what water conditioner do you guys recommend?

[Andyvette]

sweet! i just read about prime and how it conditions heavy metals, ammonia, and nitrites too! that makes me want to completely convert to it

the only thing is i'd like to keep my pH down where it's at, and the other conditioner i have already does that...so i'm not too sure on what i should do there to maintain it at that level

we are getting CO2 at some point and i'm sure we could keep it down lower with that...
what do you guys think?

pH is something delicate.... usually, you want to plan on keeping the same pH as your tap water, unless you do small water changes and keep it constant (like a buffer in your water). Big pH swings (.2-.3) really affect your fish. So if you plan on keeping your pH down, make sure it is consistant. Others can chime in on how to keep it consistant, although I know reverse osmosis and peat moss are great ways.

 

[Tullsterx]

PRIME again.

 

[trotty]

IME Stress Coat has worked well!

 

[maxwell1295]

Stress Coat for me right now and AmQuel+ for my Betta tank. When I run out of Stress Coat, I will be switching over to Prime in all of my tanks except the Betta tank. I like the ammonia neutralizing with AmQuel+ since my filtration and bio-filter in that tank is pretty weak.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

hmmm alright. i know the buffer is the biggest concern for me on the pH factor. but as i said, i would like to keep it alkaline on my 55 and neutral to lower on my 92 gallon. i'll have to figure that out in good time i suppose

what i'm kind of wondering now is this: you guys may think this is kind of a goofy thing for me to ask, but how exactly do you guys make your measurements to condition your water with seachem prime? i realized i'm going to have to try a whole different method to doing this, because here is how we've been doing it:

1) made a reference mark to 3 gallons in our 5 gallon buckets, and filled water up to that line
2) used a 1/4 teaspoon to treat 3 gallons at a time, and mixed accordingly

now what i'm confused on, if i switch to prime, it says 1 cap (5ml) treats 50 gallons. so how exactly do i make a measurement per individual bucket added to the tank? how do you guys condition your water?

 

[Andyvette]

now what i'm confused on, if i switch to prime, it says 1 cap (5ml) treats 50 gallons. so how exactly do i make a measurement per individual bucket added to the tank? how do you guys condition your water?

Just add it to the tank while you are adding the water

 

[GlitcH]

I just picked up some prime........it says its ok to use on a cycling tank.

Does anyone know of any reason I shouldn't use it during a cycle?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

5 ml treats 50 gal. 1 ml treats 10 gal. If you use 3 gal buckets, then you need .3 ml. Go to your local pharmacy (Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc) and get a baby medcine syringe to measure out the ml. Something you could also do is start refilling your tank with buckets that have not been treated. As you are dumping in the new water, put the dechlor in. Water does not have to be treated prior to adding. But be sure to add the dechlor immediately after or during the change.

Prime can be used during cycling.

 

[An t-iasg]

I make up six 1-gallon jugs of water on water change day. To figure out how much Prime for one gallon, and to continue Fishyfanatic's reasoning -

1ml per 10 gallons
.5 ml per 5 gallons
.25 ml per 2 1/2 gallons (.25 ml is 8 drops)
.125 ml per 1 to 1 1/4 gallons (about 3-4 drops)

I use 3 drops of Prime per gallon. I just got a glass eyedropper (easy to rinse) at the pharmacy and it is my "Prime dropper".

For three gallons, the amount would be 10-12 drops, which would be about .3 ml.

Try looking in a pharmacy as suggested - I only found baby medicine droppers that were 5 ml in total measurement, so measuring out something like .3 ml might be hard. I got a few 1 ml plastic pipettes from a friend who was taking a college microbiology class.

 

[noncentric]

For small measurements, you can use insulin syringes. These types of syringes are designed for volumes less than 1 ml / 1 cc...although it can be difficult to find these syringes without needles already attached. If that's the case, then wire cutters should take the needle part off (just be careful).

As to the original question, I've been using Kordon's Amquel+ ... but will probably switch to Seachem's Prime once this bottle of Amquel+ is used up.

To all the Prime users - Does Prime smell awful, as Amquel+ does?

 

[GlitcH]

ya prime smells kinda like sulfur to me.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Yes, Prime does not smell too good. But that's only after it ages. You also start to get little black specks.

 

[Jaybird]

I started with Stress Coat and AmQuel+, but have converted to Prime. The only problem I have with Prime is when doing small PWCs. You only need 5ml for 50G, and if I am only changing 6G at a time I need to try to measure out 1ml. Very economical.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

Yes, Prime does not smell too good. But that's only after it ages. You also start to get little black specks.

the prime i have smells horrible! is it really like that only after it ages? if so, the prime i just picked up from the store must be old :-/

 

[kostasonia]

Tetra AquaSafe

 

[MyCatsDrool]

Prime or start right here. I use a baby bird feeder to measure dose and dose for the entire tank volume.

 

[ladycage]

Do you need to use anything else with Prime, like with Amquel you need to use Novaquel also. Is Prime a water conditioner and a ammonia remover all in one? I read that you if you ise Stress coat you need stress Zyeme also.

 

[neilanh]

I believe Prime contains everything you'd need, all in one

 

[Argblarg]

Prime!

Much cheaper than anything else because its 5x more concentrated

 

[marthared]

Stress Coat