Safe Vs Prime

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
You missed the or find out part. Point is its going to take some research


This came up in another thread but if you want to be really careful, it's best to test the tap water for chlorine levels before you do a water change. There are chlorine tests but someone suggested pool test kits are close enough.

You can then dose accurately.

The main reason to do this is so you'll know if the water company dosed extra chlorine or chloramine. There have been threads on here where people have lost fish because of this happening. Water companies might do this for maintenance reasons or because a storm. It's not at levels that are harmful to humsan but they could kill fish.

These 50 strip kits are like $7-9 on amazon.

I usually do it when I water change my 125g because there are more fish there and I have my 21+ old clown loaches and pleco in there. I often just risk it with the QT tank because the chances of it happening are slim anyway.

I also just water changed my main without using the test strip as I changed the QT water a few hours ago and no fish died there so I just assumed it was normal chlorine levels.

Correction:
These are now on Amazon for $6.41 so that's 12.8 cents a strip. Cheap insurance on the off chance something happens in the water.

Also I should add less safe. My report shows 1ppm but I consistently get 0.5 from these strips.
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The main reason to do this is so you'll know if the water company dosed extra chlorine or chloramine
Hello; very good point. My water company does this without any notice. They have to repair broken pipes and such. There are times when I can smell/taste the difference. I happen to be fairly early on a main line that feed many houses past me. I guess the extra dose is not yet much diluted when it gets to me.
 
Most water companies must react to the water they are provided with.
If that water comes from a river, or lake, chlorine doses must reflect the components of that water.
If it is polluted with organics components, doses must be raised or lowered according to those pollutant fluctuations, and pathogenic indicator bacterial counts.
Most chem-feed operators only dose as much as needed to keep humans safe from diseases, these dosage changes are not arbitrary.
During main breaks, new construction must be disinfected.
 
Spring run off, periods of heavy rain, are also times where disinfectant residuals are increased.
 
This thread discussion is very educational for me. Thank you. I might have missed the answer to this question somewhere but are there any negative effect on fish health if you overdose on Safe?
 
The answer is yes, 02 depletion. Products such as Prime/Safe are reducing agents, once there is no chlorine left to reduce they will start reducing oxygen. How much 02 needs to be depleted before the situation become critical will vary from tank to tank. Surface agitation, water temp, etc will all factor into that equation.
 
The answer is yes, 02 depletion. Products such as Prime/Safe are reducing agents, once there is no chlorine left to reduce they will start reducing oxygen. How much 02 needs to be depleted before the situation become critical will vary from tank to tank. Surface agitation, water temp, etc will all factor into that equation.
did not know that, thanks for the information!
 
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