Prime

[nightfish]

I started using prime after i completed my cycle because i had ran out of aqueon ammonia neutralizer, and when i went to my LFS they had it but it was the same price as prime, and since i had heard great things about prime i decided to buy it. So when i do water changes i plop a little in and test my water, but it always seems like i have between 0-.25 ammonia reading. I use the API freshwater test kit, and i was just wondering if something is wrong, or if it just shows up in a test and is not harmful.

[dbosman]

I started using prime after i completed my cycle because i had ran out of aqueon ammonia neutralizer, and when i went to my LFS they had it but it was the same price as prime, and since i had heard great things about prime i decided to buy it. So when i do water changes i plop a little in and test my water, but it always seems like i have between 0-.25 ammonia reading. I use the API freshwater test kit, and i was just wondering if something is wrong, or if it just shows up in a test and is not harmful.

The simple answer is Prime doesn't remove ammonia. It converts it to a stable non toxic form that will show on many ammonia test kits. Particularly liquid tests.

More importantly are you following the dosing on the bottle for that plop?
Or can your plop beat up my plop?

[Honey Badger 1]

have you tested your tap water recently? my tap water has ammonia from time to time. sometimes as much as 1pm. how long after the water change are you testing? during the times that my tap water has ammonia in it i wait for two or three hours and test the tank water and the biofilter has converted the ammonia. but i if i were to test right after the water change i would get an ammonia reading.

[vinodjbhatia]

+1 dbosman

[nightfish]

Yes i use the correct dosage, well if im in a good mood..mhmm maybe ill plop the whole bottle in, no no haha just kidding i make sure i put the correct amount, but i do understand that you can use up to 5 times the recommened dosage. My tap water only has always had a reading of .25. after a water change ill either do it right after, or wait till the next morning. But it shouldnt matter because if prime doesnt get rid of ammonia, and just converts it to show on test kits, then thats exactly whats happening, its just showing up on my test kit.

[Lady Hobbs]

Prime removes chloramine and chlorine and is a very good water conditioner. It's concentrated so you use less than most other conditioners that contain slime coat or aloe.

Ammonia reducers are a different thing than dechlorinators. They are used mostly in emergency cases to knock the ammonia out. If anything to help out your cycle, I would use the Prime but grab some Tetra SafeStart or Seachems Stability which converts the ammonia, not knocks it out. You need the ammonia for cycling but just want it safer.

A tank will not cycle if you keep knocking out the ammonia because that's what's needed to cycle. You were simply getting rid of the ammonia rather than working with it and keeping it safe.

[nightfish]

My tank is cycled though. before i used prime i had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 20-30nitrates. Now i have between 0-.25 ammonia. I did have my water tested at my LFS and they got 0 ammonia, but they were using test strips so i dont know how reliable that was.

[Taurus]

The simple answer is Prime doesn't remove ammonia. It converts it to a stable non toxic form that will show on many ammonia test kits. Particularly liquid tests.

The API ammonia test kit tests for TOTAL ammonia including ammonium. Prime converts ammonia into ammonium (NH3 > NH+4), which is much less toxic to your fish, but still feeds the biofilter. So the API test kit is giving you a false positive for ammonia. Prime is good stuff because it protects your fish while feeding the biofilter.

[nightfish]

I thought ammonium is only tracable with ph levels lower than 7.2 or something like that and mine is always between 7.6-8.0

[Taurus]

Here's the facts. And with Seachem Products, the facts are 99% fact.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...ges/Prime.html