update and question

[Reygan2]

Tested again this morning, ammonia 0, nitrite .25, nitrate 0, ph still a constant 7.6. I finally made the long trip to my lfs and purchased my first bottle of the famous Seachem prime. My question is.... I do my pwc's with a 5 gallon bucket. I can only lift it a little over half full when pouring water back into my tank. I don't know how to accurately measure the amount I need to treat that amount of water at a time. Help?

 

[librarygirl]

It can be hard to dose for smaller water changes. How large is your tank? I'm guessing you are cycling with fish if you are doing a water change for the nitrite. You could just dose for the entire tank and then add the tap water in. I think one capful treats 55 gallons (I don't have the bottle in front of me), so you could just dose up your whole tank, let it swirl around for a minute or two and then add the water change water. Does that help?

 

[Reygan2]

I am cycling a 29 gallon, and yes, I'm doing plenty of pwc's (fish in). I fill my 5 gallon bucket a little over half full and only add a small amount of Prime each time. Already it has brought my nitrite level to 0 after just one pwc today. I think the fish are fine, my numbers are good. I'll continue to moniter frequently. I'm about 4 weeks into my cycle, so how would I dose the entire tank without over-dosing?

 

[Reygan2]

My pwc today was 25%

 

[eco23]

It's best to treat each individual bucket before adding it...but plenty of us who use water changers add raw tap water directly to the tank. Drain the amount you are removing....add Prime directly to the tank based off the entire volume of the tank (not just the amount you are replacing), swish it around real good and refill.

 

[librarygirl]

It's probably really hard to overdose too much on Prime. If you wanted to be sure you're adding enough you could add about a half-capful to the tank itself and then 6-10 drops to each bucket of water before you put it in.

I had a smaller bottle of Prime when I started and I think it said 2 drops treats 1 gallon. It's pretty strong stuff, but better to put more in than not enough I guess.

 

[Reygan2]

will do...thanks so much!

 

[Reygan2]

thanks to you also librarygirl