# Does Flourish Excel kill Riccia ??



## co2 (Sep 13, 2004)

Yes, Excel overdose does kill Riccia, the only other plant/genus I had the same problem with is Valisneria. I'm sure that there are others.


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## Brian A (Sep 3, 2002)

add Najas grass to that list, hornwort too.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

My Najas grass was never affected by my Excel ODing (though I wish it had been  ), but my Pellia started melting.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I have never had Flourish Excel adversely effect my Riccia.

25ml of Flourish Excel in your 30G? 25ml seems like a lot of Flourish Excel. regular dosage would be 5ml per 10G (15ml) at water change. Then about 1ml per 10G (3ml) thereafter. So if you are over dosing Flourish Excel to rid the aquarium of algae you should be dosing 2x (possibly 3x with _extreme_ care) the recommended amount or 15ml at water change and 6ml (or 9ml if over dosing 3x) thereafter. 

Would someone else check me on this?

Mike


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## zig (Jun 4, 2005)

Mike your calculations are correct, 5ml per 10 gallons and 1ml thereafter and if overdosing increase the daily dosage accordingly.

This is some Riccia i had floating in a tank i was overdosing with Excel at 3x for bba, these were quite thick mats of Dwarf Riccia that had been floating for a while, this picture was taken on day 4 of a 14 day treatment, i just removed the damaged parts and placed the remaining Riccia in a different tank and it survived just fine, the only reason i checked the Riccia (theres a hood over the tank) was because some Egeria densa that i had in the tank pretty much disintegrated overnight and i had to remove it from the tank, the bits in the bucket are the pieces i could fish out the rest (about the same amount again) just melted in my hands and i couldnt remove it, i lost some vallis as well, but the treatment worked for the bba and i have been clear of it since.

So yes it will damage plants but i think it depends on the individual tank, but something to be aware of before you start (unlike me )


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## Takechanmanus (Oct 9, 2005)

Thank you, everyone. The directions say:

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 maybe slowly increased in high-growth aquariums. . . . . DO NOT OVERDOSE !

Yes, it does say DO NOT OVERDOSE ! . . I just found the print on the bottle:biggrin: 

I thought I could overdose 2x/3x from the initial use . . . i guess not. I was inpatient, trying to make my tank with no algae :icon_redf


Tak


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

Is there any connection between water changes and amounts for dosing? I understand initially i want to dose after a water change. But moving forward my doses don't have to be connected to water changes do they? Thanks!


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

My Riccia grows like a weed, and the only time that I saw that kind of weed like growth was when I put duckweed in my tank. The only tank where the riccia is contained enough not to cause issues is in my low tech Tom Barr type 5 gallon setup.

In my following tanks it is growing like a weed. I dose Estimative Index fullt throttle and 2-3x dose of Excel, water changes are 50% weekly. Like I said the Riccia is prolific to the point that that it literally chokes out the surface within 1-2 weeks and the Excel does not effect it negatively.

10 gallon with 20 watts compact fluorescent via 2 bulbs 6500K. C02 with DIY 2 litre setup plus 2X Excel Dosing. Substrate is Schultz Aquatic Soil, Riccia is out of control.

15 gallon high tech with ADA Aquasoil II, 46 watt compact fluorescent light bulb lighting via two bulbs 6500K, c02 with DIY 2 litre setup plus daily 2X Excel Dosing. Riccia is also out of control.

5 gallon low tech Tom Barr Type Set up, single 15 watt compact fluorescent light bulb 6500K, no c02 but daily dosing of Excel. Riccia is not spreading and pretty much contained to one lump of growth on the surface.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

If you overdose too much on Excel it CAN kill everything in the tank... livestock and all the plants inclusive.

You need to follow the directions on the bottle. The term "Overdose" when treating algae is relative. Doesn't mean you can just throw a bunch in the tank and hope for the best.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

lauraleellbp said:


> If you overdose too much on Excel it CAN kill everything in the tank... livestock and all the plants inclusive.
> 
> You need to follow the directions on the bottle. The term "Overdose" when treating algae is relative. Doesn't mean you can just throw a bunch in the tank and hope for the best.


I have never killed anything at the double daily dose rate, and I have the most sensitive critters in my tanks. In one tank(10 gallon) that I am double dosing and have been for quite some time I have about 5 Amano Shrimp and they are still alive and kicking and some have even tripled in size. In the other tank (15 gallon high) I have a Kuhli Loach and SAE which are still alive and kicking. In the 5 gallon, I have an Otocat, 2 Amano Shrimp, Assassin Shrimp and they are still alive and kicking and have been for some time. in my 40 gallon where I double dose daily, the SAE, Albino Bristlenose Pleco, 3 Black Skirt Tetras and male+female Kribensis Cichlids are still as healthy as ever. The only critter that I believe may be negatively effected by such a dose is a Dwarf Aquatic Frog, but I cannot conclusively say this as I have no hard science to back it up. I have just had more Dwarf Aquatic Frogs die in planted tanks where I dose Excel than in tanks where I did not, but this could just be a coincidence. Cause and effect relationships are difficult to prove. 

I do agree overdosing is a relative term. I certainly would not risk going over a triple dose at the most.


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