# Seachem Prime



## tulip55555 (May 7, 2011)

Does anybody know anything about using Prime as a water conditioner and getting an ammonia reading?? (I use and API test) And does anyone know how long it binds the ammonia? 
I've been reading on their website about getting a false positive for ammonia, so I just don't know when to be concerned and do a pwc. My tank is still new and I've been adding some plants and another fish...idk if they are deteriorating and giving off ammonia or if the Prime is giving me a false reading or what.
I must say that before I started using it a couple of days ago my ammo was good, but, again, I have added some plants and fish, too.
I know Seachem has a test that will distinguish between toxic and non toxic ammo, but I can't find it at my LFS. So please don't give me that answer I really need an educated guess from someone who has been using it and can give me an idea of when to be concerned and do a pwc. *H2
Thanks everybody.

OH! And my Ph has gone up .4 since using it, too. It had been stable at 7.0 for quite a while. Is this also affected by false positive from using Prime?


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## tulip55555 (May 7, 2011)

I think I will use distilled water for a 50% pwc so that I won't have to Prime the water and see what happens.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Good morning tulip...

This is my opinion only, but if you're following a sound tank maintenance schedule, which should include large (I do 50 percent) and frequent (every two to three weeks) water changes, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I would continue to add plants, they help filter the water, but don't add any more fish until your water conditions are stable. Since your tank is new, it's likely the added fish are causing some water condition problems, which the water changes will fix. Again, just my opinion.

Prime removes ammonia, so I'm sure you're safe using it. Again, in my opinion, stick to a good tank maintenance routine and give your tank time to stabilize.

B


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## tulip55555 (May 7, 2011)

Thanks B. I agree that I probably started to get some increase in ammonia from adding fish. It is only coincidence that I started using Prime this week, too. But this is what I read on Seachem website...

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)).

First of all, I can't believe that they answered a question so technically. Not very customer friendly. I have absolutely no idea what this answer means. I don't think I'm a stupid person, but c'mon!! Dumb it down a little.

My biggest concern here is that I don't want to do unnecessary water changes due to false highs. So if I've used Prime should I disregard the increased ammo and chalk it up as safe for the fish?


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## danrs (Jan 21, 2011)

What about multi-test strips? Would they yield a proper factor?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

No the test strips are famous for being inaccurate.

Prime will give you a false reading sometimes, it never has on mine, But I haven't cycled a tank in years. If this is a new tank, your going to have ammonia regardless by adding fish to cycle or doing a fishless cycle. Even with false readings for ammonia and you have fish in the tank do a large water change regardless as the ammonia can and will damage/kill your fish.


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