Co2 or flourish excel

[Brandon1993]

I was wondering whichone is better a pressurised co2 system or seachem flourish excel
Kind regards

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Excell can harm a few types of plants while high co2 can hurt some types of livestock. Personally I like co2. It's automatic with a timer and really grows plants. I have both types of systems, a small tank with undemanding plants that gets only Excell and a tank with co2 and more needy plants. Everything is growing in both.

 

[fort384]

I would recommend a pressurized co2 system for the long haul, but excel definitely can be effective with certain setups. Excel acts as a source of carbon for uptake by certain plants - but some plants, namely the ones that do not have stomata, cannot uptake excel, and it can actually have negative effects on them.

I inject CO2 into my current planted tank, but occasionally will use excel as a treatment for algae, as it is an effective prophylaxis against BBA and some hair algae. So I use both

One important point - if you plan to use excel as a source of carbon in lieu of CO2 injection, it must be added every 24 hours to be effective. Glutaraldehyde's half life is somewhere around 12 hours once in the tank, so after 24 hours, it is gone.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

Also from a financial POV, excel is expensive in the long run, even more so on a larger tank. I invested in pressurized co2 for my 55g after seeing the results with a DIY system. The tank, regulator, and reactor cost under $200 up front, but I haven't had to put another dime into the system since. That was 4 months ago, and the needle on my tank has barely moved. And at $14/refill, those look far enough apart to not even worry about that reoccurring price. But like others have said, excel has its benefits, especially with spot treating algea as it pops up.

 

[fort384]

From a financial standpoint excel is expensive. You can buy a gallon of glutaraldehyde on amazon for around $20 and dilute it to 2.6 gallons using ro water and have 2.6 gallons of "excel" for about 1/8 of the price of 2.6 gallons of excel.

Still cheaper in the long run to run co2. But if you plan in using "excel" I'd go the amazon.com route

 

[jetajockey]

Excel and Co2 injection are only 'sort of' comparable anyhow, it doesn't have to be one or the other. Excel can be used in conjunction with co2 injection, and it is definitely not a replacement for it. It is an effective supplement, though, but if you had to choose between the two, co2 is the way to go.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Excel and Co2 injection are only 'sort of' comparable anyhow, it doesn't have to be one or the other. Excel can be used in conjunction with co2 injection, and it is definitely not a replacement for it. It is an effective supplement, though, but if you had to choose between the two, co2 is the way to go.

Such a good point to make. I also use Excell in my co2 tank. The two aren't all that interchangeable. Yes, they can each do a "part" of what the other one can, and yet both have benefits that the other carbon source can't offer.