many opinions on prime here is the fact

[troysdiiscus]

I have read many different opinions on how to use prime and how long it lasts, hope this helps.....

Contacted prime and here is what they said about there product

Prime is active for 24 to 48 hours. When prime is added to water it will remove chlorine and chloramine permanently. However, the ammonia,nitrites and nitrates are detoxified but do not remain so after the 48 hours. So if you add it to your water in the barrel for future use (longer than 48 hours) the water will not have chlorine or chloramines but the ammonia, nitrites or nitrates that were originally detoxified will no longer be detoxified. When prime is added directly to an aquarium it will remove the chlorine and chloramines and detoxify ammonia, nitrites and nitrates but still leaves these nitrogenous compounds available for the beneficial bacteria to consume.

So for what I am reading it is best to add the prime to your aging barrel right before you fill your tank and you know how much to dose for because you know how much is in your aging barrel. The same could be done directly in your tank for the amount of water you are filling from your barrel to dose your tank.

[Wjmulder]

Oh boy, here we go again...when adding prime to your tank dose for the entire tank volumn regardless of how much water you are adding.

[Trier20]

Oh boy, here we go again...when adding prime to your tank dose for the entire tank volumn regardless of how much water you are adding.

+1

[cjr8420]

everything is right except if dosing tank u need to dose tank volume not just the amount ur are changing.the prime will start binding the bad stuff in the old water so when u add the new water part of the pime is already been used and is posible not enough left to bind everything in the new water coming in

[lipadj46]

LOL, just buy Safe and you won't have to worry about saving money on a dechlor.

[DonMD]

I don't get the point of adding prime for the entire water column when only changing 50%. I use prime to remove chlorine and chloramines, that's it. The ammonia and nitrites are removed by my biological filtration, and the nitrates are reduced by daily w/c's. So in my 125 gallon, when I change 50 gallons, I re-dose prime for 50 gallons. Am I missing something?

[cjr8420]

I don't get the point of adding prime for the entire water column when only changing 50%. I use prime to remove chlorine and chloramines, that's it. The ammonia and nitrites are removed by my biological filtration, and the nitrates are reduced by daily w/c's. So in my 125 gallon, when I change 50 gallons, I re-dose prime for 50 gallons. Am I missing something?

yep read post 4

[lipadj46]

I don't get the point of adding prime for the entire water column when only changing 50%. I use prime to remove chlorine and chloramines, that's it. The ammonia and nitrites are removed by my biological filtration, and the nitrates are reduced by daily w/c's. So in my 125 gallon, when I change 50 gallons, I re-dose prime for 50 gallons. Am I missing something?

No you are not missing anything. Seachem says to treat the whole tank volume no matter what, so people take it as gospel.

sent from an undisclosed location using morse code

[Orange Crush]

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?97726-TOO-MUCH-PRIME-WITH-WATER-CHANGES!/page6
read post #83 for the cliff notes of the 6 page thread

[fredyx]

We always use prime in the aging tank, what we want to remove is chlorine and chloramines.
The effect over nitrogen compounds is temporary and useful in case of emergency to deal with a nitrite-ammonia sudden increase in the tank. The rationale is simple you remove all chloro compounds in the reservoir that's the deal. If you have nitrates in your water supply you will need RO in any case, they will be always there no matter how you employ the prime THE EFFECT OF PRIME OVER NITROGEN COMPOUNDS IS TIME LIMITED!!. For normal levels of ammonia and nitrite the filter will remove them, nitrate by wc's.

[Orange Crush]

Post #83 (I hope Bugman aka Larry does not mind me copy and paste this).

For what it is worth, I heard back from my contact at Seachem. Here is his reply. Pretty much what has already been stated by a lot of people here.


Hey Larry,

Sorry I am just getting back to you, I have been out of the office at a show. We are very happy to sponsor such events and I am gladd that it was a success. Just wish I could have made it, especially for the auction!

To address the dosing of water conditioners, we must first look at how they function. All water dechlor or conditioners function by employing a reducing agent. This compound reduces and binds with assorted molecules to render them harmless. In the case of chlorine, a reducing agent will break the bond between the two atoms resulting in two chloride atoms. The same happens with chloramine only this results in three chloride atoms and a nitrogen. Most conditioners, especially Prime and Safe, also bind with other compounds to render them harmless. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are just a few of the common compounds that are effected. So, when you add Prime to a solution containing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and chlorine, some of the Prime will break apart the chlorine and some will bind with the other compounds. So, if you are doing a water change in a tank that contains a fair amount of nitrate or some other compound, some of the conditioner will be utilized to detoxify these and will not be available to break apart the chlorine or chloramine. If you treat the water before adding it to the aquarium, the conditioner will remove any of the chlorine and chloramine. Any remaining conditioner will then bind with other compounds when added to the tank.

So... if adding water to the tank before treating, it is best to treat for the volume of the entire aquarium. This ensures that there is enough of the conditioner available to remove any chlorine or chloramine, without being effected by any ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate currently in the water. Think of it this way, when treating water before adding it to the tank, there are less harmful compounds to be detoxified. When adding it to the tank first, the conditioner will have more than just chlorine and chloramine to detoxify and therefore will require a larger dose. With Prime and Safe being as concentrated as they are, this typically requires little product but, is a great way to ensure your fish are safe.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any additional questions or need me to clarify anything.

[fredyx]

Orange Crush that is crystal clear for me :D

[PAR23]

So if you add it to your water in the barrel for future use (longer than 48 hours) the water will not have chlorine or chloramines but the ammonia, nitrites or nitrates that were originally detoxified will no longer be detoxified


I'm confused :confused: Why would you have ammonia and nitrite in your aging drums unless you have fish in there.......

[Wes]

I'm confused :confused: Why would you have ammonia and nitrite in your aging drums unless you have fish in there.......
Check your city water report. They may be ammonia and nitrites in the water from the tap in different levels. There are fish in our lakes/ rivers and water comes from our lakes and rivers.
PARAMETER IEPA ·"DISTRIBUTION RAW OUTLETS ·" DISTRIBUTION
MCL AS NUMBER
AMMONIA N, mgIL 00610 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03
NITRATE 10 N, mglL 00620 0.352 0.305 0.307 0.313 0.348 0.298 0.297 0.323 0.304
, NITRITE 1 N, mglL 00615 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04

[PAR23]

Check your city water report. They may be ammonia and nitrites in the water from the tap in different levels. There are fish in our lakes/ rivers and water comes from our lakes and rivers.
PARAMETER IEPA ·"DISTRIBUTION RAW OUTLETS ·" DISTRIBUTION
MCL AS NUMBER
AMMONIA N, mgIL 00610 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03 <0.03
NITRATE 10 N, mglL 00620 0.352 0.305 0.307 0.313 0.348 0.298 0.297 0.323 0.304
, NITRITE 1 N, mglL 00615 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04

Gotcha.......Never crossed my mind since we do not have this problem.