# Using Prime and Plants?



## Price (Dec 11, 2010)

Okay i have a topic in the new to freshwater forum and ive come down to the question of prime, i plan on a planted tank and adding the plants when i start the tank, i plan on using the peat moss, play sand, and gravel substrate, my question is should i treat the water with prime before i add it into the tank with the plants? 

if not should i add it when im adding water into th tank after the cycle and after i have fish in it?


I know Amie, and Beaslbob both say no just use tap water,,

However Mfgann says use the prime! 

So id like to know everyones opinions on this and what you have or haven't tried and the results! 

Ive read prime is safe for plants, but we all know that not all companies tell the truth! 


Thanks guys!!!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I use prime in all my tanks, if you have chlorine and chloramines in your water you need to use something as even though chlorine will dissipate chloramine doesn't. It also helps remove unwanted minerals and such from the tap water. Prime doesn't have any affect on plants. If it did all mine would probably be dead.


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

you dont have to use Prime specifically... but water conditioner is normally a must and it will not affect your plants.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Anyone who advocates not using a water conditioner is of the no water change mindset. In these cases the only untreated water going in is to replace evaporated water. In a well planted tank (defintions of a "well" planted seem to vary greatly) that may work, as this is just a small % of water compared to say 35-50% weekly. If you plan to do regular water changes and you have chlorine and chlorimines in your water then you better be adding some form of conditioner (Prime or other) or you risk performing a weekly kill of beneficial bacteria in your tank. None of them hurt plants that I am aware of. By and large, those that are of the planted aquascape crowd are performing large weekly water changes.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> By and large, those that are of the planted aquascape crowd are performing large weekly water changes.


Agreed. I've got a pretty hefty plant load in my tank and I do 50% PWC's weekly. Treating the tap water is a MUST if you're doing something like what I do, or your tank will suffer greatly.

And my plants are no worse off with the tap water conditioner.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

You can usually contact your water company to find out what is added to the water. If it's only chlorine then you should be okay to leave the water sit for 3 days then use it, as was said chloramines don't evaporate so you need to treat if they are in the water. Of course there is still a risk the company will change their treatment without letting you know. Interestingly not all water conditioners treat for chloramines.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Price said:


> Okay i have a topic in the new to freshwater forum and ive come down to the question of prime, i plan on a planted tank and adding the plants when i start the tank, i plan on using the peat moss, play sand, and gravel substrate, my question is should i treat the water with prime before i add it into the tank with the plants?
> 
> if not should i add it when im adding water into th tank after the cycle and after i have fish in it?
> 
> ...



You will get different ideas on this.

the danger of prime (and ammonia locks and dechlorinatres in general) is they do work but in the process lock up oxygen. So there is an obvious danger of overdosing.

Most ammonia test kits like the api kits cannot differentiate betweek the locked and dangerous ammonia. So you still test ammonia and the danger can become add more prime still test and so on until all the oxygen is locked up and the tank crashes.

If you absolutely must use these things please get a test kit such as the seachem ammonia multi test kit the measures the danger free ammonia as well is the total ammonia. And don't ever overdose. (Which is hard to know without the testing for the actual free ammonia).

All that said, if you simply start with a planted tank and let is set for a week the plants will remove all ammonia. Plus the chlorine/chlorimides will be dissipated as well. And then by not doing water changes you don't every have to worry as the tank conditions are being maintained by the plants balancing out the tank and not by the water changes.

So you start the tank planted and never run a test.

my .02


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## Price (Dec 11, 2010)

Thanks, your help does mean alot, ive done a ton of reading on these forums from other ppl trying to learn, and when it comes to plants i think 90 percent of the time i see your name haha, my main thing is now everyone says these chloramines that everyone says the plants wont take out scares me haha i was just going to use the reccommended dosage and put the water in the tank, i wasnt goin to get to fancy haha just try and get those out quickly! Do you think if i just use the reccommended ill be alright??


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Price said:


> Thanks, your help does mean alot, ive done a ton of reading on these forums from other ppl trying to learn, and when it comes to plants i think 90 percent of the time i see your name haha, my main thing is now everyone says these chloramines that everyone says the plants wont take out scares me haha i was just going to use the reccommended dosage and put the water in the tank, i wasnt goin to get to fancy haha just try and get those out quickly! Do you think if i just use the reccommended ill be alright??


Yea the danger is actually overdosing so a one time use is probably safe.

And i'm sure that if you absolutely had to add fish during initial setup then dechlor/prime may be necessary.

I just wait a week and add fish slowly. And don't use any of the chemicals.

my .02


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## Price (Dec 11, 2010)

okayy cool, well i figured it would take me a few weeks, im gonna do the fishless cycle, or try to at least haha

Will that take a week? i was figuring 2 or 3 at least


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Price said:


> okayy cool, well i figured it would take me a few weeks, im gonna do the fishless cycle, or try to at least haha
> 
> Will that take a week? i was figuring 2 or 3 at least


With plants IMHO there is no need for a fishless cycle.

Try this: use the peat/sand/gravel substrate, plant the tank (be sure to have some fast growers like vals, wisteria/anacharis), let set one week. add 1 fish wait 1 week with no food added, add more fish start light (1-2 flakes/day) feeding.

I think you will find that you will be very hard pressed for measure any ammonia even with that fish in cycle.


my .02


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

For those interested in a more in depth look at chloramine I found this interesting: 
Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
It doesn't give much in the way of solid answers but helped me understand better.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I only use Prime to treat my water, not to handle any ammonia issues.


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