CO2 or Excel for 5 gallon?

Rick Dotson · Post by **Rick Dotson** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:19 am

I was wondering if anyone has compared CO2 injection with Seachem Excel for growth results in a small tank, like say a 5 gallon. This is Mary tank and she is dosing both currently and she has plants that I almost killed are coming back pretty nice.

So maybe a poll for Excel or CO2?

Rick

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:43 am

CO2 all the way if you have to choose. I dose both a lot of times though.

JMLenke · Post by **JMLenke** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:51 am

do Co2 it is more reliable and isnt affected by you leaving for a few days or something.

Post by **krisw** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:51 am

Some people claim that HC benefits from Excel in addition to CO2. I believe it's similar to the KNO3 vs ammonium debate for nitrogen, that some plants prefer one source or another.

I usually only dose Excel on my CO2 tanks if my water level's too low, and the powerhead is blowing across the surface, and I'm too busy to top it off that day, or if there's unwanted algae in the tank.

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:28 pm

If you are splitting off from a a pressurized system, I'd say CO2. It has been a long time, but I had great difficulty controlling DIY fermentations in small tanks - too much boom and bust. I'd just go Excel rather than widely fluctuating dosage of CO2.

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:58 pm

Robert makes a great point, but it holds true for both CO2 and Excel. You need to avoid wild fluctuations with both. Pressurized CO2 is the easiest to keep stable. Excel works, but you can't let up the dosing for more than 3 or so days if you are being consistent about it. Being consistently inconsistent will also cause you a problem with Excel just like DIY CO2. You are almost better running without CO2 then having a disruptive schedule.

RTRJR · Post by **RTRJR** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:42 pm

What Sean is being too polite to say outright is that erratic Excel dosing or erratic CO2 levels are great algae promotion techniques...and do nothing positive for plants.

Rick Dotson · Post by **Rick Dotson** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:48 pm

Thanks for the insight. I have not really used Excel and wanted to know if it was as good as CO2. Sounds like, just stick with the CO2.

Rick

Judi · Post by **Judi** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:01 pm

With my 2.5 gallon, I did both co2 and Excel for quite some time.

I began with Excel, and switched to diy co2 when I was going to be out of town for a few days. I later started adding Excel in addition to the co2 to help with an algae problem, and continued doing both Excel and co2 long after the algae was eliminated because I liked the results. The downoi and HC in particular just seemed to go insane.

Within the past couple weeks or so, I decided to slowly eliminate the Excel, and see how it goes. So far, so good.

CO2 or Excel for 5 gallon?

CO2 or Excel for 5 gallon?

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