How often can you safely use Seachem Prime without any Problems?

[that Fish Guy]

I have some Nitrate and have been trying to eliminate it for a while.

One LFS told me that I can do 5 times the recommended dose safely. (He said the recommended does is only when you top off with Freshwater or whenever you do a Water Change and you Have Zero Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. But when your readings are over zero like mine are you can do 5 times the recommended dose to lower the readings. He said I could only do this once a week though Safely with No Worries.

Another LFS told me the exact same thing as the other but there I was told you could do 5 times the recommended amount every 24 hours Safely with No Worries.

I am so confused and angry.

I am tired of getting different answers to the same questions from different people!

It seems like this happens all the time to me. (Conflicting Opinions).

Which of these two statements is correct?

Or are they both wrong?

I do not want to overdose and hurt any of my Fish or Corals.

 

[ska d]

I'm pretty sure dosing 5 times is for emergency situations. The reason for dosing after 24 hours is because it is only effective for that long. This gives you time to get some water changed, as it does not remove nitrates and ammonia, but converts it to a non toxic form. Has to do with binding something or other, but I can't remember exactly. Im sure I read that relying on it as a daily routine was bad for the overall health of the bio filtration.

 

[3dpilot]

If you really want a solid answer, I would contact the manufacturer.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Anybody?

 

[ska d]

There are tons of threads on this topic.

 

[dkeller_nc]

I guess it depends on precisely what you're asking. If you mean dosing Prime to directly get rid of the nitrates, that won't work - Prime won't affect the nitrate concentration of either seawater or freshwater.

If you mean "how much of this can I use to neutralize chlorine/chloramine in tap water so I can do large water changes", then it would be better to think of it this way: how much ammonia can my tank's biological filter tolerate? A typical municipal water system in the US will use about 2 -5 ppm chloramine.

Typically, a cycled tank with an efficient biofilter can pretty easily handle around 0.5 ppm ammonia in just a few hours.

Personally speaking, I don't care to intentionally expose any of my critters to ammonia, so I don't use tap water. But in a pinch, changing as much as 20% of a tank's water per day with seawater made from dechlorinated tap water would be OK.

Finally, however, you should realize that unless you've got really high nitrate numbers, dechlorinating/dechloraminating tap water may not be all that helpful (at least in a reef tank), because you're putting water into the tank that has complexed ammonia that will then be converted to nitrate.

 

[kelrn98]

On the bottle it states that you may use up to 5 times the recommended dose of treating new water in order to neutralize ammonia and nitrites in a emergency situation.

 

[that Fish Guy]

On the bottle it states that you may use up to 5 times the recommended dose of treating new water in order to neutralize ammonia and nitrites in a emergency situation.

Yes, but how often.

One person told me you can do that once a week.

Another said every 24 Hours is safe.

Or are they both wrong?

 

[dkeller_nc]

Well, again - if you're dosing Prime into the display tank in the expectation of getting rid of nitrates, it isn't going to work (it's not designed for this purpose).

 

[kelrn98]

Yes, but how often.

One person told me you can do that once a week.

Another said every 24 Hours is safe.

Or are they both wrong?

I am not sure. I would think the idea is to use the high dose to neutralize ammonia and nitrites long enough to do necessary water changes to lower such levels.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Well, again - if you're dosing Prime into the display tank in the expectation of getting rid of nitrates, it isn't going to work (it's not designed for this purpose).

Then what is it designed for exactly then?

It states on the front of the bottle that it helps with Nitrates.

So why do you say that it is not for Nitrate problems?

 

[Reefmedic79]

Then what is it designed for exactly then?

It states on the front of the bottle that it helps with Nitrates.

So why do you say that it is not for Nitrate problems?

Bottle says Ammonia and nitrItes, not nitrAtes.

 

[nikon187]

doesnt remove nitrates, detoxifies nitrates so you can remove them through water changes.

Removes chlorine,chloramine and ammonia.

 

[dkeller_nc]

(What they said). It would be worth noting that there is no additive on the market that will remove nitrates from a seawater system. That would be chemically impossible while also maintaining the other water chemistry parameters in a range that is suitable for life.

Whether this is a reef or FOWLR tank, you also aren't going to get much of a long-term result from water changes to reduce nitrate, either. Though doing several large water changes will reduce the nitrate concentration temporarily.

Also realize that nitrates really aren't that harmful to fish or invertebrates so long as the level was reached slowly. David Saxby's aquarium, for example, was at 60 ppm Nitrate conc. before he put a dinitrification reactor on the system.

If the tank you're referring to is a tank with live rock, you've several options for dealing with nitrate levels. The first is the simplest - carbon dosing. But definitely read up on it before you do it, carbon dosing absolutely has to be started and ramped up slowly. Severe damage to your tank's inhabitants could result if done in a hurry.

The second choice for dealing with nitrates is a denitrification reactor. There are 3 common types: coil denitrifyers, methanol-fed anoxic denitrification reactors, and sulfur denitrification reactors. All of them have their challenges, and all of them are capable of wiping out everything in the tank if not operated properly.

The third choice is a deep sand bed. Nowadays, most people choose to do this in a refugium because of the room it takes up in the display tank.

A fourth choice is an algal filter of some description, whether that's chaeto in the sump or a full-blown Adey algal turf scrubber.

Finally, you can use a continuous water change system like the Genesis. This is an expensive way to deal with the problem in a large tank, but it does work.

 

[ridetheducati]

What he said. ^^^

 

[that Fish Guy]

(What they said). It would be worth noting that there is no additive on the market that will remove nitrates from a seawater system. That would be chemically impossible while also maintaining the other water chemistry parameters in a range that is suitable for life.

Whether this is a reef or FOWLR tank, you also aren't going to get much of a long-term result from water changes to reduce nitrate, either. Though doing several large water changes will reduce the nitrate concentration temporarily.

Also realize that nitrates really aren't that harmful to fish or invertebrates so long as the level was reached slowly. David Saxby's aquarium, for example, was at 60 ppm Nitrate conc. before he put a dinitrification reactor on the system.

If the tank you're referring to is a tank with live rock, you've several options for dealing with nitrate levels. The first is the simplest - carbon dosing. But definitely read up on it before you do it, carbon dosing absolutely has to be started and ramped up slowly. Severe damage to your tank's inhabitants could result if done in a hurry.

The second choice for dealing with nitrates is a denitrification reactor. There are 3 common types: coil denitrifyers, methanol-fed anoxic denitrification reactors, and sulfur denitrification reactors. All of them have their challenges, and all of them are capable of wiping out everything in the tank if not operated properly.

The third choice is a deep sand bed. Nowadays, most people choose to do this in a refugium because of the room it takes up in the display tank.

A fourth choice is an algal filter of some description, whether that's chaeto in the sump or a full-blown Adey algal turf scrubber.

Finally, you can use a continuous water change system like the Genesis. This is an expensive way to deal with the problem in a large tank, but it does work.

I have Carbon in the Filter Bags.

Is that what you mean by Carbon Dosing or do you mean something else?

 

[dkeller_nc]

I have Carbon in the Filter Bags.

Is that what you mean by Carbon Dosing or do you mean something else?

No - look up "carbon dosing", "vodka dosing", and/or "vinegar dosing" in the Reef Discussion and Reef Chemistry sections - you'll get lots of threads describing this.

Essentially what you're doing is boosting the anoxic denitrification potential of the live rock and/or sand bed.

 

[MrTuskfish]

You seem to be looking for an easy, overnight way to reduce nitrate. Ain't gonna happen.

 

[greech]

You seem to be looking for an easy, overnight way to reduce nitrate. Ain't gonna happen.

Agreed, there is no overnight solution to high niTRATEs. Prime will do nothing for you when it comes to niTRATEs.

 

[enjetek]

its water change time...you dont even have that big a tank! try 10-20% on my tanks then you can complain...