dosing seachem prime

[MrFang]

what is the proper way to dose prime during a water change...

This is what I had been doing since I'm aging my water.
filled 20 gal brute with ~19 gallons of water with 2 cap full since I treated the water while it get aged(24 hr period).

Should I add 5 cap full since I'm doing ~19 gal w/c in my 55 gal tank or what.
Before what I did with my cichilds I was fill'ed my tank straight from tap and I dose it based on the size of the tanks and now I'm aging the water which ways the best for my discus

[manbearpig]

what is the proper way to dose prime during a water change...

This is what I had been doing since I'm aging my water.
filled 20 gal brute with ~19 gallons of water with 2 cap full since I treated the water while it get aged(24 hr period).

Should I add 5 cap full since I'm doing ~19 gal w/c in my 55 gal tank or what.
Before what I did with my cichilds I was fill'ed my tank straight from tap and I dose it based on the size of the tanks and now I'm aging the water which ways the best for my discus

I certainly hope you mean 5 ML not 5 cap fulls. 5 cap fulls would be enough to treat a LOT more than 55 gallons.

Personally I don't add prime to my aging container as I find that it speeds up the bacteria/algae growth in the tank and I need to clean it more often. I perform a 90% change with aged water and dose the entire volume of the tank @ 1ML per 10 gallons of tank volume.

[MrFang]

I certainly hope you mean 5 ML not 5 cap fulls. 5 cap fulls would be enough to treat a LOT more than 55 gallons.

Personally I don't add prime to my aging container as I find that it speeds up the bacteria/algae growth in the tank and I need to clean it more often. I perform a 90% change with aged water and dose the entire volume of the tank @ 1ML per 10 gallons of tank volume.

Yes... I was mistaking because I also used API stress coats and stress zyme and their dose is 1 cap per 10gal

[MKD]

You can continue to do the same before dose tank size then fill it up or just treat your age water about 30mins before wc.

[RolnwitdaDISC]

I do the same thing kind of. I have a 32 gal Brute, with a 300 watt Hydor Theo heater that is set to the exact same temp as my tank, and I have a marineland return or utility pump a NJ1800 I believe. I do daily WC so I only get to "age" the water from around 10 mins to 36 hours at the most. I use my python water changer to fill the brute with water that's just a little warmer then my tank water, add Prime, turn the pump and heater on, and then let it "age". Then I use the python to drain or sand vac the 30 gallons, then I shut off the return pump, attach a hose I have to it, put it into my tank, leave the heater on because it lays on the bottom, and turn the pump back on and fill the tank.

I recently learned a lot about prime, having an ammonia spike, me and the wife went nuts on learning how prime works, as well as the different types of testing for ammonia/ammonium. Basically if you have chloramine rather than chlorine in your tap water, you essentially have ammonia and chlorine, once the Prime breaks their bond. Prime then removes the chlorine, and detoxifies the ammonia by converting it into a product that your beneficial bacteria can consume. Now the tricky part, IMO, the ammonia that the Prime has converted is actually just being "held" so to speak by the Prime. In 24 to 48 hours the prime will no longer being holding the ammonia in a non-toxic form and it will go back to toxic ammonia. This should not be an issue if you either have just chlorine in your tap water or add enough prime to make sure the chloramine is converted to ammonia and chlorine, and then detoxify that ammonia, it just worked on, and keep it safe until your biological system consumes it. This is why some of the de-chlorinators on the market call for larger doses when removing chloramines. You will need enough of the additive to cover all the work that has to be done on the chloramines. Getting rid of just the chlorine is easy, the same will happened if you let you water age with a air stone and circulation. This "natural" way of aging water, without chemicals, will also stabilize your ph in the water container. The CO2 gases out until an equilibrium is reach with the air above the waters surface. CO2 is an acid when dissolved in water and other liquids, thus driving down your ph. Prime will not "age", which just means your ph has stabilized, your water. IMO you should still just circulate and heat that water. I always do. Even tonight doing a 90 gal WC on my 150. I filled that Brute over and over, letting the water circulate and heat for minimum ten minutes. I have my heater horizontal, my 150 gal XH tank, and I can let the canister filters run or at least trickle. This eliminates the need and PIA of shutting of the heaters and filters, removing the risk of beneficial bacteria dying off or the fish getting chilly.

The short answer, you can add quite a bit of Prime safely. Prime does not affect pH, and any ammonia it grabs up is still available for you bacteria to consume. So the Prime is not competing for the ammonia and will not affect your nitrogen cycle. Technically, it has the potential to protect your fish in the tank for that 24 to 48 hours against ammonia spikes. Again, this protection is limited to the volume of the Prime you added. That will be your limiting factor. Once the prime that is available to detoxify ammonia is used up, you may still have ammonia left over.

Also, just wait til you text your water and you get a ammonia reading. While the ammonia is in the non toxic state, with the prime holding it, you will have positive tests with API and other tests like that. Those test not only do not discriminate between NH3 and NH4, but the test drives up the pH in the water you are testing to 12-14. This causes the Prime to release the ammonia because it can no longer function in the high ph, this gives you ammonia in your test sample.

[MrFang]

I do the same thing kind of. I have a 32 gal Brute, with a 300 watt Hydor Theo heater that is set to the exact same temp as my tank, and I have a marineland return or utility pump a NJ1800 I believe. I do daily WC so I only get to "age" the water from around 10 mins to 36 hours at the most. I use my python water changer to fill the brute with water that's just a little warmer then my tank water, add Prime, turn the pump and heater on, and then let it "age". Then I use the python to drain or sand vac the 30 gallons, then I shut off the return pump, attach a hose I have to it, put it into my tank, leave the heater on because it lays on the bottom, and turn the pump back on and fill the tank.

I recently learned a lot about prime, having an ammonia spike, me and the wife went nuts on learning how prime works, as well as the different types of testing for ammonia/ammonium. Basically if you have chloramine rather than chlorine in your tap water, you essentially have ammonia and chlorine, once the Prime breaks their bond. Prime then removes the chlorine, and detoxifies the ammonia by converting it into a product that your beneficial bacteria can consume. Now the tricky part, IMO, the ammonia that the Prime has converted is actually just being "held" so to speak by the Prime. In 24 to 48 hours the prime will no longer being holding the ammonia in a non-toxic form and it will go back to toxic ammonia. This should not be an issue if you either have just chlorine in your tap water or add enough prime to make sure the chloramine is converted to ammonia and chlorine, and then detoxify that ammonia, it just worked on, and keep it safe until your biological system consumes it. This is why some of the de-chlorinators on the market call for larger doses when removing chloramines. You will need enough of the additive to cover all the work that has to be done on the chloramines. Getting rid of just the chlorine is easy, the same will happened if you let you water age with a air stone and circulation. This "natural" way of aging water, without chemicals, will also stabilize your ph in the water container. The CO2 gases out until an equilibrium is reach with the air above the waters surface. CO2 is an acid when dissolved in water and other liquids, thus driving down your ph. Prime will not "age", which just means your ph has stabilized, your water. IMO you should still just circulate and heat that water. I always do. Even tonight doing a 90 gal WC on my 150. I filled that Brute over and over, letting the water circulate and heat for minimum ten minutes. I have my heater horizontal, my 150 gal XH tank, and I can let the canister filters run or at least trickle. This eliminates the need and PIA of shutting of the heaters and filters, removing the risk of beneficial bacteria dying off or the fish getting chilly.

The short answer, you can add quite a bit of Prime safely. Prime does not affect pH, and any ammonia it grabs up is still available for you bacteria to consume. So the Prime is not competing for the ammonia and will not affect your nitrogen cycle. Technically, it has the potential to protect your fish in the tank for that 24 to 48 hours against ammonia spikes. Again, this protection is limited to the volume of the Prime you added. That will be your limiting factor. Once the prime that is available to detoxify ammonia is used up, you may still have ammonia left over.

Also, just wait til you text your water and you get a ammonia reading. While the ammonia is in the non toxic state, with the prime holding it, you will have positive tests with API and other tests like that. Those test not only do not discriminate between NH3 and NH4, but the test drives up the pH in the water you are testing to 12-14. This causes the Prime to release the ammonia because it can no longer function in the high ph, this gives you ammonia in your test sample.

Haha... Im doing the same thing... I filled my brute with cold water [no hot water due to outdated water heater]and let my 100 watts eheim jager heater heats up the water while aging. Then using a fountain pump to pump the water into my 55gal. Yeah I do have an API master test kit. I will test my aged water before wc. The only time i carry a bucket full of water is when im trying to drain out a certain gallon out of my 55gal. Okay I will start adding safe 30min before wc

[Larry Bugg]

I think you will find that most of us add the prime directly to our tanks and not to the aging container. I want the chlorinated water in my aging containers. As manbearpig pointed out the chlorinated water helps keep the bacteria down in the containers.

[RolnwitdaDISC]

right it does kill the bacteria but, I am to OCD to pump one drop of tap water into my tank and just add prime first. I like to mix the water, probably because Im used to saltwater.

[MendoMan]

I use a 40 gal. Brute for my aging barrel and add 4 mils when filling the barrel. This ages for 48hours + or - then directly into the tank at water change time. Done it this way for several years and never a problem.

[Tankster]

I dose my aging tank about 20 to 30 minutes before the 100% water change. I don't worry about bacteria in my aging tank as 30 minutes is not enough time for anything to get going before the tank is refilled with chlorinated water.