Seachem Prime

[stevek77]

Seachem prime.........couple of questions pls

1, does it work?

2, does it harm the bacteria in your filter?, as its meant to remove ammonia which i thought the filter needs to grow healthy bacteria?

3, how long after i use it if i did should i test the tank as i hear it gives false api readings?

so guys and girls opinions pls

 

[CezzaXV]

1. Yes it works. It's much more concentrated than other dechlorinators so a little goes a long way.
2. No, it doesn't harm your bacteria in any way. If you're unlucky enough to have ammonia in your tap water, it'll neutralise it into a form which is less toxic to your fish but still fully usable by your bacteria.
3. Prime does not cause false test readings, but it can group some things into one test result (if you look on the ammonia test, it tests for two different forms of it) so you don't know how much of each you've got. It's of little consequence though, and no different in the API kit to any other test kit.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Prime is the best value for money.

 

[KISSfn]

From Seachem's website concerning Prime: "A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away."
API is a salicylate based kit.

 

[phoenixgsd]

From Seachem's website concerning Prime: "A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away."
API is a salicylate based kit.

so, if for example i did a part water change and later that day had a reading of 0.25 it would be false, the true reading of ammonia in the tank is immediatly after a water change?

 

[ian]

it binds the ammonia (so, almost wraps it up so it cannot cause harm) and it then is known as ammonium (the safe version of ammonia), now, if you have a mature filter, this will deal with this. I think i have read somewhere that it binds ammonia for 48hrs, i may be completely wrong with that though, but as said if you're filter is mature, it will deal with this.

 

[KISSfn]

In response to phoenixgsd: If you use API and have a cycled filter, yes.

 

[phoenixgsd]

If you use API, yes.

well that explains EVERYTHING, i have almost packed in the hobby because i cannot get rid of ammonia trace, the only time i had a zero reading was about a hour after a water change, i lost all my guppys to fin rot so had nothing in the tank, did a complete water change and scrub ect (not the filter) and after that for 2 weeks i still had this reading, even though i was doing almost 100% water changes everyday

 

[KISSfn]

If a Salifert test kit is not too expensive for you it is way more accurate and reliable compared to API.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Prime neutralizes chlorine and chloromine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for 24-48hrs, but it does not remove anything.
It will not upset the bio-filter, but gives the filter time to process evil elements while protecting the stock from negative effects.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Prime neutralizes chlorine and chloromine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for 24-48hrs, but it does not remove anything.
It will not upset the bio-filter, but gives the filter time to process evil elements while protecting the stock from negative effects.

+1

 

[Mowbz]

Prime neutralizes chlorine and chloromine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for 24-48hrs, but it does not remove anything.
It will not upset the bio-filter, but gives the filter time to process evil elements while protecting the stock from negative effects.

+1

Pretty much the best way it could have been put....

 

[sadguppy]

This makes a lot of sense - I wondered if it could be aquarium salt which was causing trace ammonia in a cycled tankbut this would be a much better explanation!

 

[stevek77]

many thanks for all the replys , seachem coming my way then

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Hope this helps

"MultiTest: Ammonia Product Description This kit measures total (NH[sub]3[/sub] and NH[sub]4[/sub][sup]+[/sup]) and free ammonia (NH[sub]3[/sub] only) down to less than 0.05 mg/L and is virtually interference free in marine and fresh water. Free ammonia is the toxic form of ammonia (vs. ionized Ammonia NH[sub]4[/sub][sup]+[/sup] which is non-toxic) and thus it is much more important to keep an eye on the level of free ammonia in your system. This kit is based on the same gas exchange technology that is used in the Ammonia Alert™ and thus is the only kit on the market that can read levels of free ammonia while using ammonia removal products such as Prime®, Safe™, AmGuard™ and any similar competing products. The other kits (salicylate or Nessler based) determine the total ammonia by raising the pH of the test solution to 12 or greater. At this high pH all ammonia removal products will breakdown and rerelease the ammonia, thus giving you a false ammonia reading."
From http/www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/MT_Ammonia.html