Mold in Seachem Prime?

I have one large bottle and one small bottle of Seachem Prime, and after a few weeks of using the larger one it developed a HORRIBLE smell. The smell filled the room the tanks were in and didn't let up for days. I opened up the bottle for another look and noticed that at the bottom there was a ring of what looked like black mold! I stopped using it right away and switched to a backup conditioner. I didn't polish off the smaller one because it also has a bit of a smell, it isn't nearly as bad or as strong as the other one and there is no mold in the bottom, but I didn't want it to cause any harm to my fish just in case something was wrong.

I have a couple questions about this, which I've put below:
1. Is this just a random occurrence/ have others experienced this? I'm going to the LFS soon so I can get another bottle, but I don't want to get another big one and have my money wasted if this happens again.
2. Does anyone know how this could happen? Might the mold have grown if some tank water got into the bottle? I did have a habit of rinsing the cap off in the tank to get the conditioner off, then I would wipe it off and put the cap back on the bottle, but I've stopped that since I thought it could have contributed to the mold growth.
3. Is a bit of a smell usual for Prime? As I said before, the smaller bottle has a mild "fishy" smell, which doesn't really bother me, I just wanted to make sure that was normal since I haven't used the product too much in the past.

I've never heard of anyone else having this issue so I don't think it's a problem with Prime itself, but rather an issue with this particular bottle or something I did. If anyone has an idea about what could have caused this/ how I can prevent it from happening again I would really appreciate it.

Note: Sorry if this was a little difficult to understand, I'm feeling off today so I'm not very articulate. If anything needs to be clarified, feel free to ask below!

 

I have one large bottle and one small bottle of Seachem Prime, and after a few weeks of using the larger one it developed a HORRIBLE smell. The smell filled the room the tanks were in and didn't let up for days. I opened up the bottle for another look and noticed that at the bottom there was a ring of what looked like black mold! I stopped using it right away and switched to a backup conditioner. I didn't polish off the smaller one because it also has a bit of a smell, it isn't nearly as bad or as strong as the other one and there is no mold in the bottom, but I didn't want it to cause any harm to my fish just in case something was wrong.

I have a couple questions about this, which I've put below:
1. Is this just a random occurrence/ have others experienced this? I'm going to the LFS soon so I can get another bottle, but I don't want to get another big one and have my money wasted if this happens again.
2. Does anyone know how this could happen? Might the mold have grown if some tank water got into the bottle? I did have a habit of rinsing the cap off in the tank to get the conditioner off, then I would wipe it off and put the cap back on the bottle, but I've stopped that since I thought it could have contributed to the mold growth.
3. Is a bit of a smell usual for Prime? As I said before, the smaller bottle has a mild "fishy" smell, which doesn't really bother me, I just wanted to make sure that was normal since I haven't used the product too much in the past.

I've never heard of anyone else having this issue so I don't think it's a problem with Prime itself, but rather an issue with this particular bottle or something I did. If anyone has an idea about what could have caused this/ how I can prevent it from happening again I would really appreciate it.

Note: Sorry if this was a little difficult to understand, I'm feeling off today so I'm not very articulate. If anything needs to be clarified, feel free to ask below!

Its normal for prime to smell similar to sulphur - its quite a smell.

its also normal for black flecks to be in the bottle too. Are you sure the mold isnt the sediment that has settled at the bottom of the bottle?

 

Prime has a positively evil pong to it and you need to shake the bottle well before using it too...especially if its been lurking in the corner of the cupboard for ages.

 

Its normal for prime to smell similar to sulphur - its quite a smell.

its also normal for black flecks to be in the bottle too. Are you sure the mold isnt the sediment that has settled at the bottom of the bottle?

I guess I'm just not used to that strong of a smell! With other stuff there would be a smell around the tanks for a day or so, but then it would go away. With this bottle though, it was there for about a week and just being in the room for too long gave me a headache. However, the room doesn't have the best ventilation and I can be pretty sensitive to strong fumes, so that could definitely be a contributing factor.

Prime has a positively evil pong to it and you need to shake the bottle well before using it too...especially if its been lurking in the corner of the cupboard for ages.

I didn't know I was supposed to shake the bottle! That could certainly be the root my issue.
I took some photos of what the bottom looked like before and after giving it a good shake (attached below). I was a bit scared to open the bottle because I didn't want to disturb whatever was making the smell and cause it to be even worse, but to my surprise it wasn't nearly as bad!

I feel quite silly now knowing that the solution was so simple, but thank you both for your help! I'll be sure to shake the bottle plenty in the future and put a nice, powerful fan in there to help the smell move out.

 

Prime should not stink up a room for days. It has a smell but its mild and I have to put my nose to the bottle to smell it.
I assume something is wrong. I would contact Seachem or the store you got it from and get a new bottle.

 

Prime should not stink up a room for days. It has a smell but its mild and I have to put my nose to the bottle to smell it.
I assume something is wrong. I would contact Seachem or the store you got it from and get a new bottle.

Now that I've shaken it up the smell is a lot more mild and I can't smell it unless I get close. I assume the bottle was sitting in the storage room of the store for a while, so it wouldn't have been agitated for quite a while. Regardless, I'll test it out before putting it back in the tanks by leaving some of it sitting out in a cup of tank water and see if the issue persists.

 

Try not to get any on the outside of the bottle. The smell could linger. As others have already said, like just about any liquid, shaking before using is normally recommended. I keep a small bottle filled from the larger bottle and store the larger bottle in my refrigerator. I use a syringe to dose the proper amount and rinse the syringe each time I use it.

 

Seachem does not instruct to shake the contents before using. I always do, but they don't tell you to do it.

 

I just got a 100 ML bottle of Pristine"
On the label, the very first line under "Directions " it says, "Shake well before using"
Maybe it is a newer bottle?

 

I just got a 100 ML bottle of Pristine"
On the label, the very first line under "Directions " it says, "Shake well before using"
Maybe it is a newer bottle?

I was talking About Seachem Prime. I am not familiar with "Pristine".