# Flourish Excel regular dosing



## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

I know that excel is great for controlling algae....but what if I want to use it for it intended purpose, as a substitute for CO2?

What would the proper dosing for a 10g planted tank without CO2 be? How often and how much?


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Read the label on the bottle.

A Google search for "flourish excel dosing" gave me this site as the first hit:
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/FlourishExcel.html



SeaChem said:


> DIRECTIONS: On initial use or after a major (> 40%) water change, use 1 capful (5 mL) for every 40 L (10 gallons*). Thereafter use 1 capful for every 200 L (50 gallons*) daily or every other day. Dosing may be slowly increased in high-growth aquariums. For smaller dosing please note that each cap thread is approximately 1 mL.


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

epicfish said:


> Read the label on the bottle.
> 
> A Google search for "flourish excel dosing" gave me this site as the first hit:
> http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/FlourishExcel.html


Yes i know that. But the labels on the bottles aren't always right. I want to hear what you guys do and what you guys think is best.


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## Ozymandias (Jan 17, 2008)

actually seachem i think give pretty good instructions for doesing


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## fritz (Jun 3, 2008)

I don't know much about Excel but if you generally believe manufacturers to advise overdosing (they often do), start with half the recommended dose and take it from there.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Characins said:


> I know that excel is great for controlling algae....but what if I want to use it for it intended purpose, as a substitute for CO2?
> 
> What would the proper dosing for a 10g planted tank without CO2 be? How often and how much?


Here's a link to a Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Seachem Dosing Calculator that I wrote. It may help you. It's the attachment in Post #1.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ng/45119-seachem-dosing-calculator-chart.html


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## DaveS (Mar 2, 2008)

I use 1mL per 10 gallons as suggested. I generally bypass the initial large dose after waterchanges This works well and is about as easy to remember as possible.

Dave


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

Another thing...

Do I HAVE to dose excel every day? Can I do it every other day? If I dose every other day is it still 1 capful for every 50 gallons?

And what would happen if I went away and didn't dose for 2 weeks or more? Would it crash like SW tank or would not much happen?


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## jackh (Jul 2, 2008)

i dose 2 ml in my 20g daily and im really pleased with the results so far, i never do the overdose after a waterchange. i dose the daily amount that morning and then the daily amount again after the waterchange in the afternoon, or thats what ive done so far. idk about not dosing for 2 weeks though but id like to know cuz im leaving town soon for a wk


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## Oscar17 (Dec 7, 2007)

I dose half the manufacturer's recommended dose, 1 ml daily in my 33 gallon (125 liter) tank, not Excel, the European equivalent of liquid carbon. (but I have very low light of course) It's true about the algae... I was plagued with algae .. especially on the plants. Happy to say plants are doing very well. Day of water change I wait until after the water change to dose. 

Ditto on the What happens when you stop dosing..? pH swing..? Plants should be able to hold on for 1 or 2 weeks...


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

jackh said:


> i dose 2 ml in my 20g daily and im really pleased with the results so far, i never do the overdose after a waterchange. i dose the daily amount that morning and then the daily amount again after the waterchange in the afternoon, or thats what ive done so far. idk about not dosing for 2 weeks though but id like to know cuz im leaving town soon for a wk


How large are the water changes you do?

I usually do 25% water changes twice weekly, but since turning my tank into a heavily planted aquarium I think I'll be switching to 30% weekly. Still ok with the no overdose after WC thing?


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## Jerseyfish (May 7, 2008)

I dose 1ml daily for my 10 gallon. I do a minor bit extra when i water change, adding the "new tank value" for the amount of water that's being added new. For example, if I do a 20% change, i dose the incoming 2 gallons of water with it's own 1ml, on top of the tank's 1ml that got dosed some other time that day.


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

And what about spot treating with excel to get rid of algae?

How exactly do I spot treat and how much excel is needed?


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## mavisky (Jun 18, 2008)

I follow seachem's advice for their entire line in my tank. It's working so I'm not messing with it. When I leave for my honeymoon next February I'm having my best man take care of the tank for me (he's got 4 tanks himself -2fw, 2sw) while we're gone.


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## jackh (Jul 2, 2008)

Characins said:


> How large are the water changes you do?
> 
> I usually do 25% water changes twice weekly, but since turning my tank into a heavily planted aquarium I think I'll be switching to 30% weekly. Still ok with the no overdose after WC thing?


anywhere from 30-50% weekly, depends on how much water it takes to suck out all the fish and shrimp waste lol. plants are growing fine imo


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## Solstice (Jan 9, 2006)

Characins said:


> And what about spot treating with excel to get rid of algae?
> 
> How exactly do I spot treat and how much excel is needed?


Spot treat by turning off your filter to reduce water movement, and use a syringe to apply the Excel directly to the algae. Let it sit 20 or 30 mins, then fire your filter back up and repeat daily until the algae is gone. 

How much you use depends on how much algae you have. Obviously you never want to dose more than your daily dosing, but 1/2ml on a clump of algae would take care of it pretty quickly.


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## irishspy (Oct 22, 2007)

Characins said:


> What would the proper dosing for a 10g planted tank without CO2 be? How often and how much?


I dose 1ml for a 10g tank, though I've been overdosing lately for an algae problem.:icon_roll


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

OK, so from what I hear regular dosing will get rid of my algae?

I have a ton of black beard algae in my tank....how long will it take when dosing 1mL a day to get rid of the bba? I don't need a specific answer, just a general estimation is great.

Or should I overdose or spot treat to get rid of it?


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## Characins (Feb 4, 2008)

What works best to get rid of brush algae? Regular dosing or spot treating?

And what happens if a fish swims into the cloud of excel? Does it harm the fish?


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## irishspy (Oct 22, 2007)

Characins said:


> What works best to get rid of brush algae? Regular dosing or spot treating?


I've been double-dosing Excel, and it's eliminated totally the staghorn algae and almost totally the thread algae I was fighting. I didn't have brush, but overdosing might be effective. If you do, gradually work up to a double dose to give your fauna time to adjust.



Characins said:


> And what happens if a fish swims into the cloud of excel? Does it harm the fish?


I've never had a problem interaction between my fish and Excel. I pour mine into the filter's outflow to speed up dispersal. :smile:


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