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Seachem Flourish Excel Bioavailable Carbon

Seachem Flourish Excel Bioavailable Carbon

Seachem Flourish Excel Bioavailable Carbon
$ 4.58

Score By Feature

Based on 6,038 ratings
Low light
9.30
Easy to use
9.28
Sheerness
9.28
Accuracy
8.88
Value for money
8.58
Easy to grow
8.11

OveReview Final Score

How Our Score Is Calculated

Product Description

Aquatic plant liquid nutrient that is effective at maintaining lush, healthy
Plants can obtain highly bioavailable organic carbon from this source
CO2 injection is easier and more convenient with the CO2 injection system

Questions & Answers

Why does the product kill algae, and does it kill other kinds of bacteria (like beneficial ones) as well?

There IS a risk of killing beneficial bacteria during disinfection! Cycling should not be performed with this product. As suggested by the fish store guy, I got it, but it stalled my cycle pretty badly. I called Seachem, and they said "Oh, you're using Excel?". Okay, so there's no problem for you. As far as antibacterial properties are concerned, it does possess them. Rather than putting that on the label I wish Seachem would put it in the product description.

Could you please tell me how I can use this for my 20 gallon tank?

Here's how it's supposed to work The first time you use it or after a major (ex. Once a day or every other day, take 1 capful for every 200 L (50 US gallons). The threads of each cap are approximately 1 mL, so please note this when dosage less than The "1 cap" corresponds to the "5 ml" suggested by the "1 cap for every 50 gallon" rule. lt corresponds to 1 ml per 10 gallons or 2 ml per

How safe is this product for freshwater invertebrates, such as amano shrimps?

To the best of my knowledge, everything is fine. Despite no warnings on the bottle, my snails don't seem to be bothered by it, so at normal concentrations, you will be fine. You'll see it says it's safe for shrimp on the directions, so no worries there. There are some people who use it at very high dosages and you may run into trouble if it's part of your plan, but at normal doses it seems quite safe.

Are these products safe to use on plants of any type to boost their ?

A plant can only produce photosynthetic products when it is exposed to light. The process of photosynthesis comprises the use of co2 when it starts. Photosynthesis occurs only in the presence of c02, but c02 does not cause it. Thus, if you have your aquarium lights on from this time, photosynthesis will start and you will need to add CO2 to keep the process going (if enough CO2 is not produced by the fish).

Selected User Reviews For Seachem Flourish Excel Bioavailable Carbon

You can see the results much better than you can explain them! It has been three years since I have started using Excel, and the plants in my tanks are flourishing
5/5

I'm going to post some pictures of my tanks instead of going on for a long time about my observations. Specifically, I have noticed that the red wendti thrives on Excel. Although the aquariums look a bit unkempt at the moment, the fish seem to enjoy it. Among the plants found in these tanks are Amazon swords, red wendti, java moss, ferns, jungle val, and even a few bulb flats. Plants that live on leaf surfaces. Excel and air stones are the only resources I use for planting these plants.

Miles Dougherty
Miles Dougherty
| Jul 28, 2020
We wish all our plants the very best! This product has made my plants happier since I started using it
5/5

I am a satisfied customer. The picture below shows my initial set up and the result. About six weeks have passed since these pictures were taken.

Haisley BIBI
Haisley BIBI
| Apr 14, 2021
I use it as directed and it works great
5/5

The algae on my new planted tank with CO2 injection has been a source of frustration for months, so I recently gave in and decided to try Excel to combat it. If you use this in the evening, or if you add it after a major water change, I would not recommend doing so. We had to tweak the light/CO2/Fertilizer ratio over the course of about two months and do regular doses of Excel to Among the fishes I maintain are Tetras, amano shrimp, snails, and cories, and none of them have been negatively affected. At some point I'll wean myself off of the Excel and see if I've found the right light/CO2/fert ratios to control algae naturally, but for now I'll continue to dosing as directed with the Excel. In summary It works to improve fertilizer utilization, even when CO2 is injected into the system, and it also helps control algae growth. HOWEVER, it should be used as directed. You can harm livestock if you ignore all this stuff.

Edith Moreno
Edith Moreno
| Oct 31, 2020
This product is designed to kill black beard algae
5/5

I had a very large and ugly infestation of black beard algae in my tank, and this stuff helped me get rid of it. It took about a month and a half. The Bba was always in my (over) planted tank, and even running pressurized co2 at 5 bps in my 30 gallon tank didn't stop the disease from spreading rapidly to all my slow-growing plants, including my extremely fast-growing Also, my plants grew pretty fast since it gave them a turbocharge. Dosing with co2 together had no negative effects on my water change schedule, and I didn't adjust it for the time being. The ground coverage of my tank is almost complete, and there is plenty of plant growth in the water column, but it is a mature tank. Seachem is typical of their product line, a little pricey, but it is usually the best.

Arturo Ingram
Arturo Ingram
| Sep 03, 2020
Plants and fish are dead after exposure to this pesticide
3/5

You should not use it. More research needs to be done. In the end, you may even lose some plant life if you do this. does not work for any fish, and especially not for fish that have no scales, such as The tank I bought, the fish I bought, and the plants I picked were all the result of months of research. It didn't take me long to read all the books I could possibly find. My memory suggests that I read a few reviews stating that the fish had been killed! I've been wondering about this fact but didn't have any additional information and all the reviews are positive that it's easy to just assume those people did something wrong, but I now know that's not the case. The freshwater goby I had died yesterday. I'd researched so much, bought him special food, took extra measures to make sure my tank was stable, had extra oxygen, kept the water completely clear, and then I didn't have any ammonia or nitrites, but did have 20 nitrates. I asked for help in figuring out why, and someone told me it was likely Excel was adding because it is toxic to fish just like ammonia and nitrites are. It was pretty shocking for me! After a bit more research, I learned that the sad truth is that Excel, despite what many people think, actually is toxic to aquariums. You may not notice any signs that your fish are dying from an ammonia burn, but they are still suffering from physical problems. In addition, fish with scales that are different from other fish, such as corydoras and freshwater gobies, suffer even more. The only thing I haven't seen other fish die is one of my fish. In the same way, if you have not experienced fish deaths, you are lucky too. I was aware there are some warnings about overdosing, and so I have always taken less than recommended. Fish will suffer irreparable damage if you add even a small amount of it to your tank. The tank was in great shape and I hadn't done anything to it other than adding Excel. Therefore, I am certain that this is what caused my poor goby to die. I also melted my jungle val plants, but it did not harm the rest of my plants so I just thought I'd have to live without it, but I guess I was wrong. That an additive that melts plants is not good for plants ought to be obvious to me. My aquarium is not a specialized science, but I do do research and read a lot, and I'm disappointed that I've never come across the fact that this is as lethal and harmful as ammonia or Anyone who is even thinking of using this product would do well to reconsider their actions or to perform a comprehensive search about its effects.

Cali Dawson
Cali Dawson
| Mar 26, 2021
In the case of a fish whose well-being is more important than your plants, I would not recommend this
3/5

There was a part of me that was really looking forward to this product. I have a plant-only In other words, I started with a daily dose of 25 percent, which is 25 percent of the lesser dosage, I never tried a large dose of medication in the beginning. My plants have not shown any improvement after a week, perhaps the dose is not strong enough to make a notable There's a problem with the plant tank water that contains Excel because it causes a burning sensation on my skin when I work in there. Though it might not be harmful to your fish, I would think that it would still irritate The fact that it is fish-safe leaves me with no choice but to not use it in my tanks. There's no way I can guarantee that they wouldn't be affected. In addition to good substrate and lots of water changes, I will look for other ways to help the plants. The hobby is one I entered because I love fish. Plants are also a fascination to me, but they are mainly for the fishes' living space.

Raul Underwood
Raul Underwood
| Jul 29, 2020
A great plant food However, snails are not to be trusted
3/5

Flourish Excel definitely brought life to my live plants, and I am a fan of Seachem products The two small yet very healthy mystery snails died soon after I used this product for the first time . My first guess is that their bodies couldn't handle the trace amounts of copper in this product. Despite being very cautious, I did not overdose or overuse. I have confirmed that the other invertebrates in the tank (ghost shrimp) have not been affected, so it is possible that the snails experienced a different event In spite of this, the fact that both snails died within a short span after first use seems to be more than just a Despite its great benefits for plants, this product is not as great for snails. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the dosage in order to minimize the risk of injury.

Hattie Robertson
Hattie Robertson
| Aug 09, 2020

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