Strange Prime.......anyone??

[Kindredspirit]

Hey guys 2x I opened bottles of Prime, bought at different lfs, and it was black liquid~


Should be clear and stinky~ I tired shaking it up, but to no avail~ I am going to take them back~


Any thoughts??


Marie~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_4_10.gif

[RyanH]

Old/expired bottles maybe? :(

[etr63]

Hi Marie
I have used prime since day 1 and I see it a little on the black side from time to time. I had read somewhere that it is not uncommon for this to happen. If I remember what I read correctly it is due to the additives not completely dissolving in the mixing process. It is not bad and will do the job intended. The 4 liter jug I have now is a little on the black side and I have been using it for over a month with no problems. You can ask your LFS what they think but IMO I wouldnt worry about it.
HTH
Earl

[White Worm]

? Always use prime, always clear for me. Dunno, might want to go back and open a few more right by the ones you bought and see if any are clear.

[hexed]

I have always used NovAqua and I just decided to use AmQuel Plus because I was able to buy a gallon for $20. I have never used Prime, my aquarium does not sell it.
AmQuel Plus removes chlorine, chloramines, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia.
Never seen any conditioner black in color only clear. Sorry but I would return it to the store and get something else. Prime is not the only conditioner you can use, try another one. If I went through the last few problems you did, I would deffinately not take the chance with a discolored black conditioner that should be clear in color.
Just my opinion,
Frank

[alpine]

If I saw my Prime color Black...I would not use it..period. Regardless if someone told me it was OK ...

roberto.

[etr63]

Hi All
I am not sure what Marie means by black I guess. What I am referring to is when I pore the prime into the cap of the bottle it has a slight dark tint to it against the white of the cap but is still transparent. I have e-mailed Seachem support about this question and provided them with a link to this thread. Hopefully they will respond soon and give us some input about this.

Earl

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Guys!


Earl, that would be great to hear what they have to say re this! Both bottles are black, still clear but you can see teensy weensy black thingsy in it and I am sure that it just needs to be shaken the hell out of, but I am not going to use it .......common sense here~

And the other day I had forgotten to add it and so I was hurrying and trying to get it into the tank, when I poured it I saw it and said oh Hell No! lol!! Then I popped opened some packs of other stuff I had~


Should be interesting to see what the company has to say~



Marie~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/18/18_1_104v.gif

[ronrca]

O! Black floaties in it but not a black liquid? Whew! Prime has always been clear for me however I have noticed a few black floaties in it. Not many but some. Dont worry about it. I have never had problems. As for the bottles, they could of changed the packaging perhaps.

[Kindredspirit]

Yeah, Ron... it is always clear for me too....I really think that it all just settled on the bottom and needs to be shook! And that did help on the first bottle I opened.........but this last one, is really dark~


So..............



You would not worry tho??


Marie~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/3/3_13_14.gif

[Dave C]

I've had problems in the past with Prime going skunky on me. Now I buy Seachem Safe instead. It's the same as Prime but in a powder form so you can put the excess in the freezer and just keep out a small amount for use.

[etr63]

Hi All
I got a reply from seachem. Here is a copy of the email.

Thank you for letting us know about this discussion. If you would please let everyone know this is our response I would appreciate it.


The black color you are referring to is actually little black colored particles. This is normal and to be expected as Prime is a very concentrated water conditioner. When we make this product, inevitably not all the ingredients fit in solution (again, very concentrated). The excess ingredients simply settle to the bottom of the vat as black particles. The first set of bottles end up with these black particles because they are pumped from the bottom of the vat. End result is that you received a little more ingredients than you bargained for.


Best Regards,
Seachem Tech Support~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seachem Laboratories, Inc. www.seachem.com 888-SEACHEM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HTH
Earl

[Kindredspirit]

Earl, Thank you! That was informative~ I'm guessing it is okay to use, still~


Dave, this powder form, you just add to your tank, or mix in bowl of tank water first? And Prime usually smells like skunk at least for me~



Marie~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_4_10.gif

[etr63]

Hi Marie
I would not worry about it. As for the smell, I believe one of the ingredients is sulfur. again Im going by memory of what I have read. Thats where the smell comes from.

Earl

[traco]

I am down to the last bit of Prime in my bottle. I have a bottle of Amquel Plus, reading it you have to use more of this product per gallons? So Prime is cheaper both in dosage and $$?

[Dave C]

You mix it with water and add to your tank.

Found this link on the net...

http://www.angelfish.net/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=printpage;threadid=4517

"But By calling Seachem I did learn something very valuable. They make prime out of a dry product they sell called SAFE I can get 8.8 pounds for like 57.95 and it makes so much prime is unbelievable. You can get it in smaller sizes as well do some reading about it all u do is mix with a bit of water and pour in like it was prime. Works just the same they make prime from it by mixing with water to dilute it."

[Kindredspirit]

Great Link! SAFE is the powder form of Prime and list the same exact ingredients......Tina.....?? Much cheaper, woman! Mix with distilled water and you can have a whole jug ready to go and put the rest of the powder in the freezer....works for me...I spend 8 bucks a bottle of Prime and have spilled more than I use at times!

I was reading however, to treat only the water you are adding, not the whole tank........



I add it to the tank.....problem with that?


Marie~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_1_125.gif

[White Worm]

I always add to tank and 2x dose, i have never had any problems. Stuff stinks something awful huh? I tricked my 15 year old son into taking a big wiff of it. I told him it smelled like oranges so he took a big sniff, LMAO. Smells like rotten A$$. Of course, when I use my stored water soon, I will add to that before wc's. I will be building fish room soon Marie. When I get it running, you will have to come down and see. You, candy and of course Kenny will be here to check it out. Where did you get the powder from, cheaper that way huh?

[tpl*co]

I've been having a lot of problems with black precipitation in my last bottles of Prime also, was ready to post about it too. Hmmm, so Marie are you saying we should get some of this dried stuff, split it and mix up our own?

Looks like from that post that they got it from www.customaquatic.com
looked at the site and they do have it under Seachem Safe.

All this after I bought a 4 liter bottle during the last Big Als free shipping event :(.

Tina

[Dave C]

Safe is cheaper to buy, cheaper to ship (since it's dry), doesn't leak during shipping and stores safer in your freezer. I bought the 8.8kg bucket and won't have to buy it again in my lifetime.

[Kindredspirit]

Absolutely Tina!! Lets split it! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_17_211.gif I will find us some and how much with details to you later cuz I am working both jobs til 11pm tonight~unless you get it first~



But I think itz a good idea, don't you?? Cuz i spend over 8bucks a week...esp if I or one of the horses spill it!



Glad I posted this~ ( and i thought i would get shot! Architect!!)



Marie~

[candyl70]

Thanks for the link. I want to look into it too. The prime works well, but like Mike said, it smells like *** and it's expensive. So if you guys get it, let me know how it works out. You can still add it at the time of the w/c right? Because I do mine changes right out of the tap.


Candy

[ronrca]

Dave, where are you buying your Safe from?

[pcsb23]

Glad I posted this~ ( and i thought i would get shot! Architect!!)


Marie~




http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_2_120.gif

[Dave C]

Dave, where are you buying your Safe from?

I don't remember, somewhere in the U.S. I don't even need to use it as there is only chlorine in my water. But there is supposed to be chloramine added in 2007 so I bought an 8.8kg bucket of it. I've sold some locally in 500g bags and may sell some more & just get another bucket if I run out.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

It sounds like SAFE is more cost effective but it doesnt say anything about removing nitrite or nitrate like prime does??

So its obviously not the same thing.

[Dave C]

It sounds like SAFE is more cost effective but it doesnt say anything about removing nitrite or nitrate like prime does??

So its obviously not the same thing.

Not true at all. Just think of Safe as Prime without the water. You add the water and you've got the same thing. Check out their site...

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Safe.html

"Safe™ is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Safe™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Safe™ converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Safe™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Safe™ detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them."

[Kindredspirit]

Yes Cage it is the exact same thing when you add water~


Did Ya read the link??:D



Marie~

[Bainbridge Mike]

Hey Dave:

Is there a shelf life on Safe? Are you thinking it will last for years in the freezer? If so, it seems the way to go.

Thanks,

Mike

[Dave C]

Dunno. I don't know why it would stop working if it's kept in the freezer.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Yeah i read the description of both at the site that sells it and no mention of nitrite or nitrate in the safe description but it is there for the prime description.

For what thats worth ...... lol


EDIT: Ok i see where it says it now on the seachem site.


It also shows at the bottom how much to add per gallon and they are all different for what you want to remove or detoxify.

1 measure per 4 gallons for ammonia???