Flourish excell against black algae - planted aquarium only?

[Stella]

I see over and over that Flourish Excell is effective against black beard algae if used in a double dose.

Is this only for planted aquaria? Does it still work if you have no higher plants at all?

Does it work because extra growth of the plants takes nutrients away from the algae or is there something else going on?

What effect does it have on green alga? I actually like and want my green alga.

[alanmin4304]

I read somewhere that it has an algaecidal component that they do not advertise (as well as stripping nutrient)

[HaNs]

Squirt it onto the BBA

[Cheesejawa]

Im pretty sure it has algae destroying properties because it changes the carbon or something structure in the water which is deadly for some algae types. I should go read the bottle. :lol:

yeah but its not harmful to fish so I dont see why you couldnt use it in a non planted tank.

[Wok]

Flourish Excel is also very good at killing

Riccia

and twisted Val.

[alanmin4304]

My point was that it may kill or at least discourage the green algae that you wish to encourage. Best may be to experiment on a setup where it does not matter.

[skaffen]

They don't advertise it as having algaecidal properties because of the red tape that would generate for them.

BTW, I'm dosing at recommended rates and my Riccia is doing fine.

[Stella]

Ah that is great news, thanks.

I just discovered a different tank to the one I was thinking of using it in has gone nuts with BBA.

Some new questions:

1 - Will it kill green algae?

2 - Will it kill higher, branched algae (charophytes, nitella)

3 - How do you work out the dosage?

4 - How much does a bottle cost?

Thanks

[skaffen]

1 - Don't know

2 - Don't know

3 - Read the bottle

4 - Too much!

Actually, regarding #4 - the bigger bottles do work out cheaper in $/ml . The local A shop charges stupid amounts for the small bottles...

[purplecatfish]

Although it will kill the BBA with direct contact (use a syringe to squirt it on). It only indirectly affects other algae by allowing higher plants to outcompete the algae for other nutrients. The green algae will then starve to death (assuming that there is a limiting amount of nutrients i.e. not like my tanks :lol: )