for those of you that use prime it states right on the bottle to treat for the whole tanks volume if you are adding water stright into the tank without premixing. the reason you have to do this is because the new water is mixing with the old water, thus for example you need to treat 100g of water if you have a 100g tank, even if you only changed 50g there is still chlorine throughout the whole 100g due to mixing.
is it O.K. to add water conditioner first?
- Thread starter Jamieb
- Start date
I change about 35-40% of my tank water every week, first i siphon out the 35% then i attach a hose to the sink and then let water run back into my tank, and every 5 or 10 mins. i pour the necessary amount of water conditioner into the stream of new water that is goin back into the tank... and i make sure the temperature about the same. I use NovAqua water conditioner.
dmopar74;1471510; said:
I think the reason you have to do this is so they can sell more Prime.
The new water is mixing with the old water, but the de-chlorinator is mixing with that too, and as soon as the two molecules meet each other, the chlorine is no longer a problem. I really see no reason to over dose the tank with chemicals unnecessarily
If you have chloramine in your tap water you need to double the dose. Half the dose breaks the chloramine into chlorine and ammonia; the other half dose bonds with the ammonia to make it less toxic to your fish.
So if you are adding Prime and tap water together in a 100G tank, you will need to add a dose for 200G.
So if you are adding Prime and tap water together in a 100G tank, you will need to add a dose for 200G.
deckard_wa,
Do you have scientific information backing up your claim that you only need to add the amount needed for the new water?
I understand the usual anti-company backlash when we perceive them trying to make us use more of a product than we need. I just don't want that reaction to cause us to stress our fish. Maybe the issue is that some of the Prime is consumed by existing ammonia not yet converted by the BB in the tank or the dilution causes the fish to endure chloramines longer while the new water circulates around the tank.
I still premix my Prime and water. Adding it to the tank is like putting chlorine in my mouth then drinking untreated water. Sure it will mix in my stomach, but some damage was done to my esophagus as the chlorine passed by.
Here is the information from Prime's web site:
"DIRECTIONS: Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 200 L (50 gallons*) of new water. For smaller doses, please note each cap thread is approx. 1 mL). This removes approximately 0.8 mg/L ammonia, 1.2 mg/L chloramine, or 3.3 mg/L chlorine. May be added to aquarium directly, but better if added to new water first. If adding directly to aquarium, base dose on aquarium volume. Sulfur odor is normal. For exceptionally high chloramine concentrations, a double dose may be used safely. To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used. If temperature is > 30 °C (86 °F) and chlorine or ammonia levels are low, use a half dose."
Two other things I noticed. They are recommending premixing Prime and water first, and it looks like it is closer to 3x the dose for water with chloramine.
Do you have scientific information backing up your claim that you only need to add the amount needed for the new water?
I understand the usual anti-company backlash when we perceive them trying to make us use more of a product than we need. I just don't want that reaction to cause us to stress our fish. Maybe the issue is that some of the Prime is consumed by existing ammonia not yet converted by the BB in the tank or the dilution causes the fish to endure chloramines longer while the new water circulates around the tank.
I still premix my Prime and water. Adding it to the tank is like putting chlorine in my mouth then drinking untreated water. Sure it will mix in my stomach, but some damage was done to my esophagus as the chlorine passed by.
Here is the information from Prime's web site:
"DIRECTIONS: Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 200 L (50 gallons*) of new water. For smaller doses, please note each cap thread is approx. 1 mL). This removes approximately 0.8 mg/L ammonia, 1.2 mg/L chloramine, or 3.3 mg/L chlorine. May be added to aquarium directly, but better if added to new water first. If adding directly to aquarium, base dose on aquarium volume. Sulfur odor is normal. For exceptionally high chloramine concentrations, a double dose may be used safely. To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used. If temperature is > 30 °C (86 °F) and chlorine or ammonia levels are low, use a half dose."
Two other things I noticed. They are recommending premixing Prime and water first, and it looks like it is closer to 3x the dose for water with chloramine.
All of this is making me reconsider how I do my water changes. One of the reasons I got a Python was for the convenience of adding water directly to the tank without lugging buckets. It will also enable my wife to do WC because she will not lug buckets accross the house. I think I will combine the two and drill some holes in the bottom of a bucket. When I add water I will set it on the edge of the tank and add water to the bucket. It will drain into the tank slower than it comes out of the python so I will occassionally have to turn it off but as it slowly drains into the tank I will add my water treatments in the bucket. Hows that sound? Best of both worlds? I'll try it this weekend and keep you all posted.
I tried using only my python and doing my water change over the weekend and It was fool proof and took about 40 min. total . I didnt have to leave the water sit at all and fish seemed unnoticable to the new and much quicker proceedure. So I thank everyone for the very useful and efficient tips!
