Luniyn

Prime doesn't convert the ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, it just takes the toxic parts of the chemicals and combines them with other chemicals to make a non-toxic version. Yes your tests will still show that you have ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in your tank, however, it will all be non-toxic to the fish. That's not to say that you would be safe in allowing the ammonia levels to rise to 30 ppm or anything like that, but at normal cycling levels (1 - 5 ppm) your fish will be perfectly safe. Also when it comes to testing, you will notice that the levels of ammonia linger around for a bit longer then they normally would. This is because the bound up chemicals take a bit longer for the good bacteria to eat. It's not a big deal, but basically when you tank still shows 0.25ppm ammonia for a week, it's probably just the leftover bound up stuff that is being slowly eaten and in reality you probably are at 0 ppm already.

As for the amount to add (I know this is late) 2 drops of Prime is enough for 1 Gal (US) of water. I bought the smallest bottle of prime specifically because it has a drip cap on it. Then I just refill it with my larger bottle as needed.

mlinden84

Prime doesn't convert the ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, it just takes the toxic parts of the chemicals and combines them with other chemicals to make a non-toxic version. Yes your tests will still show that you have ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in your tank, however, it will all be non-toxic to the fish. That's not to say that you would be safe in allowing the ammonia levels to rise to 30 ppm or anything like that, but at normal cycling levels (1 - 5 ppm) your fish will be perfectly safe. Also when it comes to testing, you will notice that the levels of ammonia linger around for a bit longer then they normally would. This is because the bound up chemicals take a bit longer for the good bacteria to eat. It's not a big deal, but basically when you tank still shows 0.25ppm ammonia for a week, it's probably just the leftover bound up stuff that is being slowly eaten and in reality you probably are at 0 ppm already.

As for the amount to add (I know this is late) 2 drops of Prime is enough for 1 Gal (US) of water. I bought the smallest bottle of prime specifically because it has a drip cap on it. Then I just refill it with my larger bottle as needed.
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Thanks that was very helpful! My tanks are already cycled, but I naturally have .25 ppm ammonia in the water where I live, so I wanted something to add so I know it's not harming my fish.

Luniyn

Yeah I'm in the same boat. I've seen as much as 1 ppm of ammonia right out of my tap, so I am forever using Prime in all my water changes. On the plus side, all the extra ammonia means that I usually have more good bacteria in my tank and any given time. So changing out the filter never causes me to have even the smallest mini-cycle. And to date I haven't lost a fish yet (knock on wood) and I cycled with fish, so I'm a firm believer in Primes abilities.

mlinden84

Well it's good to know that it's working so well for someone else!

armadillo

Prime is a great choice. We dont' get it here so I have it delivered. I know my mind is at rest in cases of nitrate spikes or mini cycles.

I use one drop per 10 L (my bucket is 10L). Remember that you have to condition every bucket of water that goes in. You're not really meant to condition the water after it's in (although some Fishlorians do it and have reported no problems with it). What I mean is that you need to work out how much is needed per bucket, not per tank.

mlinden84

I'm planning on getting the python thing for water changes. How does that work to add the prime when i'm not adding buckets of water? Do I just add the amount of prime for the water i'm adding? or for the whole tank?

armadillo

The people who have python add the prime to the aquarium water before putting new water back in, as I understand it.

Luniyn

You only add enough to treat the water you are adding to the tank, so 2 drops per gal that you add to the tank. And yeah you can either drop the prime in before you add the water, or actually add it right to the water that is flowing into the tank.

mlinden84

Thanks! I'm looking forward to not having to lug heavy buckets of water to all of my tanks anymore, but I wanted to make sure I was doing the water conditioner correct.