Help! Prime Overload

Ok. Hubby and neighbor are taking care of the aquarium (29 gallon) while I lay here frustrated. They did a PWC tonight. They didn’t use my gallon container. I think the container they used holds about 3 quarts mayb less. They dosed with Prime that I’m not sure I even trust. But. They used the wrong syringe. Adding approximately 3 gallons of water they used approximately 2ml Prime. They say my oldest male guppy is going nuts. What now? david1978 any suggestions? Please?

Also, I’ve listened to thread after thread on Prime. Dosing seems to be a major issue. When it’s safe or not safe seems to be an issue. Seachem can’t even answer straight questions without getting confusing. Like have they overdosed my 29 gallon aquarium? “Well, if they used 1-2 drops per container, you should be fine”. I said they didn’t use drops they used a syringe. And the container is about 3 quarts. “Well, it’s really hard to actually overdose with Prime”. I’m as confused as everyone else seems to be.

 

I have a 5ml syringe that I'm looking at right now. 2ml doesn't appear to be that bad for 3 gallons of water. It's still overdosed, as it's normally 2 drops per gallon, so 6 drops max. But still, I hear people overdo it all the time to detoxify water (ammonia and nitrites I think). I honestly don't know. Could it be something else, like a temperature drop instead?

Sorry, I'm not much help.

Also, I think people tend to overdose quite a bit during water changes, since it's recommended that Prime be added for the full volume of the aquarium, before adding new water. Depending on how much water has been taken out, that could be a lot.

 

I have a 1ml syringe which gives off tiny water droplets and I dose 2 tiny droplets per 2l of water (2l = 1/2 gallon)

 

I have a 5ml syringe that I'm looking at right now. 2ml doesn't appear to be that bad for 3 gallons of water. It's still overdosed, as it's normally 2 drops per gallon, so 6 drops max. But still, I hear people overdo it all the time to detoxify water (ammonia and nitrites I think). I honestly don't know. Could it be something else, like a temperature drop instead?

Sorry, I'm not much help.

Also, I think people tend to overdose quite a bit during water changes, since it's recommended that Prime be added for the full volume of the aquarium, before adding new water. Depending on how much water has been taken out, that could be a lot.

The info on Prime is so contradictory I’m amazed anyone uses it. I bought it because so many people on Fishlore recommend it. I just didn’t like everything I was listening to on it so I hadn’t planned on using it.

Now my male guppy is NOT right. Never has been. His name is Stinky Pinky for a reason. He’s nuts. But he’s usually chasing the girls. Hubby says he’s going up and down the tank. (I’m wondering if he’s starving, always is). But if you think it’s probably not an overdose, I’ll let hubs go to bed and I’ll just worry till I can get someone to take a pic or vid for me. Thank you!

I have a 1ml syringe which gives off tiny water droplets and I dose 2 tiny droplets per 2l of water (2l = 1/2 gallon)

I know without asking they did way more than droplets. I wish I could get to the aquarium! Thank you for the measurements. Will help in my decision on Prime.

 

They usually glass surf when they are stressed, excited, hungry or bored... so it's a bit hard to decide what's up

 

do a 35 % water change

 

They usually glass surf when they are stressed, excited, hungry or bored... so it's a bit hard to decide what's up

And with him it’s even harder! I talk to him all the time. No matter where he is in the tank, I say where’s my Stinky Pinky and he comes to see me. Then does his little display stuff. Hubby tells me it’s a crazy guppy.

do a 35 % water change

Add anything to the water? Hubby is gonna love this!

 

And with him it’s even harder! I talk to him all the time. No matter where he is in the tank, I say where’s my Stinky Pinky and he comes to see me. Then does his little display stuff. Hubby tells me it’s a crazy guppy.

Just sounds like a happy little chappy to me

 

Stinky Pinky might just be making a stink. We can hope. But I'm confident it's not Prime.

 

Stinky Pinky might just be making a stink. We can hope. But I'm confident it's not Prime.

Hubby says he’s back to harassing Big Momma. She just had babies after a horribly bad labor. Oh I can’t wait to get my other aquarium set up and cycled. My girls will finally have peace. Thanks. And I’m glad you’re confident. I’ll be glad when I can get up to check things myself!

Any discussion on the pros and cons of Prime that will make sense to a blind lady will be most appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

Any discussion on the pros and cons of Prime that will make sense to a blind lady will be most appreciated. Thanks guys!

Pros:

• Very concentrated so will last a long time
• Quite cheap
• Makes ammonia, nitrate and nitrite safe
• Makes chlorine safe (all do this)
• Makes heavy metals safe (most do this)

Cons:

• Hard to get the dose right because it's so concentrated (better to slightly overdose than slightly underdose)
• Smells weird

These are all the ones I can think of but I'm sure there are more for both sides

 

Pros:

• Very concentrated so will last a long time
• Quite cheap
• Makes ammonia, nitrate and nitrite safe
• Makes chlorine safe (all do this)
• Makes heavy metals safe (most do this)

Cons:

• Hard to get the dose right because it's so concentrated (better to slightly overdose than slightly underdose)
• Smells weird

These are all the ones I can think of but I'm sure there are more for both sides

The sulfur smell did take me by surprise. Yucky. And slightly overdosing seems to be a recurring issue according to the many many posts I’ve listened to. Thank you very much!

 

I don't see why a slight overdose would be a serious issue as prime reccomends a 5x overdose in tank emergencies

 

You can switch over to seachem safe, its the same thing but in powder form. I am considering it for the smell myself.

 

The only way to "overdose" prime is to displace so much of the water that what's left becomes oxygen starved. Other than that, your fish could live in 100% prime.

The smell is because prime is a concentrated sulfurous compound - complex sulfides. This compound is the world standard for treating water.

 

Thank everyone! According to hubby all fishes reported alive and hungry this am. Begged him to please please not overfeed. Crossing fingers there! Get some sort of stabilizing brace tomorrow then I can check things myself!
Again, thank you. I’m humbled by the kind responses in my urgent time of woe!

 

You can switch over to seachem safe, its the same thing but in powder form. I am considering it for the smell myself.

Safe is even way more concentrated and easier to overdose though. It also doesn't detoxify metals or help with slime coat. It's more for if you have a lot of really gigantic aquariums. Overkill for a 29 gallon IMO.

 

You can switch over to , its the same thing but in powder form. I am considering it for the smell myself.

Safe has just as much if not more smell than Prime. I just cracked open my first bottle of Safe, so I'm coming from personal experience. Mixing Safe is also proving problematic. The directions say 1 gallon per 1000L of water (actually they say 1.25g to 1250L). Which (according to the label) is the same as,1/4tsp to 300gals. So if I'm trying to treat a 3 gallon bucket, how the #* do I measure out one one-hundredth of a 1/4tsp measure? I'll be sticking with drops of prime, thank you.
On that topic, for reference, 20 drops is typically 1mL, or at least that's how pharmacists think of things (I checked this out some time ago). So 2mL would require 40 drops. In your original post, you use both gallons and quarts. If gallons, the normal rate would 6 drops, max rate of 5x per label would be 30 drops, so you barely over that with 40. If quarts, you're quite a bit over, but not so much that a 50% PWC won't put you back into a reasonable range. But if fish are okay now, I say let it ride.

 

Safe has just as much if not more smell than Prime. I just cracked open my first bottle of Safe, so I'm coming from personal experience. Mixing Safe is also proving problematic. The directions say 1 gallon per 1000L of water (actually they say 1.25g to 1250L). Which (according to the label) is the same as,1/4tsp to 300gals. So if I'm trying to treat a 3 gallon bucket, how the #* do I measure out one one-hundredth of a 1/4tsp measure? I'll be sticking with drops of prime, thank you.
On that topic, for reference, 20 drops is typically 1mL, or at least that's how pharmacists think of things (I checked this out some time ago). So 2mL would require 40 drops. In your original post, you use both gallons and quarts. If gallons, the normal rate would 6 drops, max rate of 5x per label would be 30 drops, so you barely over that with 40. If quarts, you're quite a bit over, but not so much that a 50% PWC won't put you back into a reasonable range. But if fish are okay now, I say let it ride.

I see, someone suggested it to me as they stated it lasted longer than a bottle of prime.
Looks like it uses the same confusing directions as equilibrium. I picked that up for my rodI and read the directions and immediately went to another product, its like they want you to explode.

 

I'm no help with all the fancy stuff. Lol. I have a well so I don't use any if it.

 

I put my Prime in an old API bottle with the "dripper" tip. It pulls right off to refill.

No more messing with a syringe.

 

The only reaction I've ever gotten from overdosing Prime is an algae bloom. Not sure if it was coincidental, but it was the only thing in the tank that had changed.

 

I'm no help with all the fancy stuff. Lol. I have a well so I don't use any if it.

Lucky I have the worst nitrates in all the world I swear

 

The only way to "overdose" prime is to displace so much of the water that what's left becomes oxygen starved.

I had an email conversation with Seachem support today on a medication question, and they clarified something that is relevant here.
High rates of prime or safe are not toxic or harmful per se, but:
“what happens when you add too much Safe to an aquarium, is that the Safe can "run out" of things to react with in the aquarium, and start to reduce the levels of oxygen in the water.” Makes sense since I’ve aleays heard prime/safe described as “reducing agents”.
So in the future, if using highest rate (or if accidentally overdosed ), I’ll immediately increase aeration.

 

You can always dose full tank water, even if you only change partial water amount. For you, that would be 3ml of prime. Emergency dose is safe and would be 15ml or 3 capfulls. You were fine.. as I'm sure you already know by now..

 

after doing 35% water change add chlorine nutralizer to make the water safe

 

Safe has just as much if not more smell than Prime. I just cracked open my first bottle of Safe, so I'm coming from personal experience. Mixing Safe is also proving problematic. The directions say 1 gallon per 1000L of water (actually they say 1.25g to 1250L). Which (according to the label) is the same as,1/4tsp to 300gals. So if I'm trying to treat a 3 gallon bucket, how the #* do I measure out one one-hundredth of a 1/4tsp measure? I'll be sticking with drops of prime, thank you.
On that topic, for reference, 20 drops is typically 1mL, or at least that's how pharmacists think of things (I checked this out some time ago). So 2mL would require 40 drops. In your original post, you use both gallons and quarts. If gallons, the normal rate would 6 drops, max rate of 5x per label would be 30 drops, so you barely over that with 40. If quarts, you're quite a bit over, but not so much that a 50% PWC won't put you back into a reasonable range. But if fish are okay now, I say let it ride.

Fish all seem fine. Eating and chasing. The gallon I was talking about is what I use when I do PWC. Hubby and helpful neighbor used an approximately 3 quart pitcher. The guys say everyone is acting normal. Except for Stinky Pinky. He just ain’t right!

I'm no help with all the fancy stuff. Lol. I have a well so I don't use any if it.

Tested the well water around here and it’s full of nasties. Course, not many drilled wells right here. Might need to get one drilled. And you’re always helpful! Even if to say “hey, get a well!”.

The only reaction I've ever gotten from overdosing Prime is an algae bloom. Not sure if it was coincidental, but it was the only thing in the tank that had changed.

Well guess what I’ve got started! Trying to get the guys to clean the glass. Hubby walked out of the master bath with windex! I’m like, WHOA! Use the magnet. Long explanation there. Wonder how many others have had this happen? We’re going to get to the bottom of Prime yet! Thank you!

Lucky I have the worst nitrates in all the world I swear

And I have the worst headaches!

I had an email conversation with Seachem support today on a medication question, and they clarified something that is relevant here.
High rates of prime or safe are not toxic or harmful per se, but:
“what happens when you add too much Safe to an aquarium, is that the Safe can "run out" of things to react with in the aquarium, and start to reduce the levels of oxygen in the water.” Makes sense since I’ve aleays heard prime/safe described as “reducing agents”.
So in the future, if using highest rate (or if accidentally overdosed ), I’ll immediately increase aeration.

I did just that just because! I’m glad I did. Awesome work! Thank you!

You can always dose full tank water, even if you only change partial water amount. For you, that would be 3ml of prime. Emergency dose is safe and would be 15ml or 3 capfulls. You were fine.. as I'm sure you already know by now..

Yes but it was an awful experience! Not knowing exactly what they did or how! If I lost that troublesome Pinky, just cause I couldn’t get to him, I’d be devastated! I just think there should be one Fact Sheet on
Prime with all the good information we’ve gathered here. Especially for folks like me that had never used it. Measurement conversions, likely consequences of too much too little, affect on test kits etc. A fact sheet someone could check out without having to listen to pages of SirI reading every single punctuation mark! Just thinking out loud here.

 

You can always dose full tank water, even if you only change partial water amount. For you, that would be 3ml of prime. Emergency dose is safe and would be 15ml or 3 capfulls. You were fine.. as I'm sure you already know by now..

I read this and I was like "how can my math have been so far off?" and then I realized what you probably assumed I realized all along, the amount of Prime in the replacement water is less relevant than the final rate in the tank. D'oh!! [bows respectfully]

 

I'm no help with all the fancy stuff. Lol. I have a well so I don't use any if it.

Well water can still have toxic metals. I would still use prime.

 

I get it tested at a lab every 2 years. Theres nothing in it that can harm them.