Will flourish excel (for plants) kill my discus?

[mattsoccer20]

Hi discus keepers. I just came back from my week vaction up north and i had one of my neighbors came and fed all my fish and the lights were never turned on. But before i left i put in flourish excel for my plants because they die when i go on vaction and when i came home just now my albino leopard is laying on his side almost all the way touching the gravil. But its looking a little better every 10 minutes so i kinda think i its because the light was off so long but what i wanted to know is, will the flourish excel for plants kill or hurt my discus? Please help me out. thanks

[Sean Buehrle]

Check for ammonia/ nitrite and do a couple large waterchanges today.


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[Larry Bugg]

No, used as directed, Excel will not hurt or kill your discus. It also wll be of no real benefit to you plants while your lights are off. Excel is used as a Co2 substitute. Plants use Co2 when there is light to help in the photosynthesis process. When there is no light the plants will not benefit from the carbon in Excel.

[ericatdallas]

No, personal experience with the stuff and it had no apparent ill effects. I also used it in the recommended dosage (not manufacturer's, but other hobbyists) to kill BBA and no problems there either (had cardinals, plecos, corys, and discus in the tank at that time).

Look up Glutaraldehyde and you might be able to save yourself some bucks. That's what I use... I'm not going to go all into it, but it's pretty well documented and discussed and significantly cheaper. Although, if you want the peace of mind and not having to worry about measuring out stuff, stick with Excel.

[ericatdallas]

Check for ammonia/ nitrite and do a couple large waterchanges today.

+1, just noticed OP said gone for a week, neighbor fed, but no mention of WCs. That's probably the culprit there, especially if neighbor overfed.

If they're adults, next time, just don't feed them and they'll be fine for a week. Buy a timer for the lights ($5-10).

Have your neighbor just check in on it to make sure nothing abnormal happened (i.e. fish jumped out, leaks, etc).

[Harriett]

A word of caution on EXCEL: if you pour it into the tank away from your fish, you will not have any problem. I make sure my fish are away from the area pour it in next to the filter intake so it gets mixed and dissolved in the bigger water column..now. The first time I used it, I had a mess. My fish came running over when I opened the canopy--figuring it was treat time I would guess. They flocked right as I was in the middle of pouring in the excel. So several took a direct hit. All that did, I lost by the next day. They immediately floated up and spun around and floated down but did not regain equilibrium. I think it blew out the gills or some chemical gas exchange through the gills rendered them cooked. I immediately moved them from the tank into a rescue tank with good water but it made no diff--they died. I lost 4 adults. CAUTION. It's a good product and I still use it--just be alert.
Best regards,
Harriett

[ericatdallas]

Yeah, I noticed that with my fish too... they think you're going to feed them. I pre-mix it in a 1L bottle during WCs (well, I used to, I don't use it any more). I would mix it in a 1L with my dechlor and while the tank was filling, I would slow pour it in. Never had issues.

[mattsoccer20]

Ok thanks people for all the comments. I woke up this morning and all discus were back to normal and ate there food and everything. So i think that the light being off for so long got them use to no light and when i turned it back on it shocked them.