Question About Prime Water Conditioner

[mrcobrajet]

Should I use PRIME every time I do a water change?  Because even after a water change my tests still show some nitrates.
THANX

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

I think it is safe to use Prime with every water change.  I personally do not; I use it if for some reason ammonia or nitrites spike simply because it messes with chem tests.
 
Prime is known to mess with chem tests, although I am not exactly sure how.  I usually wait 48 hours before doing water tests after adding Prime.

 

[DrRob]

If your water source has chlorine and/or chloramine (almost all tap water where people keep fish) then you should use something with every water change unless you are very experienced at messing with chemicals in tanks. Prime is generally a dechlorinator, although it has some heavy metal binding properties, so yes, use it every time so that it doesn't mess with your filter.
 
As stated, it has some annoying tendencies to mess with test kit results in the first few days after dosing.

 

[fluttermoth]

Most tanks will show some nitrate; it's very unusual to see a set up with zero nitrate, and there'll probably be some in your tap water.
 
It would be worth testing your tap water for nitrate, if you haven't done so already, so you know what your 'baseline' level is.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I dose with Prime every time. 

 

[mrcobrajet]

I use spring water from behind my house in the woods... No chorine... No nitrates... PH level is 7.4...  Because my city tap water has a PH of 8.4.  I only see the nitrates after the water is in my tanks. I use a test strip that tells me that my tanks are at a "high" safe level by the color on the strip.   I also do 25% water changes regularly. I just want my fish to be safe.
THANX

 

[This Old Spouse]

Lucky you!

 

[fluttermoth]

I use spring water from behind my house in the woods... No chorine... No nitrates... PH level is 7.4...  Because my city tap water has a PH of 8.4.  I only see the nitrates after the water is in my tanks. I use a test strip that tells me that my tanks are at a "high" safe level by the color on the strip.   I also do 25% water changes regularly. I just want my fish to be safe.
THANX

Ok....
 
(If you know all this, then forgive me; you might not, and there might be lurkers about who don't know it either)
 
What happens in your tank is; the fish produce ammonia constantly, through respiration as well as excretion. Your filter bacteria turn the ammonia first to nitrite, then to nitrate.
 
There are no bacteria (in freshwater tanks anyway; it's different in marine set ups) that can do anything with nitrate, so it will build up in your tank, in between water changes.
 
Nitrate can be allowed to rise to between 40-60PPM for most tropical fish (some, like discus and rams are more sensitive), and that's a safe level; just as a comparison, last time I tested my LFS water, the nitrate was off the top of the chart!
 
The only way to reduce nitrate is to add lots of plants (which use it as food), or do larger water changes. If your nitrate is 'high' in the tank (do you know what PPM 'high' is on your test, btw?) but low in your water, then just do more frequent, or larger, water changes