Using Prime Stability together?

[jef4y]

Just a question to anyone who may know the answer. Can you use these two products together or not?

I'm curious because of my QT tank. I have 15-16G of water in it, a large bag of eheim media that was in my main tank sump for 2 months, and right now with a good size yellow tang (~5"), I have to do a 5 gallon change per day to keep the ammonia below 1.0.

It hits 1.0 and after the water change I'm back down to .5 again. I'm dosing stability daily per the directions, but I'm not seeing a difference in ammonia and it's rather disturbing.

If anyone has input I'd love to hear it!

Thanks!

Edit: And is there anywhere ITP that I can get some Prime (assuming I can use them together)

 

[rdnelson]

Following along.

 

[heathlindner25]

I've never had a problem using prime, and I have used it with stability, if there's a local major chain petsmart or Petco they all sell it.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

You SHOULD use them together

 

[rdnelson]

jmaneyapanda;796422 wrote: You SHOULD use them together

Care to expand on that a bit? Would love to hear what each does and your thoughts. :yes:

 

[falos]

<p style="text-align:left">prime binds with the nitrate and ammonia and turns it in to a form of carbon for the bio filter and skimmer to remove

stability contains bacteria to help repopulate the system to take up what the prime binds to

prime only binds for 24 hours after that what ever is left will be re released into the system

 

[rdnelson]

So, if that is the case, seems like when using prime, one should dose, wait say 12-16 hours and then do a water change? Otherwise it releases it back to it's original state? Just trying to understand.

 

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

Following along II.

rdnelson99;796436 wrote: So, if that is the case, seems like when using prime, one should dose, wait say 12-16 hours and then do a water change? Otherwise it releases it back to it's original state? Just trying to understand.

 

[ralph atl]

The bacteria in stability should "kick in" by that point, cycle into trites, then trates...

 

[rdnelson]

OK, so using Prime initially gives the bacteria in Stability time to do it's job. So after the intial treatment, no need for more prime? But, keeping up with Stability will help the bacteria colonize in force so several days is the best aproach for that? Seems logical.

 

[jef4y]

I'll have a bottle here tomorrow to try with. I'll test, add prime and test again an hour later, then do a water change later in the day as necessary.

I'm just amazed that the huge bag of media wasn't populated enough to handle this fish (or the other two before it). Think maybe I'll try a bag of matrix to see if it works better for the future.

 

[rdnelson]

I had a small HOB bio-wheel filled with matrix and had a big amonia spike with a decent size tang and a small trigger in my 20 gal QT. Now, I have two good size tangs in it but added another bag of matrix that has been in my sump for a few months. Going to keep a close eye on it. Just put the tangs in this afternoon (thanks to Dylan).

 

[mufret]

Instead of Prime, this product might work a little better for your situation:

 

[heathlindner25]

You will still show ammonia on test after prime but it will be neutralized.

 

[jef4y]

heathlindner25;796531 wrote: You will still show ammonia on test after prime but it will be neutralized.

Good to know! Thanks.

Edit:

rdnelson99;796458 wrote: I had a small HOB bio-wheel filled with matrix and had a big amonia spike with a decent size tang and a small trigger in my 20 gal QT. Now, I have two good size tangs in it but added another bag of matrix that has been in my sump for a few months. Going to keep a close eye on it. Just put the tangs in this afternoon (thanks to Dylan).

Rich, in doing this, how do you care for uneaten food? Right now I'm pulling the little filter pad from my HOB and cleaning it twice a day to get the left over algae out of it.

With my last 2 fish disaster, I wasn't feeding algae, just my normal food blends and I wasn't cleaning the HOB filter pad and I believe that really contributed to the spike.

I think part of the reason my eheim media isn't working well is because it's more passive, just sitting in a bag in the tank vice having water flow through it like it would in the HOB. Dunno though because Rock in the DT just kinda sits there passive too...

 

[rdnelson]

I hear what you are saying about food getting trapped in the HOB. Hadn't really thought much about that. Just did some tests and I do see a trace of amonia. I treated with a dose of Stability just now and a little later today I will do a 5 gal water change (20 gal QT). I am going to keep a very close eye on it and if I see amonia being a problem I will nix the matrix in the HOB and just stick with the bag of matrix that is sitting in the sump. If it continues, I will then put the other bag in that is currently in my sump. It has only been in the sump for a week or maybe 1-1/2 weeks so I am not sure it has a good population yet.

 

[seachem]

Looks like everyone covered this pretty well but I thought we would chime in too.

It is perfectly safe to use Prime and Stability together, in fact, it is often what we recommend. Prime is helpful in keeping toxic compounds in a bound state that will not harm any organisms currently in the tank. While the bacteria in Stability can handle very high concentrations of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, what some of you might not realize is that some other species of beneficial bacteria can be harmed by high concentrations, such as those seen when cycling a tank. This is what makes Stability such an excellent tool in cycling, it can does well, even in conditions that might be catastrophic to other species. Of course, when using Prime, you are protecting all species of beneficial bacteria, including those that are already in the system or brought in on live rock. Pretty neat stuff really.

As far as how long to use Prime, if cycling, I recommend adding it every 48 hours until the system has completed the cycle. Doing so is just a good way to help accelerate the cycling process by... protecting the beneficial bacteria.

Alpha is a great alternative for Prime. As much as I love Prime, Alpha does the exact same thing but is more concentrated. Also, it was designed specifically for reef aquariums, though it can be used in all.

Hope this helps guys, please let us know if there are any additional questions and thank you everyone for helping with the question!

 

[stacy22]

falos;796428 wrote: <p style="text-align:left">prime binds with the nitrate and ammonia and turns it in to a form of carbon for the bio filter and skimmer to remove

I would love to know how NO3-1 and NH3 can magically become carbon.

 

[seachem]

@Stacy22, I apologize, I completely missed that post Stacy. Prime does not convert these compounds into a carbon but rather binds with them, preventing them from harming the fish or other organisms in the system. In this state, they are still available for utilization by beneficial bacteria, algae, and other organisms. Some may be skimmed out but Prime will not assist in this process.

 

[jef4y]

Thanks for the info/replies. Waiting for the Prime to arrive now.

Do you recommend large & frequent water changes while using these products or just as normal?

Again, my scenario is a QT tank that I'm having trouble controlling ammonia in. Right now I'm doing 30% daily water changes. If I can back that down it would be great. If not, it's no real big deal.