fish dying :(
- Thread starter sarahscooby
- Start date
It takes chemicals out of water that would harm your fish. Most water from the tap in any house has some sort of chlorine/chloramine in it (it's to clean it for us to drink I believe) and it is harmful to our fish. Every time you add water to your tank you should be dechlorinating it with a chemical like prime. Also on the prime bottle it will tell you how to add it to your tank if you get an ammonia or nitrite spike. For bad spike it can be dosed up to 5 times over normal dose. Good to keep in mind if you don't have a cycled tank and fish are dying.
When I first started fish keeping I didn't cycle my tank and my ammonia and nitrites were giving me a lot of trouble. Prime (in my eyes) is what saved my fish
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
Prime actually doesn't remove any chemicals, it breaks down the bond of certain chemicals, rendering the remaining components non toxic for fish.
if you have chloramine (chlorine + ammonia bonded together) in your tap water, then Prime is definitely the dechlorinator you want to use. other dechlorinators (like AquaPlus, AquaSafe, etc) will not neutralize the remaining ammonia after breaking the chlorine/ammonia bond, they will only neutralize the chlorine aspect. Prime will convert the remaining ammonia into ammonium, which is not toxic to fish like ammonia is.
the only dechlorinator i use is Prime. i won't allow anything else to treat my tapwater for my tanks here.
if you have chloramine (chlorine + ammonia bonded together) in your tap water, then Prime is definitely the dechlorinator you want to use. other dechlorinators (like AquaPlus, AquaSafe, etc) will not neutralize the remaining ammonia after breaking the chlorine/ammonia bond, they will only neutralize the chlorine aspect. Prime will convert the remaining ammonia into ammonium, which is not toxic to fish like ammonia is.
the only dechlorinator i use is Prime. i won't allow anything else to treat my tapwater for my tanks here.
Sorry Gouramiluver, but Prime far surpasses Tetra's AquaSafe Plus. Tetra's product does nothing for the toxic ammonia and nitrite in the water as does Prime. I used to use a "normal" dechlorinator but after cycling a couple tanks and having a few spikes, I swear by Prime.
My bad, I was trying to explain it the best I could. I am not up to par on all the chemical reactions with stuff like that. Thank you for clarifying
Primarily it's a dechlorinator used to remove chlorine and chloramine to make tap water safe. It can also be used at higher dosages to detoxify ammonia and nitrite to help keep levels low between water changes for situations like the OP is in. Instructions are given on the bottle how much to dose and when. Remember, ANYTHING you add to tank will be toxic if you put enough in. Follow the directions on the label and you will be fine.
If the tank was that uncared for when you got it and with a pleco that big, there could be other issues. You need that test kit to see where the tank is at water wise. Sounds as if it had a low water level just so you could move it? But it could have old tank syndrome at the same time. You need to test then determine how many water changes and how big they are....and find a new home for that 18" pleco....
Another thing I would like to add in addition to the great advise given here( I don't think I saw this mentioned yet) is to use a gravel vacuum and vacuum the gravel when you do a water change. This will help get rid of excess detrius and such that was already present when you set this tank up and also will remove any waste from the fish and any uneaten food that accumulates from your current stock.
If you can get by with doing water changes every day and want to save some money on Prime and the test kit, order from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-433-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_6
That's a 500ml bottle of prime for $13.60. I think Petsmart only sells 250ml bottles for $9.99.
http://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWATE...5NCI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338746235&sr=8-1
That's the API master freshwater test kit, the best you can buy. $16.47. It's over $30 in every store and usually that much at least at other places online.
Buy them together for $30.07 and get free shipping, and depending on what state you're in, likely no tax as well. Just the test kit alone will cost you more than that if you buy at a LFS or local chain store.
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-433-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_6
That's a 500ml bottle of prime for $13.60. I think Petsmart only sells 250ml bottles for $9.99.
http://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWATE...5NCI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338746235&sr=8-1
That's the API master freshwater test kit, the best you can buy. $16.47. It's over $30 in every store and usually that much at least at other places online.
Buy them together for $30.07 and get free shipping, and depending on what state you're in, likely no tax as well. Just the test kit alone will cost you more than that if you buy at a LFS or local chain store.
