Seachem Prime is a multipurpose water conditioner that will make your tank water safe for your fish and other aquatic pets. So, when is the appropriate time to use this product?
You can find out in this article at Aquarium Blueprints.
Quick Summary
The best time to add Seachem Prime to your fish tank is during a water change.
After taking water out of the tank, we recommend dosing the appropriate amount of the water conditioner directly into the aquarium. You can then refill the fish tank with new water.
When to use Seachem Prime during a water change
If you are planning to use Seachem Prime in order to remove chlorine and chloramine from your tap water when doing a water change, we recommend that you take the following steps:
1. First off remove water from your fish tank.
2. We then recommend that you add Seachem Prime directly to your fish tank.
In terms of dosage amount, you should add 5 mL (which is a capful) of Prime for every 50 gallons or 200 liters of tank water. Make sure you add enough in order to cover the entire water volume that your fish tank is capable of holding.
3. After adding Prime directly in your fish tank, you can then refill the aquarium with tap water.
When to use Seachem Prime to detoxify ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and heavy metals
If you want to use Seachem Prime in order to detoxify ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and/or heavy metals, then we recommend doing it during a water change.
This is because a water change will help dilute the tank water of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and/or heavy metals. This is especially true for nitrates which, depending on your tank setup, may otherwise be hard to remove from the tank.
We recommend that you follow the steps we outlined above where you remove the water from the tank, add Prime directly in the tank and then refill the tank with new water.
While you can dose Prime directly in your aquarium without doing a water change, this water conditioner will detoxify ammonia, nitrites and nitrates at a maximum of 48 hours. Therefore, you will need to keep dosing the product until you figure out a way to keep your tank water safe.
For the uninformed, we recommend that you have concentrations of 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites and less than 20 ppm nitrates if you want the best water quality for your fish and other aquatic pets.
When to use Seachem Prime to promote healthy slime growth
If you want to use Seachem Prime in order to promote healthy slime growth from your fish, then you should be able to add the solution any time as long as you don’t overdose it.
Seachem has stated that you can safely add up to 25 mL of Prime for every 50 gallons or 200 liters of tank water without any issues.