Questions On Using Seachem Prime

[huckleberry]

I have one male Betta in a 10g filtered and heated tank. I did not do a fishless cycle since I'm new to the hobby. The tank is one month old and I was getting readings of 1.5 ppm of ammonia from an API Freshwater Master test kit so I was thinking that the nitrogen cycle has started. Not wanting my Betta to suffer, I purchased Prime to detoxify the ammonia. After waiting a few hours, I retested the water to see what happened with the ammonia. The ammonia test revealed 0 ppm, 0 ppm for nitrites and 0 ppm for nitrates. 3 days and 2 20% PWCs later, the tests are 0 ppm for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. What happened? I thought I'd still have readings to follow my cycle along. Someone please help me out. I want my Betta to be as safe and healthy as possible. The tank consists of 4 silk plants, 2 pieces of Mopani wood, a cave, gravel, a Elite Hush filter, 50w heater, thermometer and fluorescent lighting. I condition the water with Prime for the PWCs. Can I fully cycle a 10g tank with only one Betta? Any help and suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[rabbut]

It is possible that it is cycled, but unlikely, as you would expect to see nitrates in a cycled tank. Prime works by converting ammonia to ammonium. Most test kits detect this, but some don't. Does you test, test for Total Ammonia, or just Ammonia or Ammonia And Ammonium? It is quite possible that the ammonia has just been converted to ammonium, and your test kit is not detecting it as it only tests for ammonia.

Hope this helped more than confused
Rabbut

 

[huckleberry]

I'm thinking my test doesn't detect ammonium. It's driving me nuts not knowing where my cycle is at the moment. Thanks for the fast reply rabbut .

 

[rabbut]

No problem. What test kit are you using? I know the Tetratest kits measure total ammona, ammonium and ammonia, as this is the kit I use, but they are more expencive than their competitors. They are the only tests I can buy in my LFS though, so I don't know a great deal about competing kits

All the best
Rabbut

 

[iankent]

I've been using seachem prime, and with the API test kit it didnt seem to affect my ammonia results (though in the absence of another test kit I cant be sure)

it definately affected my nitrite readings though - tap water=0 nitrite, tap water + seachem=0.25nitrite! confused me for a day or two!

 

[huckleberry]

Wow, I'm stumped on this one! Just finished another test and it revealed 0 ppm for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I'm guessing that my API master kit doesn't detect ammonium. 6 days since I added the Prime and still no ammonia? Could I have messed up my cycle? Maybe I'll pickup one of those Tetratest kits.

 

[iankent]

Wow, I'm stumped on this one! Just finished another test and it revealed 0 ppm for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I'm guessing that my API master kit doesn't detect ammonium. 6 days since I added the Prime and still no ammonia? Could I have messed up my cycle? Maybe I'll pickup one of those Tetratest kits.

did you follow the instructions on the prime bottle? if you did, the effect of the prime should wear off within about 24-48 hours, so if you're adding ammonia and seeing all 0's a few hours later I'd assume your cycled, though I'd leave that to the experts to decide

 

[rabbut]

you can't be cycled with zero nitrate, as this is the by-product of the cycle process. If it were cycled there would be at least a trace of nitrate
Prime is good while it lasts, but as stated above, it's effects of making ammonia safe are only there for a limited period of time.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[iankent]

you can't be cycled with zero nitrate, as this is the by-product of the cycle process. If it were cycled there would be at least a trace of nitrate

oops, had forgotten that bit by the time i'd started writing a reply awful memory

i'd guess that a single betta in a 10g tank isnt going to produce a large amount of ammonia anyway, so it would take a few days at least (after the prime had worn off) for the ammonia to build up to a level you can detect with the test kit (again, just my opinion)

 

[huckleberry]

Thanks for the replies. I called Seachem and they said that I should wait for the Prime to wear off before I do further tests. I'm guessing I added alittle too much Prime to the water. Oops! Plus, I've been adding Prime to my PWCs. I'm going to go back to using ordinary tap water conditioner for awhile. Man this hobby can be frustrating at times . Me being an impatient person doesn't help either . I hope I didn't stall the cycle with adding too much Prime. Only time will tell.

 

[OldMan47]

I picked up on another thread that the API kit does not confuse ammonia with ammonium. If all of the ammonia has been converted to ammonium, it could very well test it as a zero even though there is still the nitrogen present to feed your developing bacterial colony.