Seachem Prime

[minkymink]

Is it possible for Prime to make my water slightly cloudy?

[shellieca]

Not typically. Is your tank new? It could be a bacterial bloom which is normal & doesn't cause any problems. If that's what it is it'll clear up.

[MattsBettas]

Shellieca is right. Unless you mega dosed, it is probably a bacterial bloom.

[carbonxxkidd]

I was actually going to come and start a thread about Prime too, so I hope you don't mind if I ask my question here...(sorry to hijack thread).

I just used Prime for the first time in my tank. I just tested my ammonia levels, and it has more than doubled - was 0.25 before adding Prime, and now is reading over 1.0. Should I do another water change? Is this normal?

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by carbonxxkidd

I was actually going to come and start a thread about Prime too, so I hope you don't mind if I ask my question here...(sorry to hijack thread).

I just used Prime for the first time in my tank. I just tested my ammonia levels, and it has more than doubled - was 0.25 before adding Prime, and now is reading over 1.0. Should I do another water change? Is this normal?

That doesn't make sense, I've never heard of that happening. Are you sure you did the test correctly? Strips or liquid test? Did you do a water change before adding prime?

[carbonxxkidd]

I did a water change yesterday (added stress coat at that time) and just bought the Prime and added it today because I had a little bit of ammonia showing when I tested earlier. I used the API Master Test kit to test about an hour after adding the Prime. I know it doesn't make sense! My fish seem fine, so I have no idea what happened. I'm going to do a retest now. So weird.

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by carbonxxkidd

I did a water change yesterday (added stress coat at that time) and just bought the Prime and added it today because I had a little bit of ammonia showing when I tested earlier. I used the API Master Test kit to test about an hour after adding the Prime. I know it doesn't make sense! My fish seem fine, so I have no idea what happened. I'm going to do a retest now. So weird.

I always use prime & have never had a higher reading of ammonia after adding it; I've tested then added it & then retested without a water change.

[carbonxxkidd]

My retest showed 0.5, which is still higher than before Prime. I'll do another water change tomorrow and re-add. Weird.

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by carbonxxkidd

My retest showed 0.5, which is still higher than before Prime. I'll do another water change tomorrow and re-add. Weird.

Do you always have ammonia register in your tank? I know my ammo is never quite bright yellow but never as green as .25 so I read it as 0. I have heard that Prime can sometimes cause a false reading.

[carbonxxkidd]

Originally Posted by shellieca

Do you always have ammonia register in your tank? I know my ammo is never quite bright yellow but never as green as .25 so I read it as 0. I have heard that Prime can sometimes cause a false reading.

That's a hard question, because my tank is fairly new. I have a TON of live plants in there that have a lot of new growth and so I have been surprised to be seeing ammonia readings the last week. I've been doing water changes but thought I would try the Prime on top of it. The tank has only been set up since 12/22. I added fish right away and the tank was seeded by taking the filter floss out of my mom's filter and placing it in mine. The only thing I can think of is I have quite a few dropped anacharis leaves that I haven't been able to siphon out because I don't want to disturb the plants. It is possible that the "silent cycle" I'd hoped for isn't happening and I'm going through a normal cycle now, though.