Which is a better conditioner - Easy-Life or Prime??

[Paulm7373]

Hi all,
I have a full bottle of Easy-Life water conditioner which also acts as a tonic and prophylactic suitable for both freshwater and marine aquariums (although it's about 4 years old). I was going to use this for my new saltwater reef 50g setup but then found about about Seachem Prime which I was advised was really good. I would like to know if anyone has heard of Easy-Life and if any good, or do you think it's better to use Prime? Would prefer to save $ on buying another conditioner when I already have a full bottle, but I would be prepared to pay to get a Prime if it would be more beneficial.

[Digital Deviant]

I would recommend replacing the 4 year old stuff anyway!

[Paulm7373]

Ok thanks, the older conditioner doesn't have any expiry date on the bottle so didn't know if it was still ok to use. If I discard it, what brand of conditioner do you recommend I get?

[Beengirl]

The only one I've used if Prime. Works great. I don't think it's terribly expensive, but like I said I've never bought any others, so nothing to compare to.

[Digital Deviant]

Originally Posted by Paulm7373

Ok thanks, the older conditioner doesn't have any expiry date on the bottle so didn't know if it was still ok to use. If I discard it, what brand of conditioner do you recommend I get?

I'm into freshwater so not sure, but I did some research a while back and once opened I wouldn't keep any treatments past 3 years.

[Paulm7373]

Ok, I think you've answered part of my question - I will throw the old conditioner away. Problem is I don't have a RO/DI unit so I would be filling up the new tank with tap water. Do you think it would still be ok to use tap water for initial setup if I dose with Prime?

[Beengirl]

Originally Posted by Paulm7373

Ok, I think you've answered part of my question - I will throw the old conditioner away. Problem is I don't have a RO/DI unit so I would be filling up the new tank with tap water. Do you think it would still be ok to use tap water for initial setup if I dose with Prime?

Don't use tap. I don't have a rodi unit either. I buy my water from LFS around me for 0.25-0.39/gal. I have 5g buckets I take there and fill them. For my first fill of the tank, I had to make a couple of trips. tap will only cause terrible algae and cyano problems and then you'll get frustrated with SW and be disappointed that the SW tank of your dream turned into a nightmare. If nothing else, buy bottles of distilled water, a lot of stores have stations that you can fill buckets up with it. I don't know the size of the tank you're filling, but trust me- it'll be worth spending a little extra money at the start. I know that SW is expensive, but the water and filtration are not things you should skimp on. Other stuff like PH and rock are fine to skimp on, but not these 2 things.

[LaWoWee]

Definitely use RO/DI. If you cant get any, go to your nearest glacier drinking water vending machine. I used that for top off if I'm to cheap to buy distilled. Does your LFS sell mixed or natural sea water? Fortunately I have an unlimited supply of free filtered natural sea water.

[Paulm7373]

So excuse my ignorance, but if everyone here is so anti tap water then why are there all sorts of water conditioners out there which are supposed to remove all of those harmful things from the water?? I'm sure not everyone has a RO/DI system or has the ability to get natural sea water from their LFS. I only have a 5g drum which means I would need to make 8 trips to fill up my 50g tank with natural sea water - not realistic!

[spoonman]

Most conditioners treat the water for chlorine and chloramine. There are alot of other minerals and stuff in tap water that will cause algae issues in marine tanks. RO/DI removes all disolved solids from water.

[LaWoWee]

I keep a bottle of prime around but i never use it. I will only use tap water as a last resort. I use prime for other things such as fish stress since it regenerates a slime coat or detoxifying high nitrate (which i never let happen). When/if you start grow some nuisance green hair algae, tap water will be like steroids for them.

[LaWoWee]

Originally Posted by LaWoWee

I keep a bottle of prime around but i never use it. I will only use tap water as a last resort. I use prime for other things such as fish stress since it regenerates a slime coat or detoxifying high nitrate (which i never let happen). When/if you start grow some nuisance green hair algae, tap water will be like steroids for them.

We're not telling you that you have to. You can do whatever you want, you just may not be happy with the results. Maybe you can buy more jugs. i load up 5-5gal jugs in my car to get water every two weeks.

[Beengirl]

I bought some 5g paint buckets from lowes for $5 each. I use them every week to go buy water. I have 5 buckets, so my first full I had to go up to the store twice. But now I just get 3-4 buckets per week. That's less than $5/week for 3 buckets at 0.25/g. I also only use Prime for the stress coat actions of it.

[Paulm7373]

The conditioner I'm thinking of using is called Supachlor, it's Aussie-made and is made with Australian tap water in mind, which is ideal for me. It's suppose to remove the usual stuff and also heavier metals. Link is below:

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com.au/vi...083&cmd=VIDESC

Unfortunately things here down under are not as cheap as they are in the States. I wish I could have found 5g drums for $5. You would expect to pay around $30 or more just for one! I've also already bought my Red Sea aquarium salt so it's too late. I've been told to perhaps compromise and do 50/50 of conditioned tap water and natural sea water. I was also going to add Bio Culture to supplement the live rock in my tank a let things run for a few weeks before adding my first fish.

[Digital Deviant]

Really depends what your tap water is like to start with, you may be able to get your water chemistry from your supplier as I can in the UK. My water is very hard so depending on what fish I would like to keep RO water could be essential!

[LaWoWee]

Since RO/DI water is out of the question for you. I would invest in a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter which measures dissolved organic solids. The lower the number the better. Ive tested the local drinking water vending machine at 10ppm. My tap water measures at 450ppm. Big difference. Yours could be different or the same. Thats the reason i will never use tap.

[Paulm7373]

Well I'm happy to say that I will now be filling up my whole tank with natural sea water after finding some cheap new storage drums nearby on eBay. I'm also going to add Aquasonic Bio Culture to boost the bacteria through the tank and in the filtration. So no need for any RO water now! Would there be anything else I need to add into the water to get the cycling going or will the live rock do the job?

[Beengirl]

Yea! for great deals on eBay!! Live rock will add some ammonia when there's die-off, but it might not be enough ammonia to have a good strong cycle. You'll want ammonia to reach at least 4ppm, so you'll probably need an additional ammonia source. You could toss in a piece of raw shrimp or fish and lot it rot. It'll smell, but at least you'll be sure that when you add your fish they won't die because you had a weak cycle.

[Paulm7373]

Hooray for eBay! Thanks to that I can now steer well clear of tap water and I know I will be giving the cycling process a best possible start. Thanks for the tip about adding a dead shrimp and letting it decay. I might do that as I've heard that being done in many other places as well. So once ammonia reaches 4ppm does it gradually down by itself and then nitrite spikes up and goes back to 0, then nitrate will jump up so how do I know at what stage is the cycling complete and the first fish can be added?

[Rnl]

Well u know when the cycling is complete when your ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0 ppm and your nitrate level is showing up usually a little high right after u finish cycling. A good level of nitrate is between 20 and 40 ppm. So a PWC is a good idea and you should be good to go.