Prime Question

[Relic]

Hi everyone,

I am green here. I have tested my aquarium after water changes and I keep getting 0.6ppm from ammonia testing - I use Seachem's Prime for water changes. I also tested my water straight out of the tap after treating with Prime and I get the same results.

So it is my understanding (correct me if I am wrong) that Prime removes cholrine from the tap leaving behind chloramine which is a combination of chlorine and ammonium; then Chloramine is removed by biological filtration and plants.

My concern is that my pH is quite basic (8.5). Does this mean that the ammonium part of chloramine will bind to form ammonia concurrently as it is consumed biologically?

If Prime is not for me then what other water conditioner would be suitable. I apologize if this thread is somewhat redundant

 

[tedr108]

If used in the recommended dose, Prime removes chloramine also. My municipal water company also uses chloramine, and Prime does the job for me.

Not sure what your ammonia readings mean -- those cheapo testing kits can't always be trusted anyway. However, both the cheapo ammonia and nitrite testing kits have seemed to work OK for me. If I remember correctly, even though Prime removes the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite, these will still register in a testing kit results until they are completely converted to nitrates by the nitrifying bacteria in your tank.