Seachem Safe and Heavy Metals

Hello.

I recently got a bottle of Seachem Safe to save a few bucks on water changes.

I see that it doesn’t detoxify heavy metals but admittedly I don’t know what I’m looking for on my city’s water quality report.

Any chance someone could take a look at it and see if it’s wise for me to use Seachem Safe?

Thanks in advance.

PS it was really hard to not ask if it was “safe to use seachem safe...”

 

Heavy metals is just marketing. You don't have dangerous levels in your tap water. Maybe if you're on a well. Better conditioners use EDTA but even it doesn't bind metals permanently.

The biggest problem with Safe is that it only removes 0.52 mg/L chloramine at the recommended dose. Typical tap water levels are 2-2.5 mg/L. Prime removes 3.2 mg/L at the recommended dose. Safe is only 3X more cost effective than Prime when dosed to neutralize the same amount of chloramine.

 

Heavy metals is just marketing. You don't have dangerous levels in your tap water. Maybe if you're on a well. Better conditioners use EDTA but even it doesn't bind metals permanently.

The biggest problem with Safe is that it only removes 0.52 mg/L chloramine at the recommended dose. Typical tap water levels are 2-2.5 mg/L. Prime removes 3.2 mg/L at the recommended dose. Safe is only 3X more cost effective than Prime when dosed to neutralize the same amount of chloramine.

Thanks I appreciate the reply.

 

The water report you posted is for the whole water supply of the city and shows the range of values they have measured.

One heavy metal is lead. That usually comes from the old plumbing at your house. So the levels at one house could be high because of the specific pipe you have that was made from lead. The only way to test for that is to test your water specifically.


See where it says that Chlorine is on average .44 ppm.

A level of around .25 ppm is lethal to fish depending on the fish. So this is your concern for your fish.

Other than that your water company is keeping an eye on the heavy metals and they have none coming into your home. So just make sure your own plumbing is not adding any lead or copper, and you are good. And don't inject any heavy metals into the water at your house!

One other thing, remember that Seachem will try to sell you things you don't need by using fear and ignorance as a motivator. Stay smart and on guard against these tactics.

Only buy things that you know you need and why. Don'y buy additives that you don't know that you need. That is an infinite rabbit hole.

 

The water report you posted is for the whole water supply of the city and shows the range of values they have measured.

One heavy metal is lead. That usually comes from the old plumbing at your house. So the levels at one house could be high because of the specific pipe you have that was made from lead. The only way to test for that is to test your water specifically.


See where it says that Chlorine is on average .44 ppm.

A level of around .25 ppm is lethal to fish depending on the fish. So this is your concern for your fish.

Other than that your water company is keeping an eye on the heavy metals and they have none coming into your home. So just make sure your own plumbing is not adding any lead or copper, and you are good. And don't inject any heavy metals into the water at your house!

One other thing, remember that Seachem will try to sell you things you don't need by using fear and ignorance as a motivator. Stay smart and on guard against these tactics.

Only buy things that you know you need and why. Don'y buy additives that you don't know that you need. That is an infinite rabbit hole.

We repiped our home with pex a few years ago so not too worried about any old plumbing.

Thanks for the thoughts about additives. I’ve been in the hobby for 30 years and only ever dechlorinated water. Still wasn’t sure if saving a few bucks was right for me switching to Safe.

I blew through a bottle of Prime in no time doing changes on the 125g which is made me consider the change to Safe.

I couldn’t figure out how come I’ve had a horrible algae problem the last month after getting the tank in check. Plants were growing great but so was the hair algae. Noticed my nitrates were around 20ppm throughout the week without ferts. Started doing relatively frequent water changeso try and cut it down and keep the algae in check.

No progress then I decided to check my water and there’s around 20ppm nitrates. Duh lol.

In my defense it’s the first time I’ve ever found nitrates in the tap water and I’ve been on this city water for a decade.

 

The easiest way to treat for chlorine is with active carbon. It is really efficient at removing it from water. Chloromines, not so much, though.

I'm actually surprised to see chlorine on the report. Most municipalities have moved to chloromnines as it is more stable and cost effective than chlorine.

 

No progress then I decided to check my water and there’s around 20ppm nitrates.

Don't forget that if you use an aquarium test like API nitrate, you have to divide that number by 4 to compare to the EPA nitrate level. So if you measure 20 ppm, EPA calls that 5 ppm. So that is below the 10 ppm EPA level actually and your water is safe.

 

The easiest way to treat for chlorine is with active carbon. It is really efficient at removing it from water. Chloromines, not so much, though.

I'm actually surprised to see chlorine on the report. Most municipalities have moved to chloromnines as it is more stable and cost effective than chlorine.

In the written parts of the report they state that they actually treat with chloromines but I’m not sure why it’s not included in the spreadsheets.

 

Don't forget that if you use an aquarium test like API nitrate, you have to divide that number by 4 to compare to the EPA nitrate level. So if you measure 20 ppm, EPA calls that 5 ppm. So that is below the 10 ppm EPA level actually and your water is safe.

Interesting. Too bad either way I’ve got some algae to work on lol

 

In the written parts of the report they state that they actually treat with chloromines but I’m not sure why it’s not included in the spreadsheets.

The EPA reporting requirement is chloramine as Cl2, chlorine as Cl2, and chlorine dioxide as ClO2. Chloramine will be listed as Cl2 the same as chlorine.

There also isn't really a chloramine test only free chlorine and total chlorine. The total chlorine test is what detects chloramine and most other bound forms of chlorine. Since there's no chloramine test you can't really report it as chloramine.

This is why I always say water quality reports can't be relied upon to tell you whether you have chlorine or chloramine.

 

The EPA reporting requirement is chloramine as Cl2, chlorine as Cl2, and chlorine dioxide as ClO2. Chloramine will be listed as Cl2 the same as chlorine.

There also isn't really a chloramine test only free chlorine and total chlorine. The total chlorine test is what detects chloramine and most other bound forms of chlorine. Since there's no chloramine test you can't really report it as chloramine.

This is why I always say water quality reports can't be relied upon to tell you whether you have chlorine or chloramine.

So assuming the .44ppm on my water report is chloramine and based on what you posted earlier, it would be a good guess that I can use Safe at the dosage on the label?