Using Prime

Do you use Prime or another Conditioner with Your RO, RO/DI units

  • Yes

    Votes: 8 30.8%
  • no

    Votes: 18 69.2%

  • Total voters
    26

Jewel

Guest
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Location
Wingham Ontario
I always thought it was the most important next to your skimmer. Tap with Prime is fine for Fresh, I guess we all have our own way of doing things, I feel like i'm beating this thread like a dusty rug on a clothes line, I keep swinging and the dust keeps flying in my face. lol
 

Neopimp

Website Doctor
Staff member
Website Admin
Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Location
Sarnia
Used it a. Couple times during a qt. my fresh Rodi water circulates for a week or more before it gets mixed or added to the tank. Chlorine should all be gone after a day or two. Not sure on chloraminr but I am pretty sure sarnia does. It use that.


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scubasteve

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
@ jewel the only bad advice in reefing is believing there is one way that works. These days with all the advances in technology, knowledge, aditives and equipment the ways to run a reef succesfully long term are endless. Even following some good rules things will run a stray then what.... the key is to understand the concepts most very simple and use that understanding of concepts to help you judge what to do.... this is why when i started reefing i kept away from the internet and myths and took advice from people who i know have beautiful reefs or are actually taking biology this leads to better understanding and less misleading.

Anyone who wants to bash my ways and say its impossible can gladly check my tank thread and see for themselves.... it just means you dont understand how it works not that a way is wrong. By sharing what we do that works speeds up the process of new workable knowledge
 

EricTMah

Aquariums by Design
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Location
Kitchener, Ontario
Website
www.aquariumsbydesign.ca
@ jewel the only bad advice in reefing is believing there is one way that works. These days with all the advances in technology, knowledge, aditives and equipment the ways to run a reef succesfully long term are endless. Even following some good rules things will run a stray then what.... the key is to understand the concepts most very simple and use that understanding of concepts to help you judge what to do.... this is why when i started reefing i kept away from the internet and myths and took advice from people who i know have beautiful reefs or are actually taking biology this leads to better understanding and less misleading.

Anyone who wants to bash my ways and say its impossible can gladly check my tank thread and see for themselves.... it just means you dont understand how it works not that a way is wrong. By sharing what we do that works speeds up the process of new workable knowledge
Couldn't have said it better myself

Sony Xperia Z3
 

100gallon

Active Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Location
Wingham, Ontario
I ran out of the little bottle of prime....and ran about a month without....I experienced some losses. Coincidence maybe...still running zeroes at the Rodi tap. Back now with the prime...time will tell.

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jroovers

Super Active Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Location
London
I would be concerned long term with the build up of certain metals, ions, etc. with using prime and tap water. My tank which is SPS dominant, will never see anything but RO/DI for top up and for NSW changes. I think my TDS in tap water is somewhere in the vicinity of 130-150 tds - leads me to question what exactly is in there? I'm guessing over the long term RO/DI systems are probably pretty comparative to the costs of prime, just takes more effort. Prime + RODI is a bit more expensive obviously. I'd be less concerned with tap water in a softies tank, but I still think I'd steer away from it. Scubasteve I agree there are many methods of getting from A to B, but two years is still a relatively small time frame. I know Aaron has been using tap water and high quality salt (I can't remember which brand) in his reef display at Big Al's and has had good success to date, but I can't remember how long his tank has been set up. People swear by DSBs for example and how great they are, and after two or three years their bed goes south and they wonder why their nitrates are going through the roof. My advice for long term success would be to steer clear of tap water altogether and go with RODI.
 

Dr. Zoos

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
Ok so on my old talk my rodi output was tapped to a vacuum switch then to my float for ATO in the pump section of my sump. I had it teed off to a line with a tap for nsw so how do you use prime and ATO? Would you have another tank to mix rodi and prime then add that to another holding tank for the Ato? Without using a rodi at all do you just fill a vessel with tap and prime then too up the ATO storage vessel? I was always under the impression you HAD to use a rodi because of tap tds and what was in the water from city treatments. This is a very informative thread if we can keep it not being a pissing match over who is right or wrong. Like debating vho vs t5 vs led.
 

Skim

Active Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Location
Brantford, Ontario
Another good topic, makes me want to do a test. I wonder if that may help in the tank when Prime is used in top off and water changes, not so much with the water outside of the tank ( if RO/DI is used ) but the water indie the tank. The water quality in a tank must go through massive fluctuations in a single day. I'm sure just because we may detect with test kits the Ammonia and other nasty things must go up and down in levels from Fish waste and things our Corals release and uneaten food and so on. I wonder if the prime reacts much quicker to these changes then the Bacteria and may be of great benefit to the Tanks inhabitants.
Maybe we should be all adding Prime to our top off or as a separate Vessel in are Dosing. Just add the quantity recommended for your tank Volume and dose away.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I think I am going to give it a try and see what results I get.
Skim
 

jroovers

Super Active Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Location
London
Another good topic, makes me want to do a test. I wonder if that may help in the tank when Prime is used in top off and water changes, not so much with the water outside of the tank ( if RO/DI is used ) but the water indie the tank. The water quality in a tank must go through massive fluctuations in a single day. I'm sure just because we may detect with test kits the Ammonia and other nasty things must go up and down in levels from Fish waste and things our Corals release and uneaten food and so on. I wonder if the prime reacts much quicker to these changes then the Bacteria and may be of great benefit to the Tanks inhabitants.
Maybe we should be all adding Prime to our top off or as a separate Vessel in are Dosing. Just add the quantity recommended for your tank Volume and dose away.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I think I am going to give it a try and see what results I get.
Skim

In short, I don't think Prime will really work in the manner you are speculating. I have never used Prime. But as I understand it, SeaChem has never released what is actually in the product, and its main uses are for dechlorinating water and binding to ammonia. Ammonia should not be a concern in an established reef tank (it should be broken down almost immediately to nitrite by bacteria already in the system), so using Prime and expecting it to have an impact on the overall nitrogen cycle doesn't make much sense to me. Other than treating water for changes and top up, it best uses probably would be in the event of a tank crash (where ammonia will spike and potentially be toxic to inhabitants), or to assist in ammonia removal in a QT or temporary holding tank where bio and mechanical filtration is low to non-existent, or early in a new setup cycle.
 

videosilva

New Member
Never deal with this user
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Location
Bradford, Ontario
yep i turn on the tap water fill the bucket ad some prime then dump in tank :) anyone that says you cant do that with sensitive corals i am sps dominant mostly acros and millis along with some zoas and gorgs including the super hard to keep blueberry bush gorgonian (thanks @barebottomcouple its growing so nicely)

I also want to say that i have done things this way for over 2 years and everything sure is happy lots of members have been by to see it as well

By the way prime also detoxifies and binds to not just chloramines and chlorine but also ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and heavy metals


Same here. Pail, TAP WATER, Prime and in the tank.
 

scubasteve

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
I would be concerned long term with the build up of certain metals, ions, etc. with using prime and tap water. My tank which is SPS dominant, will never see anything but RO/DI for top up and for NSW changes. I think my TDS in tap water is somewhere in the vicinity of 130-150 tds - leads me to question what exactly is in there? I'm guessing over the long term RO/DI systems are probably pretty comparative to the costs of prime, just takes more effort. Prime + RODI is a bit more expensive obviously. I'd be less concerned with tap water in a softies tank, but I still think I'd steer away from it. Scubasteve I agree there are many methods of getting from A to B, but two years is still a relatively small time frame. I know Aaron has been using tap water and high quality salt (I can't remember which brand) in his reef display at Big Al's and has had good success to date, but I can't remember how long his tank has been set up. People swear by DSBs for example and how great they are, and after two or three years their bed goes south and they wonder why their nitrates are going through the roof. My advice for long term success would be to steer clear of tap water altogether and go with RODI.

Cool im not going anywhere so will show ya 6 years down the line that no wc and treated tap are viable..... theres already multiple members trying it for themselves after grasping some new knowledge..... all the newest readings are showing that fuge and dsb natural filtration is alot better than media in more ways than you can type lol and any issues with dsb are probably from lack of maintenance and neglect. Hell kmans dsb is 10 years old and no issues y because he manages it properly
 

chief hill

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Location
Windsor, Ontario
@ jewel the only bad advice in reefing is believing there is one way that works. These days with all the advances in technology, knowledge, aditives and equipment the ways to run a reef succesfully long term are endless. Even following some good rules things will run a stray then what.... the key is to understand the concepts most very simple and use that understanding of concepts to help you judge what to do.... this is why when i started reefing i kept away from the internet and myths and took advice from people who i know have beautiful reefs or are actually taking biology this leads to better understanding and less misleading.

Anyone who wants to bash my ways and say its impossible can gladly check my tank thread and see for themselves.... it just means you dont understand how it works not that a way is wrong. By sharing what we do that works speeds up the process of new workable knowledge

Cool im not going anywhere so will show ya 6 years down the line that no wc and treated tap are viable..... theres already multiple members trying it for themselves after grasping some new knowledge..... all the newest readings are showing that fuge and dsb natural filtration is alot better than media in more ways than you can type lol and any issues with dsb are probably from lack of maintenance and neglect. Hell kmans dsb is 10 years old and no issues y because he manages it properly
I must admit it poses a good question. My first tank was a biocube run on tap water only and it always looked great (Windsor has great quality water) . I did get hair algae towards the end before the upgrade. Now, if nobody using Rodi got ha I'd have to say there is an issue with using tap water. But realistically, I don't know that my current tank (on rodi) is any better or not if I was to just've used tap. I have used a bottle of prime in the new 90 and will continue to use it it seems like a good product.

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Nonuser

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
Location
Brantford
i have always used prime on freshwater with tap water and straight from the tap. but living in brantford you realize you're taking a huge risk depending on the time of year and if the water company just shocked their system.

I now just have a small salt tank and use ro/id water and have stopped using prime every time. I should really its a reliable backup to neutralize anything harmful.

I will never use tap water where i live. we have extremely hard water and a huge lime issue. that destroys most things that run water through them, like coffee makers, shower heads, taps. I prefer to get a little more life out of my equipment and this is one of the main reasons i use RO/DI.

edit Prime also treats the old water thats still in your tank i think it binds amonia
 
Last edited:

TORX

Administrator
Staff member
Website Admin
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Location
Blenheim, Ontario
Website
www.thefragtank.ca
There are several successful tanks running conditioned tap water. The only reason I do not is IF there is ever a tank problem, I know it isn't from my new water. My tap water comes in over 200 ppm, there is no knowing what is in that. Again, lots of successful tap water tanks out there. But if an issue is you water, then it will tank months of water changes to correct.

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heath

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
My first tank (90 g not drilled) I only used tap water with no prime and the only issue that I had with it was feather dusters would take over the tank and every 6 months or so I would take the rock out and scrub them off..since I have had the ro unit the only effects were that I had high po4 leaching out of the rock, it took me about 6 months to correct that issues..
 

jroovers

Super Active Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Location
London
Cool im not going anywhere so will show ya 6 years down the line that no wc and treated tap are viable..... theres already multiple members trying it for themselves after grasping some new knowledge..... all the newest readings are showing that fuge and dsb natural filtration is alot better than media in more ways than you can type lol and any issues with dsb are probably from lack of maintenance and neglect. Hell kmans dsb is 10 years old and no issues y because he manages it properly

I wasn't questioning your use of Prime and disputing that you aren't/won't have success using tap water and Prime. If you want to use Prime and tap water, more power to you. As I said previously, Aaron at Big Al's does the same and his tank looks great. I prefer not to use it with an all SPS tank feeling better with something in the 0-5 tds range. Different strokes for different folks.

However thinking Prime will continue to work within the established reef for ammonia removal is probably an incorrect understanding of how the nitrogen cycle works. In an established reef, ammonia should be essentially consumed immediately and broken down to nitrites and then down the line. Here is a good article on ammonia for anyone interested:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/

edit Prime also treats the old water thats still in your tank i think it binds amonia

This post is an example of what I was saying above... some people are obviously mis-understanding ammonia's place in a reef tank. If you want to throw prime directly in your reef and think it binds to ammonia, go for it, but the bacteria and algae already do it for free.
 

Nonuser

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
Location
Brantford
However thinking Prime will continue to work within the established reef for ammonia removal is probably an incorrect understanding of how the nitrogen cycle works. In an established reef, ammonia should be essentially consumed immediately and broken down to nitrites and then down the line. Here is a good article on ammonia for anyone interested:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/



This post is an example of what I was saying above... some people are obviously mis-understanding ammonia's place in a reef tank. If you want to throw prime directly in your reef and think it binds to ammonia, go for it, but the bacteria and algae already do it for free.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

I guess i read this wrong :

Typically, dechlorinators stop there, leaving an aquarium full of toxic ammonia! Seachem takes the necessary next step by including an ammonia binder to detoxify the ammonia produced in the reduction process.
 
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