Instead of CO2 injection?

Question

Has anyone ever used Flourish Excel for Carbon Dioxide source instead of CO2 injection (regulators and diffusers)? If you have used it, how did it effect your fish and your plants and the overall water quality in your tank?

Answer 1

I do use Flourish Excel, but it is not substitue for CO2 injection. Being an actual fertilizer, it also promotes algae growth if your plants are not in their prime.

If you're not into the CO2 canister thing, you have a couple other options. The first is a carbo-plus block. Basically it is a flat black block between two pieces of metal, that plugs into a box (out of the tank) with a nob, that plugs into the wall. It is very simple, and it creates like a smoke of bubbles. It costs about as much as a pressurized system.

The easiest and cheapest way, though, is just to do a reactor using yeast and sugar. Take a 2L coke bottle, rinsed thoroughly.
In the cap, drill a hole that is slightly smaller than the width of some airline tubing.
Take the airline and cut the end of it at an angle so it makes a point. Poke the point through the hole in the cap and use pliars to pull it through, so it would go about 1.5" into the bottle.
In the bottle, put 2 cups of sugar and fill it with warm water until about 3" below where the bottle starts to curve in towards the opening. Allow the sugar to disolve, then add 1 tsp of baking yeast. Close the bottle, and put the end of the airline into the tank.
You'll need to attach the other end of the airline to something to diffuse the CO2 into the water (if the bubbles just float to the surface and burst, you aren't putting very much CO2 into the water). You can get a CO2 airstone, or you can buy a CO2 diffuser off e-bay (about 5-10$), or you can put the end of the airline right into the filter intake if you have a canister filter.
One of those 2L bottles is good for about 60 gallons, and will need refilling every month.

Answer 2

I have used Excel with mixed results. I used it for about 3 months. Its definately an improvement over using nothing, but its nowhere near as effective as direct co2 injection, even from cheap yeast water & sugar mixtures blown into a canister filter. With the excel doses, many of my plants seemed to not die, which was an improvement over my previous situation. Some plants seemed like they couldn't use it at all. None of my plants ever pearled up with excel. I only acheived good oxygen production & bubbles rolling off of the plants from co2 injection.

It had no effect on my tank's ph, which was neat.

It discintigrates after about 30-35 hours, so you need to do small frequent doses with it (1 per day in the am).

I feel like its not a total waste of money. Its better to buy excel than a potash fertilizer... which is often the first thing people buy when they get into plants. The cost is reasonable also. If you buy it at a pet supply warehouse type place you can get 1/2 a litre for around 13 bucks. Its not money best spent, but its not money wasted either.

I read a good interfview with some of seachem's scientists about the development of the excel product and how it works.

http://www.aquabotanic.com/carbon.html

http://www.tropicalresources.net/phpBB2/interview_steve_hampton.php

My advice to you is to use it in conjunction with co2 injection. While you're getting things up & running & learning the replenishment schedule of your co2 generators, this stuff will pick up the slack when you make a mistake. After you get things figured out, then you can remove the excel product.

Edit: It had no effect on my fish at all. They didn't know it was there.

Answer 3

what's the wattage of the ten gallon tank's lights? Java moss is a low gentle plant which potential it desires no more effective than a million.5 WPG to thrive. once you've a higher wattage, the plant grows swifter even as there is not sufficient dissolved CO2 interior the the water to shop up with it, i.e. then it may choose injections. in the experience that your gentle is a million.5-a million WPG then you genuinely received't prefer to apply it. Java Moss would not choose a particular substrate both. you are able to tie it to rock decorations or driftwood or opt for the flow it. it really is staggering now to not stick it less than the gravel because it may commence to rot.

Answer 4

I have never used to product you mention so I relly can't speak to it, but you can certainly go the old fashioned way with a yeast reactor. It's cheap, reliable and easy to do. I tend to think of stuff like this with the attitude of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" Aquarium keepers have been using yeast reactors for literally over 100 years with good results. With that kind of track record it's good enough for me.

Answer 5

i have a good old fashion yeast reactor on my discus tank, its cheap, easy an aside from the occassional blooms, never gives me a problem, the pH is a relative constant 6.3-6.4 the substrate is florite and i have a huge piece of driftwood that spans the entire tank.

never used florish excel