not so easy in a living room).

JF is slow growing so less nutrients and light needed. Sagittaria is faster growing, somewhat. Adding even diffused CO2 will not help either without balanced light and the other 16 nutrients aquatic plants need. Natural CO2 is often more than we realize. A comprehensive supplement may be sufficient, given the plant species here; liquid and tab if they are both comprehensive should be all you need. These can cause algae too, depending upon the light and how much. I went to twice instead of once weekly doses of liquid fertilizer and the BBA increased, so I cut it back and BBA stopped.

Light needs to be of sufficient intensity and also the right spectrum. A Kelvin around 5000K to 6500K is best, or a high CRI (close to 100).

 

[CraigDalton]

Thanks very much for your help! I really appreciate the time taken

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Excel used properly is not toxic to fish or plants. I have been using it in multiple tank for 20 years. I have severl large clown loaches I got at 4 inches in 2002 which have always been in a planted tank thathad excel added.

I have bred DD black angels. assorted corys, BN plecos, montezuma swords, betta imbellis, rosy barbs, P. nicholsi, Farlowella vitatta, Hypancistrus L450 and contradens, cherry shrimp, danios (zebra, choprae and roseus), Pseudomugil furcatus and gertrudae all in planted tanks dosed regularly with Excel. The fish all threw healthy offspring.

I am not suggeesting you get SAE. But to get them to eat BBA you gave to stop feeding them anything else at all. I had am outbreak shortly after setting up a hight light pressurized CO2 added tank because I failed to use teflon tape on all the connection in the CO2 system and it all leaked out feast and it took me a few days to realizre this. The result was nasty BBA in the dwarf hairgrass. I gathered some SAE from other the tanks where I had them and put them into the one tank. I stopped feeding that tank and they ultimately cleared the BBA. I did not add Excel to the tank that got the added CO2
(The dark dots in the hairgrass are BBA.)

Re Excel. If it were harmful to fish and most plants, it would have been taken off the market long ago. SeaChem would have been at risk and would have had their reputation go down the drain.

I do not overdose excel- in fact I probably underdose it. I add 3 ml/10gal. of water after the weekly water change in all 7 currently planted tanks. (It used to be 12.)

 

[CraigDalton]

Excel used properly is not toxic to fish or plants. I have been using it in multiple tank for 20 years. I have severl large clown loaches I got at 4 inches in 2002 which have always been in a planted tank thathad excel added.

I have bred DD black angels. assorted corys, BN plecos, montezuma swords, betta imbellis, rosy barbs, P. nicholsi, Farlowella vitatta, Hypancistrus L450 and contradens, cherry shrimp, danios (zebra, choprae and roseus), Pseudomugil furcatus and gertrudae all in planted tanks dosed regularly with Excel. The fish all threw healthy offspring.

I am not suggeesting you get SAE. But to get them to eat BBA you gave to stop feeding them anything else at all. I had am outbreak shortly after setting up a hight light pressurized CO2 added tank because I failed to use teflon tape on all the connection in the CO2 system and it all leaked out feast and it took me a few days to realizre this. The result was nasty BBA in the dwarf hairgrass. I gathered some SAE from other the tanks where I had them and put them into the one tank. I stopped feeding that tank and they ultimately cleared the BBA. I did not add Excel to the tank that got the added CO2
(The dark dots in the hairgrass are BBA.)

Re Excel. If it were harmful to fish and most plants, it would have been taken off the market long ago. SeaChem would have been at risk and would have had their reputation go down the drain.

I do not overdose excel- in fact I probably underdose it. I add 3 ml/10gal. of water after the weekly water change in all 7 currently planted tanks. (It used to be 12.)

Thank you for your help

 

[StandbySetting]

Your Lido 200 has very high light output if it has T5 or LED tubes, I have had this tank myself and using the stock lighting to grow plants is not possible without CO2 injection. My suggestion would be to clip a reflector to the underside of the tube to reduce the lighting intensity. Limit your photoperiod to 6-8 hours a day for the time being and see if the algae issues are abated.