mlinden84

I finally got a bottle of Prime, and I have a few questions. It says add a capful to for 50 gallons, which will work fine for my 55 gallon tank but how much do I add to my smaller tanks like my 10s and 2 gallon?

vin

Doesn't it state how much to add per 10g of water?

mlinden84

This is what the bottle says

"Use 1 capful (5mL) for each 50 gallons of new water."

So I should use 1 mL for 10 gallons. But does anyone have it figured out how many drops it needs per gallon or something for the small tanks?

sgould

My bottle says that the first thread on the cap is 1ml.

capekate

If Im not mistaken I think that the 1 ml line equals a 1/2 teaspoon.

mlinden84

Ok thanks!
Also, I'm treating my bettas with Trisulfa. I was told on here to treat them for 5 days without changing the water, to just add prime to make the water ok for the fish. How often can/do I need to use it? Just when my test kit shows that I need to? Daily?

-Michelle

Isabella

As soon as you have any ammonia and/or nitrite readings. After the treatment, you should make sure the medication is out of the water for good. And of course, the regular weekly water changes to eliminate the ever-accumulating nitrate.

I also use Prime and I like it (except the fact that it smells like rotten eggs, lol). I have a syringe with measurements, so for example, when I change only 10 gallons of water, I use only 1 ml of Prime. I am hesitant to use the bottle's cap as an "accurate" measurement device.

mlinden84

Thats a great idea! Where do you buy syringes at? Can I get them at a pet store or do I need to order them online?

Also, with the ammonia and nitrite readings, even after I add prime to "detoxify" them, wont they still show up on the tests? (but just not be harmful?)

capekate

I use the Prime with every water change and adjust to how much water is in the bucket. You can buy those plastic syringes at your local grocery store in the baby section. Where it is used to give them liquid meds.

mlinden84

Hmm I'll have to check it out next time I'm there. Although I don't remember seeing any last time I was in the baby section. Are you talking about the medicine droppers or actually syringes?

Butterfly

They look like the syringe without the needle. Sometimes their with the liquid pet food also (for kittens/puppies)
Carol

mlinden84

Ok I'll have to get one next time I'm in town.

Is there such thing as adding Prime too often? While I'm treating for fin rot, is it ok to add it every day or is that not needed?

capekate

Prime is used at the time you do water changes, its not something that you need to add to the water every day. Its used to condition the water that you get from your tap.
and yes.. the syringe looks like a medicine dropper.

Butterfly

the syringes can look like this..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...1&N=2001&Nty=1
I also get mine from the feed store where buy shots for my dog and cat and just screw the needle off.
The droppers can look like this
http://www.drugstore.com/qxp80299_33..._and_spoon.htm
I forgot the baby medicine section at teh grocery store has the droppers
carol

mlinden84

I was planning on ordering some from DFS for when i test water, now i'll just get a few more as I'm sure I'll always have a use for them! Thanks for your help!

Isabella

I have exactly the same ones as the link from DFS shows. I really like syringes much better than a bottle's cap. Syringes are accurate and caps are not

I think what Prime does is it converts ammonia (and nitrite?) into nitrate. Nitrate is far less toxic to fish than ammonia and nitrite are ... unless you have a very high level of nitrate. Here is more info on how Prime works: http://www.seachem.com/products/prod...ges/Prime.html - this is from Seachem's website (the company that makes Prime).

mlinden84

I got a syringe at walmart last night. 5 mLis equal to 1 teaspoon. Just thought I'd let you know in case you were measuring something important

capekate

Thanks mlinden!

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.
[/quote]

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.