What Happens to Prime?

[CammieTime]

When you add Prime to the tank water, it binds the ammonia for 24 hours into a non-toxic form that can still be consumed by the ammonia eating bacteria in the filter.

What happens to Prime after it loses its effectiveness and releases the ammonia back into the water? Is the Prime inert and not of concern? Or, can the spent Prime cause issues if it is not removed from the water column? Can you add a full does of Prime every day for a week without water changes and have no issues, since only 1 does will be active during any 24 hour period? Or does all that Prime (active or not) combine and kill all the fish after 7 days?

[warblad79]

Can you add a full does of Prime every day for a week without water changes and have no issues, since only 1 does will be active during any 24 hour period? Or does all that Prime (active or not) combine and kill all the fish after 7 days?

I'm sorry to say but Prime is not replacement for water change. Your water will become toxic if you don't replace it.

[Poppa Ryno]

Agree with warblad 100%.

Also prime doesnt release it back into the water. The statement about your beneficial bacteria still being able to consume the ammonia is telling you that by 24hrs your bio filter will deal with transfering the ammonia through the nitrogen cycle. It would only be an issue if your tank & filters are not cycled.

I suggest reading up on the nitrogen cycle. It will give you the understanding of whats happening.

[Altum Nut]

Agree with warblad 100%.

I'm sorry to say but Prime is not replacement for water change. .

+1

...Ralph

[CammieTime]

Also prime doesnt release it back into the water. The statement about your beneficial bacteria still being able to consume the ammonia is telling you that by 24hrs your bio filter will deal with transfering the ammonia through the nitrogen cycle. It would only be an issue if your tank & filters are not cycled.

This is not accurate. According to Seachem Prime does release ammonia/nitrite back into the water after 24 hours, and I can attest to it. I've cycled tanks with using just Prime to deal with the ammonia and nitrite. The 24 hours is very accurate, as soon as the 24 timeframe ends, the ammonia or nitrite shows up in API water tests. Water changes are still necessary of course every other day to maximize healthy discus, but the Prime takes case of the ammonia and nitrite until the bio filters catch up. I am not suggesting anyone use Prime in lieu of water changes, but it does make cycling a new tank safer.

Back to my original hypothetical question - Does anyone know what happens to the Prime that you put in your tank after it is no longer effective after 24 hours? The bottle says maximum of five doses is OK in emergencies, that implies that if the concentration of Prime in the water is more than 5x the fish will get hurt. Does anyone know more about this?

[Poppa Ryno]

This is not accurate. According to Seachem Prime does release ammonia/nitrite back into the water after 24 hours, and I can attest to it. I've cycled tanks with using just Prime to deal with the ammonia and nitrite. The 24 hours is very accurate, as soon as the 24 timeframe ends, the ammonia or nitrite shows up in API water tests. Water changes are still necessary of course every other day to maximize healthy discus, but the Prime takes case of the ammonia and nitrite until the bio filters catch up. I am not suggesting anyone use Prime in lieu of water changes, but it does make cycling a new tank safer.

Back to my original hypothetical question - Does anyone know what happens to the Prime that you put in your tank after it is no longer effective after 24 hours? The bottle says maximum of five doses is OK in emergencies, that implies that if the concentration of Prime in the water is more than 5x the fish will get hurt. Does anyone know more about this?

Thats why i said its only an issue if your tank/filters arent cycled.

[CammieTime]

I should probably clarify that Prime binds ammonia/nitrite into a form that is consumable for your bio-filter. If you have a cycled tank the filter works normally and will process the ammonia/nitrite bound or unbound to Prime, then the primary benefit of Prime is that it is a water conditioner and eliminates chlorine. If you do not have a cycled tank, the Prime binds ammonia and nitrite and your bio-filter will only process what it is capable of. Any ammonia or nitrite not processed by your bio-filter within 24 hours will be released back into the tank and harm your fish, unless you dose again with Prime before this happens or do a water change.

[DJW]

From Seachem tech support:

"You want to be careful dosing the Prime at the 5x the normal dose on a regular basis, as it is a reducing agent and if consistently overdosed, there is potential to reduce the oxygen in the water."

http://www.seachem.com/support/forum...reduce-nitrite

[Megalodon]

Prime is said to break degrade in the tank. It might react with something or be consumed by bacteria. Prime bonded to ammonia can be consumed by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Salicylate ammonia tests raise pH to around 11 which unbinds most of the bound ammonia. That's why these tests are said to be total ammonia tests. They can't distinguish between ammonia, ammonium, or ammonia bound to a dechlorinator.

Prime doesn't bind nitrite or nitrate. Binding nitrate is pointless because it takes thousands of mg/L to actually kill a fish. Relying on Prime to detoxify nitrite is dangerous though.

[warblad79]

Simple solution do a regular WC and add Prime or Safe...hehehehehehe

[CammieTime]

Prime doesn't bind nitrite or nitrate. Binding nitrate is pointless because it takes thousands of mg/L to actually kill a fish. Relying on Prime to detoxify nitrite is dangerous though.

On the bottle Prime says it detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

[CammieTime]

On the bottle Prime says it detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

If this is blatantly false then we should collectively sue them for false advertising via a commercial class action lawsuit.

[CammieTime]

It's not clear if the original question was answered. After Prime does its thing for 24 hours, what happens to it?

[JamesW]

My best guess is that safe/prime contains sodium sulfite or some other partially oxidized sulfur salt. The bacteria will oxidize sulfite to sulfate rendering prime/safe unusable after a certain period of time.

[Megalodon]

I don't think sodium sulfite would detoxify ammonia though. It's possible a 2nd unknown ingredient performs that task, similar to Ammo-lock (sodium thiosulfate and a proprietary ingredient).