I have recently set up a planted tank and i am about to do my first water change since setting it up and i wanna know if i should still use my prime as usual??
Will Using Prime Kill Plant Nutrients???
- Thread starter joestyx
- Start date
Though yes prime states that it will eliminate any harmful nitrates.. This one got me from day one when i just got prime and im still unsure of how this works in a planted tank where one actually doses Nitrogen to raise the nitrates.
We'll salt does detoxify nitrites, so maybe Prime does something with the chlorine it neutralizes. Total guess as to how Prime works.
A couple of things:
At one point I cared enough to know the chemistry behind Prime, but I've long forgotten...
Even IF Prime "eliminates" nitrates, logic suggests it's not even an issue. During a WC, you're removing nutrients and nitrates anyway. Prime only "works" for, as Seachem says, up to like 6 hours after a WC. Point is, even if it removes nitrates, you're levels were already low and expected to build back up during the week or immediately if you dose.
So, no issue, dose Prime as usual.
At one point I cared enough to know the chemistry behind Prime, but I've long forgotten...
Even IF Prime "eliminates" nitrates, logic suggests it's not even an issue. During a WC, you're removing nutrients and nitrates anyway. Prime only "works" for, as Seachem says, up to like 6 hours after a WC. Point is, even if it removes nitrates, you're levels were already low and expected to build back up during the week or immediately if you dose.
So, no issue, dose Prime as usual.
If I remember correctly, Prime doesn't eliminate nitrates, it just locks it into a form that is non-toxic to fish.
Edit:
This is what the Seachem website has to say about how Prime works:
"The detoxification of nitrite and nitrate by Prime (when used at elevated levels) is not well understood from a mechanistic standpoint. The most likely explanation is that the nitrite and nitrate is removed in a manner similar to the way ammonia is removed; i.e. it is bound and held in a inert state until such time that bacteria in the biological filter are able to take a hold of it, break it apart and use it. Two other possible scenarios are reduction to nitrogen (N2) gas or conversion into a benign organic nitrogen compound.
I wish we had some more "concrete" explanation, but the end result is the same, it does actually detoxify nitrite and nitrate. This was unexpected chemically and thus initially we were not even aware of this, however we received numerous reports from customers stating that when they overdosed with Prime they were able to reduce or eliminate the high death rates they experienced when their nitrite and nitrate levels were high. We have received enough reports to date to ensure that this is no fluke and is in fact a verifiable function of the product."
Edit:
This is what the Seachem website has to say about how Prime works:
"The detoxification of nitrite and nitrate by Prime (when used at elevated levels) is not well understood from a mechanistic standpoint. The most likely explanation is that the nitrite and nitrate is removed in a manner similar to the way ammonia is removed; i.e. it is bound and held in a inert state until such time that bacteria in the biological filter are able to take a hold of it, break it apart and use it. Two other possible scenarios are reduction to nitrogen (N2) gas or conversion into a benign organic nitrogen compound.
I wish we had some more "concrete" explanation, but the end result is the same, it does actually detoxify nitrite and nitrate. This was unexpected chemically and thus initially we were not even aware of this, however we received numerous reports from customers stating that when they overdosed with Prime they were able to reduce or eliminate the high death rates they experienced when their nitrite and nitrate levels were high. We have received enough reports to date to ensure that this is no fluke and is in fact a verifiable function of the product."