My experience with adding prime to aging barrels

[tunerhead24]

When I purchased my discus a few months ago I was doing daily 50% water changes straight from the tap. The PH was about 7.4 - 7.6 at the time, then one of the discus started to get sick. After checking everything I noticed the PH from the tap went up to 8.0, in 24hrs it would drop down to 7.4 in the tank. I figured the PH swing was making my discus unhappy so I went out and bought a 32 gal brut garbage barrel. I setup the barrel with an air stone and power head. Every time I filled the I would add the proper amount of Sachem Prime. Overtime a thick coat of slime grew on all the hoses and cords in the aging barrel, I didn't pay any mind to it ( my mistake ). Two more of my discus got sick with Hex, I checked the water in my aging barrel and noticed nitrites were at 1 ppm. Immediately I assumed it was my tap water but it was ok, 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. It seemed like the slime coat the prime left behind started to decay causing a nitrogen cycle in the barrel. I cleaned everything out with bleach and let it air dry. The discus are starting to bounce back again. Has anyone ever have this problem??

[MendoMan]

The slime coat on heater hoses and airlines is very common and nothing to worry about. I'm sure that's not what caused your Hex. I just run a cloth or paper towel over my cords and airlines while my barrels are filling.

[wild4discus]

Add the Prime directly in the tank just before you refill the tank with aged tap water. Adding the prime in the barrel the day before you do your W/C is what is causing the slime build up.

[alron2]

Since you are adding aged word why add Prime?

Ron

[DJW]

I think what has been happening is that your water has some chloramines added by the city, and when you add Prime the chloramine is broken into its parts, which are chlorine and ammonia. The chlorine gasses off but the ammonia stays. After a while nitrifying bacteria form, the same bacteria that we have in the biofilter. The ammonia is then converted to nitrite. If you wait until just prior to a water change to add the Prime, the chloramine will help to disinfect the water while it ages.

A kind of inorganic slime forms on my hoses and tubes, and after a while the slime gets populated first by bacteria, and then algae and protozoa. I have looked at the stuff under a microscope, and at first it is harmless and as mentioned you can wipe it off.

[tunerhead24]

I think what has been happening is that your water has some chloramines added by the city, and when you add Prime the chloramine is broken into its parts, which are chlorine and ammonia. The chlorine gasses off but the ammonia stays. After a while nitrifying bacteria form, the same bacteria that we have in the biofilter. The ammonia is then converted to nitrite. If you wait until just prior to a water change to add the Prime, the chloramine will help to disinfect the water while it ages.


A kind of inorganic slime forms on my hoses and tubes, and after a while the slime gets populated first by bacteria, and then algae and protozoa. I have looked at the stuff under a microscope, and at first it is harmless and as mentioned you can wipe it off.

If it were to happen again should I just let the cycle take its course or clean everything up?

[tunerhead24]

Add the Prime directly in the tank just before you refill the tank with aged tap water. Adding the prime in the barrel the day before you do your W/C is what is causing the slime build up.

It's what I do now.

[DJW]

If it were to happen again should I just let the cycle take its course or clean everything up?

I clean the barrel when things start to grow, but mixing Prime in the tank, or in the barrel at the time of WC, should keep the barrel clean much longer. I think the slime that forms on certain kinds of plastic is harmless, at least for a while.

I have well water, so there are no chlorine or chloramines to kill germs. So I have to be very careful not to introduce any "live" water from a fish tank or on my hands or equipment, or else all kinds of things begin to grow in the barrels. If I'm careful I can go 2 or 3 months without cleaning them.

[Ryan]

Prime only temporarily detoxifies ammonia/chloramine. You should add it to the tank just before your water change. Do not add it to your aging barrels. The purpose of aging the water is to heat it and off-gas any dissolved oxygen or CO2 which could cause your pH to shift. This will stabilize the pH before you use the water.

I agree that what's happening is bacteria are growing in your barrels and starting a mini-cycle by feeding on the ammonia in the chloramines. This shouldn't happen if you Prime the tank instead of the barrels.

[Phillydubs]

Wow, this is all news to me and very informative. I too have been doing it this way for a while now. The night before I fill my pale and add the prime and let it sit over night w an air stone and heater...

So you guys say just fill my barrell, heat and move the water, then before I go to pump that water into my tank and the amount of prime I want, then pump it over?

I guess this makes sense now that I think about it... I never really get much build up, but usually a few times a week, I spray my barrel down with very hot water and wipe it all down....