# How many drops of prime to use..



## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

I bought some prime to lower ammonia. How many drops do I need for 2 gallons. I'm thinking 2 drops for each gallons. But not for sure.. Can anyone plz let me know. Thank u kindly!!


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

It should say on the back of the bottle.


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## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

I have a 5.5 gallon tank. It only goes by one cupful for 50 gallons. That's y I was asking if 2 drops would be enough for each gallon. 


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Oh, okay, if I were you I would just estimate. Use about one 9th of a capful. Pour enough in to fill the cap 9 times.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Its 0.5 mL per 5 gallons, so only 0.1 mL / gallon. So about 2 drops per gallon sounds right


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## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

Thank u very much!!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i say 500 drops...lol...i never use prime...just a simple dechlorinating agent that will also remove chloramines and detoxify and remove ammonia...
always make sure to keep your tanks well aerated...even bettas..


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## Jaysee (Apr 24, 2010)

lohachata said:


> i say 500 drops...lol...i never use prime...just a simple dechlorinating agent that will also remove chloramines and detoxify and remove ammonia...
> always make sure to keep your tanks well aerated...even bettas..


Prime is a simple dechlorinating agent that removes chloramines and detoxifies ammonia....
Water conditioners do not remove ammonia, even though some (like prime) say it does on the bottle.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

how much would it cost to dechlorinate 20,000 gallons of water using Prime ?
prime will also consume oxygen from the water..which really kind of bothers me personally..i am not saying it is a bad product ; just saying it is a lot more costly than is needed..
it takes about 2 litres of primne to treat 20,000 gallons..i can buy it for about $45.00 plus shipping....
the product i use is equally as good if not better for less then half that ...
products are put on the market for only one purpose....to make money....
i liken many products to fishing lures...not really designed to catch fish , but designed to catch fishermen...

"Prime is a simple dechlorinating agent that removes chloramines and detoxifies ammonia....
Water conditioners do not remove ammonia, even though some (like prime) say it does on the bottle."
__________________
by the way...do you have any documentation that shows water conditioners do not remove ammonia ?

when you manufacture a product and tell the public that the product will do certain things ; in this case "remove ammonia" ; you had better be able to prove that in a scientific manner..especially when that product is used on living creatures....

i'm not trying to start a pissing match here ; just stating my own personal experiences ; whether they agree with what others think or not...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Pime is cheaper per dose than many store brands that need 5 mL for 5 gallon. Always read the fine print, do the math, and invest in accurate measurements, pipette are good. I haven't tried loha's product, but for everyday (not cycling) use most anything with thiosulfate is fine. I get annoyed at products that have extra ingredients, like salt, for no reason or advertise as 50% cheaper but actually need 10 times the amount so the are actually more expensive.


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## Jaysee (Apr 24, 2010)

Yes, the product information for prime on the company's website says it does not remove ammonia, but rather detoxifies it temporarily.

You would want pond prime for your 20k gallons of fish tanks.


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## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to start a argument. Couple of days ago I had asked what I could do to bring ammonia down since it was in between .5 and 1.0 even though I do weekly changes. I have heard a lot abt prime but still needed some advice. emc7 has been kindly to answering all my question, and helping me since joining here about a month ago .And I really do appreciate everyone's else that can help. But I was going by some advice that also made sense, since i read that a lot of fish lovers also use. So i went out and bought it. I just wanted to know if my math was right on how many drops I needed. And thank u emc7 for letting me. As I said before sorry for starting a argument between u guys. I'm just trying really hard to keep my little cruise happy. 


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Yeah, it seems that the forum has been pretty argumentative in the last few weeks. Must be the heat. I wouldn't worry over it, prime is fine, the conditioners pretty much all do the same thing anyway. 


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## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to start a argument. Couple of days ago I had asked what I could do to bring ammonia down since it was in between .5 and 1.0 even though I do weekly changes. I have heard a lot abt prime but still needed some advice. emc7 has been kindly to answering all my question, and helping me since joining here about a month ago .And I really do appreciate everyone's else that can help. But I was going by some advice that also made sense, since i read that a lot of fish lovers also use. So i went out and bought it. I just wanted to know if my math was right on how many drops I needed. And thank u emc7 for letting me. As I said before sorry for starting a argument between u guys. 
I understand prime detoxify the ammonia not removes it. But it will help till I get it at 0. 


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## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

Push the wrong button trying to edit and it sent the whole thing again. Oops!!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

lol, there are some hot button words around here. "water conditioner", "undergravel filter" "hybrid". You trigger a discussion just be bringing up a subject. Do not worry about it. We sort of enjoy arguing. Prime does have a documented "use up the oxygen in the water" drawback so you have to be careful, esp. in overdose. But using a 4X dose of prime when ammonia is high and you can't do an immediate water change (say you are late to work) can keep your fish alive until you get home. Most of the other "ammonia-detoxifying" conditioners will also. Everyone has their favorite brand of WC. Always read the fine print. Some affect pH, some have salt, some have stuff to make your fish make slime or have slimey stuff in them, some have "starter bacteria". I don't want to start the whole "no chemicals natural" vs. "high tech" debate. But I do advise you to use as little as possible in the way of water additives and understand what each does and what the drawbacks and benefits of each are. 
It can be hard because most wcs don't have an ingredients list, so you have to translate the ad-speak. For instance, "detoxifies heavy metals" usually means EDTA. Most conditioners have this and it is very safe, OD could slightly drop pH and make the surface foamy. It protects fish from lead and copper ions by "chelation" which is wrapping the metal cation up in a larger organic anion.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

don't worry ; you didn't start an argument.i am mean to everybody...that's part of my job..
if you would like , you can PM me your address and i will send you a sample of "Ammo Zap"..


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## Jaysee (Apr 24, 2010)

Regarding the consumption of oxygen from the use of water conditioner..... That's a perfect example of how dangerous a little bit of information can be.

Heres what we don't know - We have NO IDEA how much oxygen gets "used up" by water conditioner, or meds for that matter.

Here's what we DO know - according to the product information (of prime), it is safe to dose up to 5 times the recommended dosage.

Personally, I have less than zero concern about oxygen being used up by water conditioners. I can't fathom a situation where it would be necessary to dose at 5 times the recommended dosage (a water change would most certainly be in order for such a situation), but if its safe to dose that high (according to the company, which has done tests and experiments to determine the products safety), normal dosages must be PERFECTLY safe, even if it does use some oxygen.


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## Cruise's mom (Jul 16, 2013)

Thank u everyone!!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Only once did I have fish gasping at the surface after a very large water change. The tank had pretty high nitrates, so that may have contributed and it is also possible that the water out of the tap had very low oxygen, too. 

The point is to know there is a risk, so if you see fish acting weird, you know to add aeration if you see gasping. And you know to watch fish after adding clean water. And to know that you can't safely throw in 10X so you really should measure instead of just using a capful.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

you are right jay..a little information can be dangerous..i never worry about oxygen issues in my tanks either because they are all well oxygenated..filters running on the strong side and many tanks have multiple filters and many have airstones....
but.....i try to also consider that not everybody does things like i do...some folks do not use filters or airstone..there is no aeration..that can cause a big problem..
to be honest , i have absolutely no personal experience with prime..only info gathered from poeple that i know that have used it..
i am more than satisfied with the product i use..1 lb treats over 1850 gallons..it is safe to use with delicate fish and invertebrates as well..and it is safe and will not harm aquatic life even at 10x dosage...
almost every product that we see on the shelves will do pretty much what the manufacturer says...as time passes we find the products that we prefer over others.
we have a guy here that swears that Mela Fix is snake oil and will kill your fish...but yet i have been using it for years without any problems at all...
i use only a very few meds because most of them i do not like for my own reasons..not that they don't work ; but just that there are things about them i don't like...


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## Jaysee (Apr 24, 2010)

I actually just finished a 7 day double dose treatment of Melafix on a betta in a 2.5 gallon tank.... To show that it is not dangerous. API tests Melafix on labyrinth fish, including sensitive species like chocolate gouramis and wild types. Too, Im pretty sure that they put warnings on their other meds for use with certain fish, so it would stand to reason that there would be a warning on Melafix, if a warning was warranted. People often attribute the death of their fish to whatever is most convenient.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It wouldn't be that difficult to calculate the maximum amount of oxygen a wc could use. What you don't know is the amount of oxygen in your water. I believe there is sensor you can purchase, but I don't own one. If you think your water might be low in oxygen because of high temp, injected CO2 or a enclosed water supply, then it is something to pay attention to in a wc. If you have lots of aeration and flow, you can probably safely ignore it. 

Most everything is like that. Some potential drawback or side effect that only applies in a few situations. A wc with salt or carbonate may only be a problem for someone with a salt-sensitive plant or a desire for specific pH. 

I laugh at people who say "no chemicals" because "natural is safer". Cobra venom and anthrax are natural, fatal ammonia levels are natural. There isn't really much natural about the modern aquarium with its electric light, heater and filter. We should take full advantage of the current science for the good of our pets. Avoiding ammonia-burn through chemistry is a good thing.

But when someone complains of cloudy water and I ask what they added and there is a list of 20 proprietary products I just groan and likely ignore the thread. I agree with Loha that less is more. Keep it simple and you will be less likely to mess it up. Change only one thing at a time and keep a record of what you do. Eventually you figure what works for you.

I recommend SeaChem stuff a lot even though it is expensive because they are better than most at disclosing what's in a product, what it's there for, when and how much of their stuff you should use for what. It's a personal preference , they aren't far from me and I've gotten enough samples that I've tried a lot of their products. I like to stick to what I know works. Seachem's web site is nice and they actually reply to questions. For a single small tank, a bottle of product could easily last a year. I often start with their stuff and end up substituting a DIY or no-name solution once I understand what I am doing and I've run out of the "good stuff". But unless you have hundreds of gallons of aquariums, DIY is usually not worth the trouble. Check out the website, read the fine print and use as directed.


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