# Flourish Excel "Miracle Cure" ?



## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Flourish Excel WILL do miraculous things, but it won't really cure the thing causing the algae (which is generally too high light + lack of CO2) unless you continue to dose it long term. It also isn't very cost effective for a 125. If you do decide to try it, make sure to buy big (they sell 4L jugs - those are the way to go for big tanks).

You should look into the other causes of your algae, maybe consider looking into a pressurized CO2 system if that seems to be the answer (and it has been for many of us).


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## rcalzadilla (Sep 9, 2007)

Thanks for the reply.

This is a new heavily planted tank. Along the lines suggested by Rex Grigg.
Brown algae is really getting ugly.
Last Sunday(yesterday) water changed, 50 gal, with 12 gal R0 water. Now brown algae comes off easily from leaves and substrate but, still growing on plant leaves.

My 125gal/100gal net
KH 71.6ppm
KNO3 10ppm
Phosphate KH2PO4 1ppm
Potassium K2SO4 16ppm
Plantex CSM +B 0.52ppm
CO2 Pressure/regulator 30ppm
PH 6.6
Light 384 watt (3.07/w per gal?)

I am kind of desperate right now. Any suggestions welcome.


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## Bulldog321 (Aug 9, 2007)

do you have any snails or ottos in the tank? Snails will devour diatoms and so will ottos. Ottos will clean up the leaves too.


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## Kayakbabe (Sep 4, 2005)

'brown algae' coating everything sounds like a diatom problem to me, not an algae problem. Have you tried cutting back on your light? If it were my tank I would reduce the number of hours per day the tank lights are on. Is your local water supply high in silicates? I'd first go with reducing the light, then trying a big water change with part RO water instead of all tap.

.. adding this edit.. I just saw the other thread you started about your diatom problem.... but you never mentioned how many hours of light per day your tank is getting. I have about the same wattage as you.. and had to go to a on/off/on/off light cycle... I do a total of 5.5 hours a day now.. 2.5 hours on, 2 off, 3 on, rest of hte time off. I set it up so the 3 hour stretch is dinner time to bedtime for me. The plants don't seem to mind that i've altered thier photo period and I get to see my tank.


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## yoink (Apr 21, 2005)

I get a nice diatom bloom nearly every time I start a tank. Get yourself a school of ten or so otocinclus catfish and they will take care of it. They look cool in a large group like that too.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

rcalzadilla said:


> Does anyone one what is the latest conclusion regarding Flourish Excel "miracle cure"?
> I have a 125 gal new tannk with ugly brown algae and getting mighty tired of it.


Based on my own experience with tanks I have tested it on in the past, the alleged "Excel Cure" does not prevent or eradicate Blue Green Algae, it does not prevent or eradicate Green Dust Algae, it does not prevent or eradicate Green Spot Algae, it does not eradicate green string algae, and it does nothing for diatoms. The only success I had with it was with Black Beard and Black Brush Algae, but it took several....several...months for it to work and it got expensive. 

For me, excel is only financially viable if you use it on 10-20 gallon tanks to provide the plants a carbon source in a low tech non-c02 injected tank.

I would go with what everyone else is telling you. Address and try and treat the root cause of the problem and in the meantime get yourself a good algae cleaning crew of fish to clean up what you have now and prevent the problem from getting worse.

And IMHO, it takes quite a bit of initial and sometimes ongoing effort to achieve the balance required in a high tech c02 injected tank to keep algae at bay. Once the balance is achieved the tank is beautiful, but it does not take much to tilt that balance(ammonia spike from unnoticed dead fish, missed water changes, reduction in plant mass due to plant deaths, etc.,) in favour of algae.

Minimal algae with minimal effort entails a low tech, low maintenance tank. You are limited in the types of plants that you can grow but as Tom Barr and others have stated you have more control over the factors that could give rise to algae and the tank is more forgiving of neglect. And besides, not all low light plants are ugly - take the tiger lotus for example. Its reddish/pinkish colored leaves are just as beautiful if not more so than those of high light only red/pink plants.

Good luck


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

excel ain't all that.


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## rcalzadilla (Sep 9, 2007)

Thank you so much for everyone's input to my problem. I guess, everybody's problem.
I am going to sit back and really make up my mind which way I want to go.
I appreciate it.


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## rcalzadilla (Sep 9, 2007)

Bulldog321 said:


> do you have any snails or ottos in the tank? Snails will devour diatoms and so will ottos. Ottos will clean up the leaves too.


What kind of snails? Do you have a name?

I don't have ottos but I am looking around for some.

tks


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## Bulldog321 (Aug 9, 2007)

I bought the snails at petsmart. They called them a Gold Mystery snail and a Black Mystery snail. 

Below is a link to description of them.

http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/freshwater_inverts/fwi4995.html


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