Aquasafe Vs. Prime

I know a large majority use Seachem Prime to condition their water but I started on Aquasafe (tetra aquasafe plus to be exact) and have been using that for the first few months of my fishkeeping career thus far.

Are there any significant disadvantages in using aquasafe rather than prime? any advantages maybe?

Just wondering if I should make the jump to Prime...it is readily available in my LFS's.

 

I started out with AquaSafe and was always satisfied with it. Prime has several advantages, though:

Prime detoxifies ammonia and nitrite that might have built up in the tank. This isn't going to be a necessity with every water change, but it's nice to have it in an emergency (filter stops working, etc).

Prime is cheaper to use. If you actually measure out the dose properly, you're getting more bang for your buck, as Prime is more concentrated.

Prime doesn't do what Aquasafe always did: build up a thick layer of residue in whatever you use to measure it out. I never liked the thick sludge that would stay behind in the Aquasafe measuring cap.

For me, the first two reasons are the biggies. I now only use Prime. There really isn't anything wrong with AquaSafe, though.

 

HI Krylon

Aquasafe is a basic dechlorinator which is great if that's all you need.

One of the main reasons Prime is recommended is because it detox's ammonia and nitrite.
This is especially useful in a cycling tank, if you're not testing your water used a safeguard or adding new fish that may cause a rise in ammonia to name a few..

Prime is more concentrated so it costs less to use, I believe. I haven't done the math.

Edit:

aylad, look at our post times. lol

 

I see! Detoxing those baddies is a big deal. I think I will switch to Prime, then!

Quick and accurate answers as always... yay for FL.

 

Prime also detoxifies heavy metals, which is good cause I have copper pipes in the house. It also lasts for a really long time. When I change the water on my smaller tanks (15g and less) I end up using only around 4 drops of it.

 

Even more economical is seachem Safe, it's same as prime but powder.

 

AquaSafe at one time claimed to detox metals. I don't know if they still claim that, though.

 

Prime also detoxifies heavy metals, which is good cause I have copper pipes in the house. It also lasts for a really long time. When I change the water on my smaller tanks (15g and less) I end up using only around 4 drops of it.

Maybe I'm overdoing it. I read somewhere on these forums that it's 2 drops per gallon. Maybe I read wrong.

 

At most I change 5 gallons at a time

 

Prime is the best. Heres a site that reviews all the major water conditioners , check it out.