# RCS and nitrates and F. excel



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

I have a 10 gal RCS tank. How high can I have the nitrate level?

Are the babies any more sensitive to F. excel than the parents?
I have successfully dosed 1 ml per day with adults but I know have about 100 babies.


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## rich815 (Jun 27, 2007)

Newt said:


> I have a 10 gal RCS tank. How high can I have the nitrate level?
> 
> Are the babies any more sensitive to F. excel than the parents?
> I have successfully dosed 1 ml per day with adults but I know have about 100 babies.


I dose 5ml a day of excel to my 60P (18 gal) RCS tank and all is good. Nitrates run at about 10-15ppm. It's also CO2-injected.


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## aquatic_clay (Aug 17, 2009)

I don't have but baby RCS but I have dosed up to 2.5 ml of excell in a 10 with no adverse effects on adult RCS. I would think that 1 ml would be ok with the babies too.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

What about NO3 up around 40ppm?

I have thread and hair algae (so installed CO2 2 weeks ago) and there is a KNO3 protocol with the MDC method of fertilizing. Only GSA can grow using this method.


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## Andy Ritter (Nov 26, 2008)

Hey Newt,

I have a 20 gallon with RCS and have been dosing with PPS pro, although fairly lightly since the tank doesn't have CO2 and only has a stock 15 watt fluorescent bulb. It is planted with Cyrpt. wendtii and Anubias barteri, so I thought that they could use a little fertilizer occasionally. However, I had a problem with my 75 gallon display tank using PPS pro with the nitrates going too high. I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner, but it just dawned on me that they might be too high in the 20 also. I checked with my Seachem nitrate test kit, and got a reading WAY darker than the maximum the kit reads, which is 50 ppm!! The shrimp seem to be fine and are breeding prolifically, but I'm doing a 50% water change as I type this anyway.

I don't dose Excel, so I can't help you there.

Andy


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Thanks Andy


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

i think 40ppm of no3 might kill a couple cherries or get them a bit stressed. I try to keep no3 under 20ppm


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## James He (Aug 24, 2009)

I did double dose excel and normal dose NPK with a while, my RCS stop breeding.
Just after I cut back lighting and stop dose excel and NPK, I got five female carry eggs. and plants is doing better.

I think 40ppm NO3 is way to high. I was shooting 10ppm at that time, RCS not dead but stop breeding.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

I put ass-loads of excel accidentally in one of my tanks. I didn't bother doing a water change.

About 60+ guppy fry died, with 14 adults, and 5 otto.
No shrimp deaths.

Shrimps are still living it up in a fishless tank.

I couldn't care less about the guppies.
I was really pissed about the ottos.


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## James He (Aug 24, 2009)

Gordonrichards said:


> I put ass-loads of excel accidentally in one of my tanks. I didn't bother doing a water change.
> 
> About 60+ guppy fry died, with 14 adults, and 5 otto.
> No shrimp deaths.
> ...


Interesting！ What kind of shrimp? RCS or CRS?
Do you keep dosing excel after that? Does shrimp keep breeding?

Will guppy eat shrimplet?

Thanks
James


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Hmmm. ok

Cherry shrimps were in the tank.
Stopped dosing excel, actually did a 90% water change and decided to do a rescape.
Original shrimp are still doing fine as far as I know, i have 3 tanks with cherries so I can't keep track of their breeding.

I would have to say that the guppies probably did eat the shrimplets, but there were not many adults guppies in the tank. 
The fry were only a few days old at the time.


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