.5mg/L ammonia w/o adding any in fishless tank!

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SirWired

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Sep 4, 2006
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Raleigh, NC
I finally got my tank setup and filled today. I got it all cranked up, added Prime (1 capful for a 38g tank), and it has been doing its thing for a few hours now.

I broke out the AP test kit to get initial readings and got:

pH 7.8
Ammoina .5 mg/L
NO2 0
NO3 0

I was going to do a fishless cycle by adding Ammonia, but unless I am completely screwing up the test, I don't need to add any at all!

I checked my municipality's "Finished Water Quality Report" and sure enough, the 2005 lists ammonia as .6mg/L. The "Consumer Confidence Report" is even more interesting: 3.46mg/L of Cloramines, with a range of .32 - 4.95.

What implications does this have for my fish (that I do not actually have yet)? It looks like to me I should double-up on the Prime and pray my Bio-Filter (once I cycle) can break this crap down before the Prime dissapates once I have actual fish in there. (The SeaChem website says Prime dissapates in 24hrs.)

Once I have fish in there, what do I do if I have to treat with antibiotics? If I do daily major water changes, what is going to take that Prime-i-fied Chloramine) out of the water if my Biofilter is comprimised?

The Prime bottle states that it only handles 3mg/L of Chloramine, so the standard dosage does not appear to be enough for a full tank.

SirWired
 
you can add up to 5X the usual dose of Prime, it says on the bottle, to treat nitrites. So I would think doing a double dose for your chloramines should be no problem :)

as for Prime dealing with chloramines and ammonia, what it does is cleave the chlorine off the chloramine to form ammonia. Ammonia it then neutralizes by tacking on a hydrogen ion to form the less toxic ammonium ion (NH4+). This form is still perfectly usable by your beneficial nitrifying bacteria and actually preferred by plants to regular ammonia (the charge on it makes it easier to absorb).

As for when you have to use antibiotics (knock on wood, let's hope the occasion never arises), YOU will be what removes the wastes. Prime says that it not only neutralizes ammonia, but nitrites and nitrates as well. I have no idea how the latter two are dealt with chemically. But one should never rely on a "cover up" to remove wastes for them. During any treatment, you will need to be vigilant of water quality and be ready to perform water changes at the drop of a hat. I've gone through periods of weeks where I needed to perform 40-50% water changes three times a day! But I love my fishies, so it's all worth it :)

hope that helps!

edit: I just visited the Seachem website, and they admit that they also don't know how Prime detoxifies nitrites and nitrates! They claim it was just an unexpected benefit reported by customers :D Funny.
http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Prime_faq.html
 
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It's not the ammonia produced by the fishy waste that bothers me during antibiotic treatment... It is the ammonia (from my chlormine-treated water during my of course daily huge water changes during treatment) that I think appears after the Prime breaks down that worries me. The Prime FAQ is a little vague on that point. On one hand, it says that the bond with the ammonia is not broken, but then it also states that Prime dissapates after one day.

SirWired
 
i think the amount of ammonium (NH4+) that will result from the breaking of the chloramine bond should be OK. As I said, it is much less toxic than ammonia, and nitrite, too. I know, the Prime FAQ is vague if nothing else :p: It HAS to produce ammonium, though, since it states that it both breaks down chloramines and neutralizes ammonia. I'd worry if it didn't also treat ammonia, because then you'd be left with toxic NH3 once the chloramine is broken down.

That's my opinion. Please feel free to keep checking back, in case anyone says yay or nay :) Good job getting details from your muni, by the way.
 
Prime should detoxify the ammonia right away. The AP ammonia test does not differentiate between ammonia and ammonium - you may be getting a false positive reading. If you want to test for true ammonia versus ammonium, you'll have to look for a two-part liquid test.
 
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