When and where to use Seachem Prime

[joel08]

Hi,

I just bought Seachem Prime and I want to know when I should put it into the water change bucket. Do I put it in right before changing the water or should put it in advance so this new water will be chlorinated before going in?

Also should I put it into the new water or should I actually be putting it into the aquarium water? How long does it last for killing the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

thanks

[sarajo]

If you aren't using a faucet adapter for your water changes, add the prime to the fresh bucket of water before pouring it in the tank.

Prime detoxifies ammonia and nitrite immediately and for up to 24 hours. if you have any ammonia/nitrite in your tap water, it should be consumed by your cycle within that 24 hrs

[fantailfan1]

Prime works instantly. You can put it directly into the bucket or the tank. If you put it in the tank, put it in before you add the water and dose for the entire tank volume. If you add the Prime directly to the bucket, you can dose for the volume of the bucket only.

It is effective for about 24 hours. It does not remove ammonia or nitrites, just converts them to a less toxic form. Nitrates are the end product of the nitrogen cycle and are removed during water changes.

Is your tank newly set up?

[joel08]

hi yes my tank is new is prime ok to use? i wasn't sure if prime was the right product but i bought the bigger tubes of it.

i thought it removes ammonia and nitrites completely so its harmless to fish. not sure if i should get a refund

[bodoba]

Prime or Amquel Plus are definitely recommended for new tanks because they detoxify ammonia, making it safe for fish while you are growing a stable cycle.

As directed, you dose for the amount of gallons you are changing, you add it either to the new water or before you add the water. I would definitely keep and use it and you've made a great purchase.

[fantailfan1]

Keep the Prime. Many of us use it.

It is a terrific product, however, it's ability to detoxify is limited as with any such product. If its a new tank and you're cycling, you'll want to keep a close eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels. Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? If not, we can help you through it. As you cycle, the amount of ammonia and/or nitrites will get too high for the Prime to keep the water safe and large frequent water changes will be needed. Many members set up cycling threads in the water quality section of the forum if they are unfamiliar with cycling and we help guide them through it.

Do you have a test kit? If so, which one?

Sorry for all the questions.

[joel08]

goldfish keeping is actually more complicated and costly than i thought it was going to be.

i cannot afford a test kit but i get a free water test at my lfs on occasion. the last test indicated that my tank was overstocked with high nitrites, ammonia, nitrates but i have done three 30% water changes in the past week and halved the stock in my tank so i only have 2 in my 90 litre tank 1 in my 40 litre.

Edited May 21, 2013 by joel08

[fantailfan1]

It does get expensive.

Having your lps test your water is a great option, just not super convenient. But it gets you the numbers you need and an idea of where you are in the cycling process. If in doubt, do a water change. You are probably at the stage where daily water changes would be helpful.

Feeding lightly during cycling will help keep the ammonia and nitrites lower until the BBs can keep up.

Keep us posted. You'll get there.

[joel08]

Hi the ammonia was 0.25 ppm and nitirite was 5.00ppm and nitrate was 40ppm and pH was 8.0.

I know this is bad but I followed the pet stores advice about water changes and bacterial treatment. But I am due for a checkup in 10 days time.

[fantailfan1]

Ammonia of 0.25 is not a big deal but nitrites of 5 is toxic. Nitrate of 40 is higher than we'd like but that will drop as you do more WCs and pH of 8 is fine for GF as long as it's stable.

Do you know your tap water parameters? Tap pH will be important to know as too big of a difference between tap and tank pH is also dangerous if you do a very large water change.

Without knowing your tap pH (unless you do, please post/repost it), I would recommend daily water changes as you go through the nitrite phase of the cycle. Shoot for 30-50% daily, or even twice a day if possible. Once we know your tap pH and where your nitrites are again, we may want to do an even larger water change.

Unfortunately, a lot of us have followed pet store advice, only to end up with sick and/or stressed fish. That's what brought me here.

Hang in there and keep on changing that water.

[dnalex]

In the absence of a test kit, you will want to be changing your water daily, to the tune of 50% at a time, until you can verify that your tank has been cycled.

[joel08]

Hi I just Put in the seachem prime for the first time and I noticed the fish started making erratic movements usually this doesn't happen when I do a normal water change with plain water. I'm not sure if the water will be alright?

[fantailfan1]

Should be fine. How much did you add?

How big of a WC did you do?

[joel08]

I did around a 35-40% water change with about 7 or 8 droplets of Seachem prime to dose for the entire 90 litre tank.

I have nothing to check my water's pH but i've been using the same tap water all the time so I hope they are closely matched?

Edited May 21, 2013 by joel08

[fantailfan1]

I think if you stick to 50% or less WC daily you should be OK. Next time you bring in a sample of your tank water to be tested, bring a tap water sample also. Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH of your tap are good things to know. Some people have a bit of ammonia and/or nitrates in their tap and wonder why they can never get ammonia to 0 or nitrates low enough.

How do the fish look now?

[joel08]

the newer fish seems ok i think it was kept well in the past and is still looking fine with minimal fin damage but there is some fading of the scales.

my other stunted oranda which i kept for 1.5 years now is looking slightly better compared to 10 days ago when the fins were looking torn and milky white. Actually it still looks really stressed the fins can be seen in my other post about 'oranda not growing', i think its slowly healing still.

[fantailfan1]

They are doing OK with the Prime now?

It does take a while for fins to heal, especially in a cycling tank. Fins crossed, they will get there.

[joel08]

I'm not sure if the stunted oranda will ever grow any bigger so I may just give him away to a friend. I originally bought him because I thought he would grow a lot bigger but it has stayed very small and the same size over 1.5 years. I think I'm wasting my time and money on him.

[fantailfan1]

Nothing wrong with a small GF . . .

[Chai]

Nothing wrong with a small GF . . .

Agreed. If you're really set on getting him to grow, you could always try to get a larger tank so you're understocked and feed it really well.

The more room the better !

Edited May 21, 2013 by Chai

[joel08]

Does Seachem Prime have a dose calculator because I can't find one for Prime. How many drops of Prime should I put in a 90 litre tank because I hear that this stuff is really strong so I want to put in the optimum amount for cost effectiveness.

[cathface]

I'm not sure if the stunted oranda will ever grow any bigger so I may just give him away to a friend. I originally bought him because I thought he would grow a lot bigger but it has stayed very small and the same size over 1.5 years. I think I'm wasting my time and money on him.

this isn't a great attitude to pet-owning, imo... he may be smaller because he is stunted from living in a small tank for over a year, but he may grow larger when you upgrade him to a bigger tank. I owned a stunted fantail from when I knew nothing about goldfish, who stayed around 4½cm in body length for just under 2 years, but as soon as I upgraded him to a 160l, he definitely grew a cm. if he had not succumbed to an internal issue, I would have expected him to grow a little more, especially if I upgraded again - I just wouldn't have expected him to reach his full potential.

in any case, I don't think money or time is wasted as long as the animal is being well-cared for.

Does Seachem Prime have a dose calculator because I can't find one for Prime. How many drops of Prime should I put in a 90 litre tank because I hear that this stuff is really strong so I want to put in the optimum amount for cost effectiveness.

you use 5ml per 200l - it should say this on your bottle of Prime. so for a full 90l, you should use 2.25ml. adjust accordingly for smaller water changes. since I use 10l buckets for water changes, I technically should use 0.25ml for each bucket but I add 0.5ml as my pipette only shows the 1ml and 0.5ml marks.

Edited May 21, 2013 by cathface

[fantailfan1]

My bottle with the dropper top says to use 2 drops for 4 L. My bottle without the dropper top says to use 1capful (5 mL) for each 200 L.

You can double dose Prime while cycling.

[joel08]

Hi how many ml's is 1 droplet equivalent to from a standard Pipette dropper, my pipette doesn't have the markings on it.

[cathface]

I think it might depend on the pipette but I just tested my 1ml pipette and found 27 drops = 1ml. so I guess one drop would be 0.037ml?