# EasyCarbo killing fish?



## Matti (13 Mar 2022)

I've been adding EasyCarbo glutaraldehyde to remove BBA, and my fish are dying!
I was allready suspicious about the stuff, so I tried to be careful. I dosed 3days the first week, did a 30% water change and dosed again 3days the next week.
The result is that I lost half of my sparkling gouramis!  And cannot say if it had any effect what so ever on the BBA.
It's a 55l jungle scape and the dose was 2ml/day. That's twice the recommended.
I cannot think of any other reason than the glut, as all the water parameters are ok, good filter, tank clean.


​


----------



## Konsa (13 Mar 2022)

Hi
I have used/use the product and haven't seen any ill effects on live stock.I had Pseudomugil furcatus spawn and hatch in tank x5 the dose in  past(2009) too.
However I am not aware if anything changed in regards of its composition over the years and it depends how(where)you dose it in the tank.I always dose away from fish/plants(unless spot dosing algae) to avoid exposure to high concentration.It seem my Bucephalandra in my  tank didn't like it at all lately(even in recommended dose) and started throwing leaves and melting roots tho.
Care needs to be taken when using this product  as its potent stuff.
Regards Konstantin


----------



## mrhoyo (13 Mar 2022)

I'm not sure if it was the cause but I stopped using it as I noticed a correlation between using it and fish dying. I've lost 3 honey gourami but none since I stopped using EasyCarbo. Also think it has killed some corydoras so maybe it's something to do with them breathing from the surface.


----------



## si walker (13 Mar 2022)

I am one of those people who has always dosed ECarbo. Always on the lower end of the dose. Now I hardly use it as had some plants reacting badly.
Personally I wouldn’t dose to the higher end. It says 2ml for 50 Ltrs but not recommende?
Pretty sure that there’s other ways to get rid of the Agae.
Good luck!


----------



## X3NiTH (13 Mar 2022)

Overdosing the water column with a Biocide will be having a greater effect on beneficial bacteria within the tank that is responsible for the Nitrogen cycle thus leaving the occupants vulnerable to either Ammonia/Ammonium or Nitrite.

If your water change water is municipal tap water ensure you have dealt with the possibility of it containing either Chlorine or Chloramine by using a Tap Water conditioner.

The best way to treat for BBA is to spot dose either the Gluteraldehyde or alternatively 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, to reduce negative collateral effects you can massively increase the accuracy by draining the tank to expose the BBA and use the treatment of choice delivered by a paintbrush.

If you need a liquid carbon supplement for the carbon and not it’s biocidal properties then using either Humic or Fulvic acid based supplements can be used and safely overdosed. 

For control of Algae (widespread water column dosing and supplying carbon) Ethanol can also be used but you need to be careful with the dose, an off the shelf easy to dose supplement you can source is RedSea NO3PO4-X.


----------



## John q (13 Mar 2022)

Matti said:


> I've been adding EasyCarbo glutaraldehyde to remove BBA, and my fish are dying!


Can only add anecdotal advise. Used excel about 8 months ago (prescribed dose)for a few weeks.. fish got sick (fin rot). Stopped using it and fish recovered. Started using again recently and.... fish sickness returned (bacterial infection.)

Lots of people use this on a daily basis and don't see any adverse effects to their  fish, I'd suggest the folks doing this spend far to much time monitoring the plants, and not enough time watching the fish.

For me long term glutaraldehyde useage will eventually cause problems regards fish health.


----------



## Matti (13 Mar 2022)

And now I noticed that my pest snail have disappeared. I don't really miss them, but still, never going to use glut again.


----------



## Tim Lee (13 Mar 2022)

Anecdotal again but def had issues and deaths when dosing, not a single one since stopping.


----------



## Unexpected (28 Mar 2022)

I've found that spot dosing H202 is much safer. I've also discontinued Glut usage as it always seems to melt a few plants.


----------

