Confused with Prime and ammonia level

[eco23]

Interesting, I have a 75 gallon freshwater I use prime but i did not know about this 24-48 time frame. I've had tanks for a long time but ever since i moved where i am now I have had such a hard time. All was fine then my ammonia spiked tank got cloudy and my ph dropped to 6.0 from a 7.0 I freaked. All I can guess is that my mollies all had babies about the same time. Anyhow point is I use Prime /Stability/Clarity and IDK Its like my tank keeps cycling or something Now its been about a month of struggle and my fish are getting sick so im fighting levels and illness not fun any suggestions on what else to do? I use a phyton hose but only to drain my tank i use buckets to put water back in my tank, my pleco is too hard to get to.

Welcome to the site . Probably the best thing to do would be to start a new thread so more people will be able to see your situation and help out.

The first thing I would suggest is to stop using the Stability and Clarity. All a tank should require to be healthy is a bottle of dechlorinator and a bucket to do water changes. The chemicals you are using are possibly part of the reason your are dealing with these problems.

When you start a thread, try and post your exact water parameters (ammo, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH). It will let us help the best we can, and also save you from being asked for them, lol.

The pH drop is definitely something suspicious and I'd be very interested to hear more. I'll look for your new thread

 

[tulip55555]

I was having the same exact problem. In my research I found this FAQ for Prime.


Q: I am using Prime® to control ammonia but my test kit says it is not doing anything, in fact it looks like it added ammonia! What is going on?
A: A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime®... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime®). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).




This was very confusing to me, so I dug a little deeper and found this, which I was just getting ready to post in the forum when I saw your thread. Very interesting stuff!! Basically, depending on your Ph and temperature .25 and .5 can contain VERY SMALL amounts of free ammonia (toxic NH3)


Here is a link to an article and charts to find how much free ammonia you have based on temp and Ph


Ammonia Toxicity

 

[FoxRob]

Like Eco said stop using the other products. Test your tap water my tap water has 1.0 pompous of ammonia I'm it. My tanks bio filter is finally able to break down the ammonia in 24 hrs. Just use the prime to dechlorinate the water. It will take some time.

 

[FoxRob]

The only ways to effectively lower no3 in an aquarium are with water changes or having a heavily planted tank (plants will consume the no3).

What plants would you recommend? I only have regular tank lights on my tanks.

Thanks again Eco.

 

[eco23]

What plants would you recommend? I only have regular tank lights on my tanks.

Thanks again Eco.

I am FAR from a planted tank expert, but there are lots of easy to grow and inexpensive plants like Anacharis, Java Fern, Water Sprite, etc...

Honestly though, I wouldn't rely on plants for your no3 reduction. Just do weekly water changes to keep nitrAtes below 20, and consider the plants only as something nice to look at which also help out a little.

There's tons of benefits and necessities involved in weekly pwc's...relying too much on plants to keep things in check for you is a dangerous practice.

If water changes are a pain, you should look into a Python or Aqueon Water Changer. I can do a 50% pwc on my 48 gallon in under 10 minutes...and it's actually kinda fun

 

[FoxRob]

If water changes are a pain, you should look into a Python or Aqueon Water Changer. I can do a 50% pwc on my 48 gallon in under 10 minutes...and it's actually kinda fun

I have a Aqueon water changer, it makes PWC's a breeze I can have both my 55 gal and 29 gal done in less then a half hour.

My NitrAtes had risen to that level in 2 days since the last PWC, granted right now my 55 gal is overstocked according to AqAdvisor but once my 29 gal is fully cycled I'm going to move some fish back into it.
Which is why I was asking about options to lower the NitAte level. I'll just stick to PWC's every other day in the 55 gal.

 

[eco23]

I have a Aqueon water changer, it makes PWC's a breeze I can have both my 55 gal and 29 gal done in less then a half hour.

My NitrAtes had risen to that level in 2 days since the last PWC, granted right now my 55 gal is overstocked according to AqAdvisor but once my 29 gal is fully cycled I'm going to move some fish back into it.
Which is why I was asking about options to lower the NitAte level. I'll just stick to PWC's every other day in the 55 gal.

In that case, adding a bunch of fast growing plants would be a big help. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page that plants do not take the place of weekly pwc's.

You can post a thread in the planted tanks section asking for some good recommendations for the type of lighting you have...or there's a few members in this section right now who I'm sure can give you some great advice.

 

[FoxRob]

Thanks again Eco.