How much Excel in lower light?

[Fresh2o]

I know some people add more than the recommended dose.. I was just confused and I wasn't sure what you meant by "standard" dose. Also, you said 2 mL per gallon is a highly conservative dose.. but we're talking low-light here and 2 mL per gallon is far from conservative especially in a low-light situation.


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By standard I meant whatever is listed on the label.


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[PerfectDepth]

He said 2 ml in a 10

Got it. Before this gets any more confusing, I'm the one with the 10 gallon, the OP's tank is a 29.

I've used injected co2 in the past, but this is the first time I've tried excel so granted I don't have much experience with it.. but even 2 mL per 10 gal seems like way too much in this situation. I know the lights since I have one of those marineland LED hoods myself. They're not very powerful at all, especially in a 29 which is 18" tall. Low-light plants seem to do very well though.

I recommend starting with a low dosage and increasing it very slowly if you're going to try it in a low-light tank. It may not end up being the limiting factor anyway. If the plants will use it, then dose away.. but it seemed like the initial dose may have stressed my fish a bit.. I'm not sure overdosing is a good idea.


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[PerfectDepth]

excel ' s directions instruct a massive dose after a water change? It burns off in 12 hours so what's the point?

To sell more product?


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[Mebbid]

To sell more product?


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Yeah, but they wouldn't instruct a massive dose if it wasn't safe. I believe that was the point trying to be made there.

 

[trennamw]

As for the crypts, they honestly don't care about glut in the water. I didn't however see anything about root tabs for the crypts. With them being strong root feeders it's likely a lack of ferts in the substrate that's causing them to have issues rather than the glut.







I too dose glut at 1ml per gallon. It's not dangerous at all to the plants, fish, or inverts and my plants use too much of it for less to be effective.

I do use root tabs for the crypts. Seachem. New ones in August. Seems weird they would suddenly have massive melting if it was just root tab issues? I hadn't used them before.


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[Mebbid]

I do use root tabs for the crypts. Seachem. New ones in August. Seems weird they would suddenly have massive melting if it was just root tab issues? I hadn't used them before.


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Sorry, but the seachem root tabs are garbage. I used to use them and ended up switching to a DIY tab and it made a world of difference in my plants. It's possible that they just starved themselves of macros over time.

Here's a link to a thread I made about my DIY root tabs

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/mebbids-diy-root-tabs-308735.html

Peabody's paradise also offers some nice root tabs. It's a store ran by Jetajockey so you can funnel questions to him if you have any about his tabs.

Peabodys Paradise, Your planted tank HQ

 

[trennamw]

Got it. Before this gets any more confusing, I'm the one with the 10 gallon, the OP's tank is a 29.

I've used injected co2 in the past, but this is the first time I've tried excel so granted I don't have much experience with it.. but even 2 mL per 10 gal seems like way too much in this situation. I know the lights since I have one of those marineland LED hoods myself. They're not very powerful at all, especially in a 29 which is 18" tall. Low-light plants seem to do very well though.

I recommend starting with a low dosage and increasing it very slowly if you're going to try it in a low-light tank. It may not end up being the limiting factor anyway. If the plants will use it, then dose away.. but it seemed like the initial dose may have stressed my fish a bit.. I'm not sure overdosing is a good idea.


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Oh good. You know the light. It used to be in a very dark room, now it's by a south facing window with indirect sunlight. I think that may have bumped the overall situation up to medium light. Maybe. The crypts started to take off and the anubias started putting out a new leaf every few weeks.

Is there a specific dose you recommend starting at?


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[Fresh2o]

I use a different brand of root fertilizer (when I remember to use them) from Aqua Fertz. Three flavors: Total, Iron, Phosphate. 75 pellets / $10.



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[aqua_chem]

Regarding the original topic, I believe that the recommended Excel/CO2 Booster dosage is designed for pretty mild amounts of light like your typical aquarist might have. A much more difficult question would be how much Excel should a high-medium or such tank get.

 

[Brookster123]

Regarding the original topic, I believe that the recommended Excel/CO2 Booster dosage is designed for pretty mild amounts of light like your typical aquarist might have. A much more difficult question would be how much Excel should a high-medium or such tank get.

Aint that the truth.. I switched to pressurize co2 but kept up with high dose of metrucide, i know now it was a mistake. My star repens got massacred.. i don't know what else would have done it?? Not trying to high jack.
Op- as for the the root tabs. I switched from seachem to.mebbids tabs and the difference was astounding..not tried it with crypts but every plant I have seems to have responded very well to the added substrate nutrition.

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[PerfectDepth]

Oh good. You know the light. It used to be in a very dark room, now it's by a south facing window with indirect sunlight. I think that may have bumped the overall situation up to medium light. Maybe. The crypts started to take off and the anubias started putting out a new leaf every few weeks.

Is there a specific dose you recommend starting at?


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Personally, unless you're trying to kill algae, I would start with a half dose, .05 mL per gallon. If everything's already well-balanced, a little should go a long way. It will help your plants utilize a low level of light more efficiently, but they may not demand much extra carbon before the light level becomes the limiting factor. If you don't notice any difference, increase the dosage.

I noticed a drastic difference with only a half-dose, and I really doubt adding more at this point will speed up growth any further. Keep in mind I don't add anything else to this tank except regular Flourish once a week, and my plants were doing fine before I started Excel. I'm just hoping to speed things up slightly, and I plan on slowly increasing the dosage as appropriate.

 

[trennamw]

Aint that the truth.. I switched to pressurize co2 but kept up with high dose of metrucide, i know now it was a mistake. My star repens got massacred.. i don't know what else would have done it?? Not trying to high jack.
Op- as for the the root tabs. I switched from seachem to.mebbids tabs and the difference was astounding..not tried it with crypts but every plant I have seems to have responded very well to the added substrate nutrition.

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I just picked up Osmocote plus this week to make up some Mebbid style tabs there again I was curious if I should use less due to the low light. 0 capsules instead of 00.


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[Mebbid]

I just picked up Osmocote plus this week to make up some Mebbid style tabs there again I was curious if I should use less due to the low light. 0 capsules instead of 00.


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It wouldn't hurt to go either way.

 

[Brookster123]

I just picked up Osmocote plus this week to make up some Mebbid style tabs there again I was curious if I should use less due to the low light. 0 capsules instead of 00.


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I used the 0, all they had, packed them full with a 50/50 o and MG mix.

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