Seachem Prime.. Detoxifies NitrAte?

[Gundy]

This may be a dumb question, but I was at the LFS today and was looking through some dechlorinating products and saw 'Prime' which I hear nothing but good things about on this board so I decided to pick some up.

It wasn't until I got home that I realized it mentions REMOVES Chlorine, Chloramine, Ammonia.. Ok, I understand that - but then it mentions.. DETOXIFIES NitrIte & NitrAte.. Now isn't NitrAte what you want in an established tank? Why would you want to remove NitrAte from the tank - wouldn't that cause you to have to cycle the aquarium all over again..

I am assuming there is a difference between DETOXIFY and just completey removing.

I feel retarded..

 

[theotheragentm]

What you want in the established tank is the bacteria to handle ammonia and nitrites. Nitrates are something that is handled by plants, filter feeders like clams, or more commonly water changes. If you take away your supply of bioload from the tank, then you may have a problem as the bacteria will die off, but Prime, if it does handle nitrates a bit, will not get rid of your bacteria. It will only reduce the bioload. I'm not sure how that works exactly. Maybe it bonds with the bioload chemicals and neutralizes them, but you're not completely getting rid of your bioload, so your bacteria remain to handle the bioload.

 

[Algenco]

It converts ammonia into ammonium
Don't know about nitrates
Great stuff!!

 

[QTOFFER]

No dumb questions at all - they're very reasonable.

When you cycle a tank for the first time, you look for nitrate because it's the end product of the cycle. As mentioned by theotheragentm, it's the bacteria that you want to keep - not the nitrates per se. Removing nitrates won't harm the bacteria or upset the cycle.

Prime is intended to detoxify small amounts of nitrite and nitrate that may be present in the tap water. When used as directed, it isn't strong enough to keep up with the nitrites and nitrates produced by the aquarium bioload.

Most people try to keep their nitrates somewhere between 20 and 40 ppm. Water changes will significantly lower nitrate levels - so will live plants.