Switching to Prime.

[Cliff]

Up until now I’ve used nutrafin aqua plus water conditioner / dechlorinater . I have not had any real problems with it. I’m running low and will need to buy more water conditioner / dechlorinater soon. I’m thinking of switching to prime as everything that I’ve read makes it sound like a better product. As I don’t use any other chemical products in my tanks I won’t have to worry about the prime reacting to any other products.

My question is related to how I make the switch. When I stop using nutrafin and switch to prime, can I just do that during a weekly 50% water change ? Could there be a bad reaction between having water treated by the two different products in the tank at the same time?

I don't think there would be any problems but there’s nothing about this on the manufacture’s web page. I would just like to double check with everyone here.

[Northernguy]

I don't think it will give you any problems.Just make the switch and do not over dose the tank.It is a much more concentrated product.

[Lady Hobbs]

I've switch to Prime, too, simply because it doesn't take so much. I can't find it anywhere here so order it online when I have other things to order.

[EmmanuelJB]

You won't have a problem if there is still some aqua plus in the tank... I use the products together, and nothing has gone wrong.

[HeatherB]

I switched over a couple weeks ago and had not problems. Just be careful not to overdose.

[Cliff]

Thanks everyone.

I will be extra careful when using Prime so I don't overdose. I’m going to get a syringe from our local vet next week (when taking one of our boys in for their shots) just so I can get used to using this stuff. It’s a lot more concentrated than anything that I’ve used before.

Cheers

[Northernguy]

It is best to be cautious but adding extra prime will not hurt.Too much extra maybe but it would take an awful lot.
Being exact will save you money though!lol

[korith]

Prime goes a long way compared to other dechlorinators. I actually use pond prime, was able to get a great deal for it. Really need to watch how much I use, syringes are a good idea. Or medicine droppers.

[Sarkazmo]

I've jumped on the Prime band wagon as well. I just switched over and it's so much easier to deal with. I deal small volumes of water with my Bettas so it's great to be able to use a drop instead instead of 1ml as with Stress Coat+. Also the switch was made because I'm going to start using Seachem's Purigen in all my tanks which goes toxic if used with conditioners that have Aloe as an ingredient.

Anyway, love the stuff!

Sark

[Spardas]

Use Safe, it is a highly concentrated powder form of Prime. It is highly cost effective and for a typical hobbyist; 1 kg will last a very long time. 1 kg costs about $30.

Here's an analysis of Safe that I did with Cloram X in another forum:

1 kg of Cloram X will treat (35.2739619 oz X 235 gallons) = 8289.381047 gallons (ammonia)

1 kg of Safe will treat:

1 measure to 60L : 150000 gallons
1 measure to 75L : 200000 gallons
1 measure to 11L: 30000 gallons (ammonia)

Note! This does not take into consideration price yet! Please visit post 18 for a comparison with both weight and dollar amount between the 2 products.

Overall, Safe will treat for about twice as much with the same amount of money as Cloram X.

Actually, I'll make it simpler than post #18

Let's take 4kg of Safe at $109 which will treat 120000 gallons with the highest dosage.

1 kg of Cloram X will treat 8289.381047 gallons at the highest dosage. So we take 120000 for Safe/ 8289.381047 for Cloram X and we'll get 14.47635. So, it'll take 14.47635 kg of Cloram X to treat the same amount as 4kg of Safe.

14.47635 kg of Cloram X will be about 31.9148937 lb. So we'll use the bulk rate of $400/55 lb of Cloram X for the cheapest cost.

So, it'll be (31.9148937 lb divided by 55 lb) times $400 and we'll get $232.11.

$109/$232.11 = 0.469604929

This means that Safe is about 50% cheaper and will treat the same volume. Hope this version is less confusing, lol.

Before anyone else get confused with the dosage label, I'm going to explain that as well.

The calculation I did previously were for the removal of 1ppm for both products (Cloram X & Safe).

Now, if you receive the label fo Safe with 4ppm removal like this:
Chlorine: use 5g (1tsp*)to each 750l (200gallons*) of tap water (removes 4 ppm).
Chloramine: use 5g (1tsp*)to each 950l (250gallons*) of tap water (removes 4 ppm).
Ammonia: use 5g (1tsp*)to each 150l (40gallons*) of tap water (removes 4 ppm). Do not overdose!

It's not much different.

When you do the math out, it should be

5g to 750L

5.06666667g to 950L

5.45454545g to 150L


This is for 4ppm removal!

When they say 1kg will treat 200,000 gallons in the bottom of label, they're using the 1ppm calculation of the 1 to 75L ratio.

For those who are more comfortable with tsp, just divide by 4 since the label is used to treat 4ppm as opposed to 1ppm.

Let's say for example your tap water has Chlorine level at 2ppm, Chloramine at 1ppm, and ammonia at 0.

If we go by the recommended dosage, then it'll be 4ppm/2ppm and you'll get 2. So, 1/2 tsp will take care of the Chlorine for u to 200 gallons. Since Chloramine is only at 1ppm, then that 1/2 tsp will also take care of that because about 1/4 tsp will be able to take care of 250 gallons. Since there are no ammonia present, then we don't have to worry about that in this example.

So, get the information from your water company and figure it out. The highest concentration allowed is 4ppm for Chlorine and Chloramine in our tap water, that's why we have those dosage.

So, 1kg does indeed treat 200,000 gallons but that's with 1ppm of chloramine.

If your water has 4ppm of chloramine, 1kg will treat 50,000 gallons.