I'm so stupid

[Codefox]

Gah, I did a PWC tonight and trimmed my plants up. I was so excited about trimming the plants for the first time that I wasn't thinking about Prime when I started to refill the tank. I didn't remember for almsot 2 hours when I ran to put it in. I think my fish will live...fortunately I only have 6 bleeding hearts at the moment. A couple didn't look so hot though

I need to be more careful. If I'd had the Angels and Rams in right now I'd have been really kickin' myself Fortunately the plants are probably completely unfazed by it...

 

[dont155]

Stuff happens sometimes. At least you remembered after only a couple of hours... what if you had gone to sleep and woke up the next day and THEN remembered... :?

 

[Codefox]

Then I might have been really sad

 

[src]

That's why I add prime first, water second.

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Hate to sound n00bish, but what is this prime everyone keeps talking about? I'm getting the impression it's some kind of chemical, but why put chemicals in clean water?

 

[Codefox]

Its a water conditioner for tap water to remove chloramines that are toxic to fish.

 

[Zagz]

Prime is a concentrated dechlorinator, it removes chorine and cloramines. It's more expensive per bottle but uses less per dose so in reality it is much cheaper than most brands. It is one of the best dechlorinators out there IMO.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Gah, I did a PWC tonight and trimmed my plants up. I was so excited about trimming the plants for the first time that I wasn't thinking about Prime when I started to refill the tank. I didn't remember for almsot 2 hours when I ran to put it in. I think my fish will live...fortunately I only have 6 bleeding hearts at the moment. A couple didn't look so hot though

I need to be more careful. If I'd had the Angels and Rams in right now I'd have been really kickin' myself Fortunately the plants are probably completely unfazed by it...

Well, I do know a few people who don't use dechlor and have no problems at all. And they are on city water as well. I don't think doing a PWC would really hurt the fish. At most I believe it might take out some of the biofilter, and eventually cause a small mini-cycle, but other than that, never heard of a PWC without dechlor killing fish. And once or twice I've done it myself on accident, and didn't think about it til the next day, and I have GBR's and other fish. No problems. My PWC's are 50%+ as well.

 

[Guest]

Hey LWB,

I have a confession to make...I have never used Prime, have city water, and never had a problem. Not recommending this because obvioulsy people get different water just saying. However I am planning a GBR tank and then I will be!

 

[Codefox]

Well, that makes me feel better. It was about 40% or so. I'm not worried about minicycles since the tank is decently planted.

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Ah I see... I'm on well water, so I suppose that doesn't apply.

 

[Codefox]

Yeah, you don't need to worry

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If you don't chlorinate, you are fine without it. I guess why it really didn't affect me much is I'm on chlorine here, which does gas off within a day or 2 I believe. those places that use chloramine, it's a different story, stays there til you dechlor.

 

[src]

Just remember that personal experience with unconditioned water does NOT translate into good advice. Your water is different from my water is different from his water is different from ....

Unless you know exactly what your locality uses to treat water, and in what amounts, the best and safest assumption to make is that your tapwater will kill your fish. Prime is incredibly inexpensive insurance against tragedy.

 

[Guest]

Not recommending this because obvioulsy people get different water just saying

Did YOU miss this SrC?

 

[src]

Not recommending this because obvioulsy people get different water just saying

Did YOU miss this SrC?

Nope, but you weren't the only person mentioning that some people don't use dechlor. Mine was a general comment, just to remind everyone that one person's experience with this has no bearing on anyone else's success. That's why I didn't quote anyone's post - I wasn't replying to a specific post, but to the general issue.

 

[Guest]

Ok, I didn't mean to take it personal.

Threads like this are great for people to learn. When I first got into the hobby I had no idea I had to worry about anything but putting water in.

 

[Codefox]

...wait, you do??!!

 

[Guest]

 

[greenfish]

Hey Codefox don't feel bad for making silly mistakes. It happens to the best of us. I always unplug my heater when doing water changes. One time I frogot to plug it back in and did not notice for a week when I was ready to do my next water change. Luckily it was the middle of summer and the tank stayed relatively warm and I had no losses.