Making tap water safe

[lovemybarbs]

Okay, so I can add the Prime after I drain the water I take out for the water change right before I add the new water. I can add it to the tank with no problem?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

That's how I do it. If using a bucket, you can add enough to treat the bucket in the bucket, then add to the tank. Or if using the Python, add enough to the tank to treat the whole tank, then add the water. I use the Python myself, and I drain the water, then add 1 capful of Prime, then I fill. 1 capful treats 50G, and my tank is a 55G. But if using a bucket, you only need enough to treat the bucket, and add it to the bucket, then pour the bucket into the tank.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

And remember with Prime, you will use less Prime per water change than you do other dechlors, so that means a bottle will last a lot longer.

 

[lovemybarbs]

I've heard about the Python, but I'm not sure what the difference between one and and a regular vacuum is. I usually take two buckets out, (28 Qts) and because I'm small, I usually dump the fresh water in about 7 qts at a time. Four trips. I would rather add the Prime to the bucket, but I'm not sure how to figure it yet. I'll buy it before my next water change and see if I can figure out how much I'll need for 7 qts.

 

[rich311k]

7 qts is close to two gallons. Use 2 ml of prime a little less than half a capful.

 

[lovemybarbs]

Excellent. I will. I moved about a month ago and had a good move with no deaths. I can smell the chlorine in this new water and I think I have reason for worry.

 

[rich311k]

My apologies I did my math wrong. Its 1ml for ten gallons for 2 gallons you need very little less than a half an ml. You may be better off just treating the tank for the whole volume of water it will still only be 3 ml of prime.

 

[lovemybarbs]

Oh rats. Take the water out, treat the tank, add the new water. I hope I don't hurt my babies. I don't want to fry their little gills.

 

[rich311k]

That is a good plan. Extra will not hurt so if you did it already dont worry about it. As a matter of fact extra will detoxify ammonia and nitrites. I have been keeping fish a long time and I have never heard of a problem from a slight or even large overdose of dechlor.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

For a 29G, just dump a half of a capful in the tank, then add the buckets. I do this with my 26G and all's just fine.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

And yes, even a little extra won't hurt anything if you happen to do more than a half capful.

 

[lovemybarbs]

Okay, I guess I have a hard time believing that the chemical is actually working. I'll trust it, but I will probably still sit by the tank looking for trouble. This new water has me concerned. I trust you guys.

 

[dskidmore]

I use prime. ...

As do I. I have noticed that eventually all aquarists dedicated enough to participate on an internet fish fourm will eventually gravitate towards Seachem products. Are they better, or are we being brainwashed?

It's just easier to stock one bottle of prime instead of one bottle of cheap water conditioner, and an emergency bottle of ammonia detoxifier for emergencies in the QT. You're always using the prime with each water change, so you know it's not too old to use when you have that QT emergency.

They certianly seem to have a larger variety of affordable test kits than the brand in my LFS, so I end up ordering Seachem when I have to mail out for something.

 

[dskidmore]

I use prime. ...

As do I. I have noticed that eventually all aquarists dedicated enough to participate on an internet fish fourm will eventually gravitate towards Seachem products. Are they better, or are we being brainwashed?

Well, since I was running out of prime, I did a little study. Petco had 3 brands of bulk water conditioner in stock. (I have been doing 50% WC on my 75 gallon tank, no dropper bottles for me.) The aquarium pharmacuticals one was considerably cheaper, but you have to use four times the standard dose to break up chloramine, making it end up more expensive to use in most places. AmQuel+ removes twice as much ammonia as Prime does, but you have to use 5x as much AmQuel+ as you would Prime. The Prime turned out to be the most economical. The AmQuel+ claims to remove Nitrate, so it might not be good to use in a planted aquarium. AmQuel+ did provide some interesting information on the label about how it's use affects test results.

 

[lovemybarbs]

You know my fish do seem to like the Prime better. I added like 1 ml to my buckets each. I hope that isn't too much. I added probably 2 1/2 buckets total in three trips. It's a 14 quart bucket. Filling up the bucket completely and dumping it in the tank is hard on me because I am short and little, so picking it up that high is rough on me. Plus, I spill it all over.

I did probably a 40% water change yesterday and I noticed one of my fish scratching a little after I switched it out, so I added probably .75 ml to the water in the tank directly. The scratching stopped. I think that it worked really well by their reaction.

 

[dskidmore]

If you have a small tank, you can just dose the whole tank before putting the buckets of water in, then you don't have to worry about overdosing the stuff in each individual bucket. Up to 2x the standard dose is considered safe. Too much can reduce the oxygen content of the water, but since we stir up the water so much during a change, I don't think that's usually a problem.

 

[lovemybarbs]

I'm thinking 2.5 ml might be enough to add to the tank right before I add the fresh water. My water smells of chlorine, so I want to make sure I get it all out of there.

 

[dskidmore]

I tired picking up a chlorine test kit once, to see if the standard dose of prime was enough for my area. The test kit read 0 although I can smell the chlorine! My county though had statisitics online for how much chloriene is in the water, and I'm plenty safe. Does your water supplier publish a water quality report? You can get hard numbers off of there and compare to the amount prime removes.