Honestly, this is my first planted tank and it was so confusing in the beginning on what tank to buy, how much light the tank needed, what plants to buy, what fertilizers, how much fertilizer, how long to leave the lights on, and what fish to buy that are compatible together and won't eat plants. It took me a few weeks just to wrap my brain around cycling a tank....only to finally realize I didn't need to worry about it in a heavily planted tank. LOL There just isn't anyway I could've added another complicated thing, like CO2 equipment into the mix. Not to mention the cost of initially buying the tank and all...I didn't want the added cost of the CO2 stuff.

Excel isn't that expensive. I bought a 2L (2000ml's) jug from Dr. Smith's for $22. I dose 7.5ml daily which runs about .08/day and will last 266 days. So it will cost me about $28 a year. (That doesn't figure in the cost of shipping as I bought a bunch of other stuff at the time.) I don't dose any higher after water changes like the bottle says. (I don't understand doing a massive dose after water changes anyway. From what I've read, the Excel only stays available for 11 or so hours anyway. So why do a massive dose after a water change when I'm already adding a bunch of CO2 from my tap.) I just do a regular dose after a water change.

CO2 may happen one day. I'm just not ready to go there.