Over-dosing Prime reduces oxygen??

[sushiray]

Personally, I think this thread could use a healthy derailment…

Put whatever value on this you wish… but Printed on the side of the bottle of Prime it says…

The bottle recommends dosing for the full volume of the tank when refilling directly to the tank… Personally I approximately dose for double the amount of gallons I am adding to the tank, up to the full volume of the tank… for example, if I replaced 35 gallons in a 100 gallon tank, I would use the amount of Prime suggested for 70 gallons… But if I added 60 gallons to a 100 gallon tank I would add the dosage for 100 gallons…

I add half of the amount of Prime to the tank water as soon as I begin refilling… then half way through the refill I add the other half…

As I consider Prime to be a harmless product, I approximate all of these numbers measuring by the cap full or at times even adding just a splash straight to the tank. I haven’t counted drops in many years…

So per the label on the bottle I under-dose. I originally did this because I suspected that it is very possible Seachem is encouraging us to use a bit more product than we truly ‘need’ in order to get us to need another bottle sooner, rather than later. I expect manufacturers to make minor manipulations such as this… No harm no foul…

I suggest you follow the directions given on the bottle, but also feel it worth sharing my personal experience… Many others have stated how they overdose by up to 3 or 4 times the recommended dosage on a regular basis for the reasoning of gaining benefits from the other qualities Prime offers such as “binding” ammonia and nitrite and they also share no ill results from doing so…

I know several people through my local fish club that breed Discus and most or all of them adjust and stabilize water in a secondary container prior to doing water changes. Unless your tap water ‘naturally’ has the parameters you intend to keep the Discus at I would encourage you to consider this. If you aren’t doing anything to adjust water chemistry then skipping this step and adding tap water/Prime straight to the tank may work just fine.

xxx
Thks nut - I like this suggestion - so to be sure I am clear on the mathematics of this (I was just so so in science!) - double the dosage of water replacement, but if chg 50% or more then dose the full tank volume. & also like the idea of 1/2 in 1st then 1/2 in while filling - seems like a plan!

do you know which vendor has the best prices on Prime? thinking 2L size.

also, can you tell me what is sodium thiosulfate used for & in what product can it be found.

thx again!

 

[tcarswell]

Great read fellas!

Agreed especially considering I asked this same question and got like 9 replies a month ago....

 

[tcarswell]

xxx
Thks nut - I like this suggestion - so to be sure I am clear on the mathematics of this (I was just so so in science!) - double the dosage of water replacement, but if chg 50% or more then dose the full tank volume. & also like the idea of 1/2 in 1st then 1/2 in while filling - seems like a plan!

do you know which vendor has the best prices on Prime? thinking 2L size.

also, can you tell me what is sodium thiosulfate used for & in what product can it be found.

thx again!

2l? Its so much cheaper by the 4 liter and well worth it. Go to kensfish.com

 

[Toby_H]

xxx
Thks nut - I like this suggestion - so to be sure I am clear on the mathematics of this (I was just so so in science!) - double the dosage of water replacement, but if chg 50% or more then dose the full tank volume. & also like the idea of 1/2 in 1st then 1/2 in while filling - seems like a plan!

do you know which vendor has the best prices on Prime? thinking 2L size.

also, can you tell me what is sodium thiosulfate used for & in what product can it be found.

thx again!

I use the amount of Prime for double the amount of gallons I put in the tank... up to the amount to dose the full tank... see above post for example...

I'm not sure who has the best price right now... I can vouch that Kensfish.com is a great place to shop...

As with most things, the larger the quantity the less you pay per volume. But at some point ya have to call it quits. A 2L bottle lasts me over a year and I have a bunch of tanks... A 4l bottle is a better deal but I wouldn't consider buying a 2L bottle ... just a little less of a great deal... lol...

 

[Lupin]

I wonder what else is still to debate here. The discussion has been done in several pages and this is a circling argument now. This thread is done and keep personal comments out of the next discussion topics. Thanks.

 

[Lupin]

I am giving this thread one more chance for open discussions. Any snowballing in this thread will be dealt with accordingly plus a reward of infractions. There will not be a single exemption from the rules if someone is found guilty of messing this thread one more time, is that clear?

 

[Seachem]

Hi everyone. I spoke with our Research Director this morning and here is the information he provided in regard to the buildup aspect of Prime:

Prime binds to things, such as ammonia, by forming salt complexes (specifically with ammonia, an imidium salt is created). This is also the nature by which it dissipates, or becomes no longer available. It is through this formation of salts that the Prime does not remain in its original form. The true way to remove these no longer active salts is through the common practice of water changes.

I am going to go through the last few posts and see which questions still have yet to be answered and try to work through them today. Thanks for all of the interest in this topic!

 

[BTB0923]

Hi everyone. I spoke with our Research Director this morning and here is the information he provided in regard to the buildup aspect of Prime:

Prime binds to things, such as ammonia, by forming salt complexes (specifically with ammonia, an imidium salt is created). This is also the nature by which it dissipates, or becomes no longer available. It is through this formation of salts that the Prime does not remain in its original form. The true way to remove these no longer active salts is through the common practice of water changes.

I am going to go through the last few posts and see which questions still have yet to be answered and try to work through them today. Thanks for all of the interest in this topic!

Bare with me here, because I am no chemist, but this technically means that the prime doesn't actually leave the aquarium until it is removed via water changes, it just becomes inactive imidium salt, correct? If someone doesn't follow the instructions and uses much more than 5X the recommended dosage....lets say 30X or more every day over an extended period of time with very minimal to no water changes being performed....then its not the oxygen level that would be affected but the tank salinity?

 

[swede]

Hi everyone. I spoke with our Research Director this morning and here is the information he provided in regard to the buildup aspect of Prime:

Prime binds to things, such as ammonia, by forming salt complexes (specifically with ammonia, an imidium salt is created). This is also the nature by which it dissipates, or becomes no longer available. It is through this formation of salts that the Prime does not remain in its original form. The true way to remove these no longer active salts is through the common practice of water changes.

I am going to go through the last few posts and see which questions still have yet to be answered and try to work through them today. Thanks for all of the interest in this topic!

these salts..... do they at all affect water parameters? What I'm asking is do they act like conditioning salts as a by-product? And can one conclude that more ammonia would create more of these salts?

 

[trebor69]

It is through this formation of salts that the Prime does not remain in its original form.

-Prime binds to things. (chemistry)

-Once it does.... it is no longer Prime. (in your example it is now an imidium salt)

-Prime prefers to bind with Chlorine, Chloramine, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and Heavy Metals but if by some minute chance none of those things are available it will find other things to bind with (like oxygen)

- therefore any future additions of more Prime will NOT result in an accumulation of Prime in the aquarium and will NOT be a serious threat
to oxygen levels (except in some silly extreme overdose situations)



Seachem does that sound like an accurate summary?


If that is deemed accurate then I hope all future posts to the contrary are presented with some shred of evidence or they just muddy up what I consider to be a serious topic.