Over-dosing Prime reduces oxygen??

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BTB0923

Candiru
MFK Member
May 2, 2008
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Morrisville, North Carolina
I just read in another thread that when you use excess amounts of prime it can reduce the oxygen levels in your tank water, is this true?? I was under the impression that other than it being a waste of money, prime didn't have any negative effects if you decided to double or even triple dose your tank.
 
Did that thread in any way define what it considered "excess amounts" of Prime?

The bottle itself recommends up to 5 times normal dosing in some cases and never mentions lowering oxygen levels or a need to increase agitation... so it's logical to think that up to 5x normal dosage is not considered to lower oxygen levels by the manufacturer...

From personal experience, I dropped a fairly full 16.9 oz bottle into a 75 gal tank once. I have no clue how much ended up in the tank but I'm sure it was a lot more than a "normal dose" (assumably 20+ times a normal dose). I did a large water change (around 50%) afterwards and nothing bad happened...

It is very possible that someone experienced poor water conditions and used a large dose of prime to counter the poor conditions... then saw their fish gapping at the surface due to the poor conditions and the person blamed the gapping on Prime... I read a lot of threads where people are overconfident in their solutions and therefore misplace blame...

But without having read the other thread and probably asking the OP thee a handful of questions the best I/we can do is speculate on their problem/cause/situation...
 
12 Volt Man;3258461; said:
overdosing on prime? can you imagine what that would smell like? haha
i had a bottle explode in my old apartment beneath my tank. when we moved out, that side of the room STILL smelled like prime :)
 
nc_nutcase;3258392; said:
Did that thread in any way define what it considered "excess amounts" of Prime?

The bottle itself recommends up to 5 times normal dosing in some cases and never mentions lowering oxygen levels or a need to increase agitation... so it's logical to think that up to 5x normal dosage is not considered to lower oxygen levels by the manufacturer...

From personal experience, I dropped a fairly full 16.9 oz bottle into a 75 gal tank once. I have no clue how much ended up in the tank but I'm sure it was a lot more than a "normal dose" (assumably 20+ times a normal dose). I did a large water change (around 50%) afterwards and nothing bad happened...

It is very possible that someone experienced poor water conditions and used a large dose of prime to counter the poor conditions... then saw their fish gapping at the surface due to the poor conditions and the person blamed the gapping on Prime... I read a lot of threads where people are overconfident in their solutions and therefore misplace blame...

But without having read the other thread and probably asking the OP thee a handful of questions the best I/we can do is speculate on their problem/cause/situation...


Its at the end of post number 21 here:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254630&page=3

I question the validity of the statement myself, which is why I made this thread. I just want to make sure I'm not hurting my fish, because I use as much as two to four times the amount of Prime than it says to when I do water changes. I've always thought a little extra won't do any harm.
 
I've never heard that before...

but the poster in that thread does say "a little bit"... it does not sound to me like they are discouraging 3~5x dosages, just making the point that proper oxygenation / surface agitation is important if/when you do...

It is very possible that poster knows something I do not... and it is also possible that poster is being overly cautious...
 
i read on a seachem site that it will reduce O2 since it is a reducing agent, if you aerate and dont get the temps too high you should be fine. I overdosed for a couple weeks when my BB crashed.
 
that post only refers to amounts that would be used in emergency situations and also says it will reduce oxygen levels. not completely deplete oxygen.
 
swede;3258514; said:
that post only refers to amounts that would be used in emergency situations and also says it will reduce oxygen levels. not completely deplete oxygen.


I use "emergency" amounts of prime every time I do a water change just to be safe...plus I add it directly to the tank since I use a python and I figure the more I use the faster it will circulate. I'm wondering if its actually bad for the fish and I should stop. It sounds like nc nutcase dropped a bunch iin his tank and his fish were fine, so I'm not too worried about it.
 
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