Got my prime- Have a question....

[shadylady23]

So, I got my prime last week. First time ever using it. Numbers good. Ammonia 0, Nitrite, 0 Nitrate 5.0, BEFORE my water change.
This week, I was curious to see where they were at before I changed again. This is what I got. Ammonia .50, Nitrite .25 and Nitrate 5.0. I immediately did a large water change, however why do you think this happened? Do you think I cleaned it "too much" last week? Killing bacteria some how?

Will my cycle come back around? This tank has been up for probably 7 years, so it definately was cycled fully with no new fish or anything in the tank.

Any opinions or suggestions would be great as this Prime stuff is completely new to me.

tHANKS!

 

[LyndaB]

The tank is 7 years old and fully stocked?

What test kit are you using?

 

[chevy_guy2002]

What size tank?

 

[eco23]

Have you recently replaced or cleaned any filter media? (ex. replaced filter cartridge, rinsed in tap water, etc...)

 

[shadylady23]

My apologies, I thought my stats were listed in my sig. I have a 55 gallon tank with 6 Platies, and two guppies. I've had them now for probably over a year. I did clean my cartridges with conditioned water in a bucket, however did not replace any. I just didn't know if you can clean them too much? Using an API drop kit. I'm at a loss what to think.

 

[CleverBs]

just so you know Prime is just a water conditioner that will nueteralize ammonia, it does work very well but its designed to put in when you doing a water change to make it so ammonia doesnt harm fish within 24hours giving you BB time to convert it into Nitrate/Nitrite

 

[shadylady23]

Although, I must say. I have been remembering to feed them daily rather than every other day or so. Maybe that's all it is. If so, it certainly doesn't take much to throw things off!

 

[CleverBs]

with that few of fish in a 55 gallon tank I dont see how feeding every day would cause it to not be able to handle the extra ammonia. Was the test after a water change by chance? or before it?

 

[OhNeil1969]

You mentioned that the increase occurred 1 week after performing a water change. How are you adding the water to your tank? Is the water already conditioned before you add it or are you adding Prime after adding the water to your tank? Also what is your water source and what are it's parameters from the "tap." I recently had to deal with an unknown spike in my tanks' parameters only to find out that my tap's water chemistry had changed and that it tested positive for ammonia and nitrates right from the faucet. Also, once when I was rushing and not paying attention I filled my tank and forgot to add the Prime until after I restarted my pumps. I suffered through a mini cycle while my bacteria recovered from the chlorine/chloramine in my tap water. As a result I overdose with Prime immediately after I've removed the water from my tank. I also keep all my pumps off until the tank is full. To ensure water movement and to make sure the Prime circulates I keep my air stones on while adding water.

 

[shadylady23]

OhNeil- That's a great idea turning off the pumps. I usually just let them run. I will also check the tap to see if anything has changed.
When I tested the water it was before my change. I always add my conditioner before any water. In this case, it was Prime (first time), I used 1 capful as recommended. I use a homemade "python" type thing to fill WHILE I Syphon at the same time letting it go out the window of my house. (great plant food btw)

 

[shadylady23]

Hmmm... No ammonia in tap. I wonder if it was cause I didn't turn off pumps? Maybe sucked up some water that didn't dechlorinate quick enough?

 

[shadylady23]

CleverBs- The only reason why I mentioned the Prime is because I didn't know if it had some "weird" effect with initial use. Giving a false positive or something to that effect IDK. Everything was good prior.

 

[OhNeil1969]

Hmmm... No ammonia in tap. I wonder if it was cause I didn't turn off pumps? Maybe sucked up some water that didn't dechlorinate quick enough?

That sounds like the most likely cause. Some people may disagree with me and insist Prime is instantaneous. My personal experience is that while Prime works extremely well, the chlorine in your tap water can effect your bacteria colony if you're not careful when adding water.

On a side note: I mention ammonia in your tap, but it really is a false positive reading caused by the use of chloramine as opposed to chlorine to purify your water. More and more water treatment facilities are using chloramine as it is more stable than chlorine. So you may want to periodically test your source water to see if there is a change.

 

[LyndaB]

CleverBs- The only reason why I mentioned the Prime is because I didn't know if it had some "weird" effect with initial use. Giving a false positive or something to that effect IDK. Everything was good prior.

In other forums I belong to, many people have said that if you test within 24 hours of using Prime, there is a chance for false positives.

 

[spoonman]

Am I right in saying that you washed the media in treated tap water? If you did I would say that is the problem. I only use tank water that is taken out for the water change. You may have killed off the bacteria on the media.

 

[ShadoeFox]

I've actually tested water before and after adding prime. It can cause false positives. I had read the same things as LyndaB, and had been curious. My tap went from .5 amonia (Yeah, I know.... There's a reason I don't drink tap water.) to 1.5 in my test but my tanks, within a day, are always 0

 

[shadylady23]

Ok... That is interesting. Because after my water change from the .50 reading it was more than zero, but it looked less than .25, (you could tell isn't wasnt a perfect yellow). But I did retest it the next morning, and it was a perfect yellow showing a zero result. hmmm.....

Spoonman- Yes. I washed them with tap water with declorinator in it. mixed it up and began washing. Which, in the past, I've always done it with tank water. So, between that and having my pumps running might be the culprit.

Thanks guys, I'm just gonna be super careful now. No pumps running, and wash filters with tank water only. Just to clarify, can you wash ALL filters at same time? Or is it best to osilate?

 

[OhNeil1969]

Thanks guys, I'm just gonna be super careful now. No pumps running, and wash filters with tank water only. Just to clarify, can you wash ALL filters at same time? Or is it best to osilate?

I haven't had a problem washing all my filters at the same time. Remember, you're just removing solid particles to allow the filters to allow good water flow. The purpose behind using tank water is to ensure that you are not hurting the beneficial bacteria that reside in your filters.

 

[shadylady23]

Ok thanks!!