Seahorsechick
New member
Has anyone ever experienced prime water conditioner by seachem killing snails and sea urchins?
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Prime water conditioner
- Thread starter Seahorsechick
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Seahorsechick
New member
I used it to treat tap water
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RAY in PA.
New member
Your problem may be using tap water and not RO.
ReeferNoob4ever
New member
I believe Prime will remove heavy metals but that they become salt instead. What's your salinity?
"Prime reduces heavy metals that are found in tap water at typical concentrations. Typical concentrations are normally very low because tap water is for human consumption. Heavy metals include lead, copper, nickel, zinc, iron, etc. If a person has high amounts of heavy metals in their tap water that are above normal, then he/she may want to consider filtering their tap water with an RO unit prior to use. The primary function of Prime is to detoxify chlorine, ammonia, nitrite, chloramine, and nitrate. Prime will reduce and detoxify heavy metals, and make them fall out of solution (the by-product would be a salt). So, yes, the metals will technically still be in the aquarium; they can become "available" again if your pH were to ever drop significantly."
Also maybe your tap has a lot of copper...
"Prime reduces heavy metals that are found in tap water at typical concentrations. Typical concentrations are normally very low because tap water is for human consumption. Heavy metals include lead, copper, nickel, zinc, iron, etc. If a person has high amounts of heavy metals in their tap water that are above normal, then he/she may want to consider filtering their tap water with an RO unit prior to use. The primary function of Prime is to detoxify chlorine, ammonia, nitrite, chloramine, and nitrate. Prime will reduce and detoxify heavy metals, and make them fall out of solution (the by-product would be a salt). So, yes, the metals will technically still be in the aquarium; they can become "available" again if your pH were to ever drop significantly."
Also maybe your tap has a lot of copper...
Smokey Stover
New member
Mixing Prime with SeaChems Paraguard is Bad, Found out the hard way, Killed a fish in QT. No mention of it on either instructions.
You can go to the source and ask, Very good CS...
(888) 732-0003
You can go to the source and ask, Very good CS...
(888) 732-0003
Volcmreefer
New member
Use Prime in my RO water for insurance. Not sure if it is needed or if it removes chloramines but I haven't had any ill effects from its use. Hope you figure out what is killing them. Happy Reefing!
Seahorsechick
New member
Thank you everyone for your replies! It's been a long week!
So the full story is that I work for an aquarium servicing company. We took on a new client with a 29 gal biocube, she is having really bad hair algae so I said I would clean it up for her no problem.
During the consult I added a circulation pump because right away I noticed there wasn't much flow going on and the rocks were packed with detritus. My boss then added half a cap of prime to "help with the ammonia" straight to the tank. Then we left.
A week later when I came back to do a water change and the real clean up she had lost 3 snails and her sea urchin is acting sluggish. However her shrimp and fish are still very healthy.
Temp 79f
Salt was low at 2.020
So was it the ammonia spike from clearing the rocks or the prime that took out the snails? Also the remaining snails are very very sick
Let me know if you need any more info. I have no experience using prime with saltwater, I only use seachems "alpha"
Lots of our saltwater clients use straight tap water, including this one.
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So the full story is that I work for an aquarium servicing company. We took on a new client with a 29 gal biocube, she is having really bad hair algae so I said I would clean it up for her no problem.
During the consult I added a circulation pump because right away I noticed there wasn't much flow going on and the rocks were packed with detritus. My boss then added half a cap of prime to "help with the ammonia" straight to the tank. Then we left.
A week later when I came back to do a water change and the real clean up she had lost 3 snails and her sea urchin is acting sluggish. However her shrimp and fish are still very healthy.
Temp 79f
Salt was low at 2.020
So was it the ammonia spike from clearing the rocks or the prime that took out the snails? Also the remaining snails are very very sick
Let me know if you need any more info. I have no experience using prime with saltwater, I only use seachems "alpha"
Lots of our saltwater clients use straight tap water, including this one.
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mcgyvr
New member
Wanna try that salinity again?
Should be 1.025-1.026 (35ppt)
Salinity issues will certainly cause problems..
A half a cap of prime will not..
Clearing rocks of detritus won't cause ammonia issues..
Could be low oxygen or just plain life.. things die..
Seahorsechick
New member
Sorry yeah still at work, hit the wrong key.
Salinity was 1.020 which was too low so I did raise it
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Salinity was 1.020 which was too low so I did raise it
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squeakymcmurdo
New member
How old are your pipes? Nowadays most plumbing is pvc but some pipes and fittings are still made of copper. If they are older or in need of repair, they could be leaching more than normal which would make Prime less effective at removing it.
Seahorsechick
New member
She lives in an apartment downtown. The snails were all healthy and active before we did our consult
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