EasyCarbo vs Excel

[HiJaC]

Hi,

I've been using Excel on my 46G (with pressurised CO2) and on my 5.5G shrimp tank for a few months now.

I've been using the standard recommended dose for each and been having noticable results, especially on the shrimp tank.

I ran out of excel a week ago and had a larger bottle of easy carbo on hand so started to use that.

I was dosing the recommended amount for a heavy planted tank on the 46G and the standard dose on the shrimp tank.

But the effect on the shrimp tank was pretty poor. Growth is definatly slower on the mosses. On the 46G i was noticing that my ph monitor was recording almost 0.5 ph lower in the mornings than when i was using excel.

This morning when i dosed both tanks, then came back a few hours later i found all my fish gasping for air in the 46G. Immediatly i wacked the lights on and did some oxygenating water changes to help them recover. Checking both tanks i noticed i had a dead amano shrimp in the 46G and a dead cherry in the 5.5. Grrrr. First deaths in 6 months.

So...

I'm not happy with EasyCarbo, going to have to buy excel again.

Does anyone else have any comparible experience with these two brands?

Am i just using EasyCarbo wrong by thinking it is just cheap Excel?

Isnt it just the same stuff but cheaper?

Best Regards,

John

 

[Purrbox]

I haven't heard of EasyCarbo before. What's in the ingrediant list?

 

[HiJaC]

I haven't heard of EasyCarbo before. What's in the ingrediant list?

you know,oddly, it doesnt have one!!!

which i think is totally illegal in the EU.

As far as i can tell from google it has the same active stuff as excel.

 

[Nomad]

I have read about this stuff and people were saying it was the same as excel and same results?

Be interested to hear other peoples thoughts.

 

[HiJaC]

Hi,

After a handy pointer from nomad to an article i can pretty much confirm easycarbo has the same algae killing (slightly toxic) main ingredient as excel.

I think the issue i'm having is that easycarbo as well as being cheaper, coming in a bigger bottle is also more concentrated.

Excel was easy to dose from variants of the capful. Easycarbo on my nano at the maximum dose recommended (2ml per 50 L) id need to be able to measure 0.8 mil approx. Which is a little hard when the standard measuring cup they give you goes 2.5 mil, 5 mil, 10 mil etc.

I'm going to have to get my droppers out and mark off some exact amounts. Which i was going to do anyway for sorting the EI on this nano.

Best Regards,

John

 

[marcusbacus]

First of all, sorry for bringing such an old topic back to life right in my first post...

I'm having some trouble with brush algae and decided to try EasyCarbo instead of Excel (it's cheaper, and I'd need bigger amounts), but it is definitely different from Excel, for worse that is. With EasyCarbo, as soon as I use it (as some said, it's hard to get the precise ammount you need in smaller tanks) the fish start to gasp for air almost immediately. I use it in a tank with a just few (around 20) kribensis youngsters, and as soon as I put the EC, they all go to the surface. It has never happened with Excel.

It's only fixed with a massive water change and some extra air, and when I don't notice that gaspíng (in the first attempts to use it I didn't), there were some losses, one little krib a day, usually not the smallest ones though. At first I thought it was due to some anti-algae product I was also trying (absolutely useless!), but the main culprit is really the EC. I am not sure if I'm going to keep using it, trying to lower the dose, as I am actually using it more as a "medicine" for the algae than for the plants.