Seachem Prime? How often?

[Nuuze]

Hi all,

Not sure if I should of posted this in checmistry or somwhere else. Anyway, a fellow RC member recommended I dose some Seachem Prime yesterday to help reduce some Nitrates/Nitrites. Per instructions it says 1 capful per 50G; a double dose may be added if levels are high. I only added a capful to my 58G/20G sump. But the bottle does not say how often or anything after the first dose. Anyone have any experience on the product? Here are my water parameters:

Salinity - 35 (Refractometer)
pH - 8.2 (Red Sea, still waiting for calibration fluid for probe)
Ammonia - 0 (Red Sea)
Nitrate - 10 (Red Sea)
Nitrite - 0.05 (Red Sea)
KH/Alk - 10.9/3.89 (Salifert)
Calcium - 400 (Salifert)
Mg - 1290 (Salifert)
Phosphate - 0.03 (Salifert)
Temp - 78-81

Thanks,

Nuuze

[Nuuze]

I dont know what I was thinking...I should of posted this on the Seachem page...Sorry.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well, I'll give my answer. IMO, that will not usefully impact nitrite or nitrate,and is not worth adding.
nitrite is not toxic in reef aquaria, and is never worth worry about in reef aquaria (IMO).

Nitrate is best exported with something like skimming, macroalgae, a deep sand bed, etc.

These articles have more:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

Nitrite and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.htm

[Boomer]

I do not buy their claim. It is probably more of an issue that the Prime masks the NO2 and NO3 test kit readings just like Amquel +. So the NO3 and NO2 are still there but the kit is giving false readings as if there is none or it has been lowered.

From the SeaChem website
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.

SeaChem themselves does not know what is going on according to their own FAQ on Prime.

I would like to know what they call high levels as research has shown both need to be in the 100's of ppm to case deaths.

In would not be adding any of this stuff to try and lower nitrites/nitrates. Not only that but these products deliver allot of excessive sulfates, especially on double dosing on a daily means. Furthermore, we do not know, nor does SeaChem know, what the out come is going to be, especially in a reef tank. It may be fine for a FOT.

[Nuuze]

Thank you! I will stop dosage and hopefully the new refugium with rock and chaeto I setup last weekend will kick in soon...So far I am starting to see a bunch of pods crawling on the rock. I'm hopeing that's a good sign!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Good luck. :)