# excel and marimo balls; good or bad?



## gibbus (Sep 16, 2006)

Hope this isnt OT. 
Hi I have a 75gallon planted tank which i give a daily dose of Flourish Excel at 7ml. I got a marimo ball or Cladophora aegagropila recently and am thinking of placing it in my planted tank. However I have heard that excel has an algeacide effect. Would I be harming the marimo ball by placing it in a tank being dosed with excel?


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

I would say that it will kill or at the very least damage it. I know from personal experience that it will kill most (if not all) mosses & Java fern. Some have also reported negative affects on Vals.


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## General Tso (Aug 7, 2006)

I disagree with the above posting. I had 5 Marimo balls in a tank for over a year with excel dosing of 2mls per day to a 16 gallon tank. I never had a problem EXCEPT when I was using a syringe for spot dosing and squirted some directly onto the algae ball by mistake. Marimo balls will take excel if its in the water column, just not a direct squirt. Go ahead you'll be fine. I actually called Seachem about this very same question when I started dosing excel and they gave me the go ahead.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

I don't think that you will kill any algae, wanted or not, if you forllow the recommended dose. It certainly hasn't in my tanks. *sigh*


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Direct Excel hit = damaged Marimo ball
Regular overdosing = some damage may occur (hence the algaecide effect)
Regular application = limited, if any damage to both Marimo ball and algae

So from the above your 7 ml of Excel to 75 gallon tank, you are fall into the safe zone for the Marimo ball.

-John N.


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## gibbus (Sep 16, 2006)

thanks to all the replies  . I'll be observing my marimo balls for signs of damage and so far they look good and are pearling quite well but I havent seen them floating yet


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## anshuman (Feb 11, 2010)

so did the marimo balls flourished or not? landed here by google , got marimo balls and use excel. now wondering.


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## griffin7882 (Apr 26, 2006)

i don't know if i would say "flourished", but my marimo balls are alive and growing (slowly) even with excel dosing


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