Seachem Prime is a water conditioner that you can add to your tank water in order to remove chlorine and chloramine as well temporarily convert ammonia, nitrites and nitrates into non-toxic forms. So, is this product capable of causing a bacterial bloom? You can find out in this article from Aquarium Blueprints.
What is bacterial bloom?
A bloom may occur in your tank when there is a sudden explosion of bacteria. As a result, the cloudy or milky water you are seeing in the aquarium is actually made up of many of these small creatures.
Based on our experience, Seachem Prime is most likely not the cause behind a bacteria bloom as the water conditioner does not add any nutrients to your fish tank.
In a vast majority of cases, the explosion of bacteria is due to an increase of nitrates. For the uninformed, nitrates are the results of decomposing organic matter. These can be any of the following:
- Uneaten fish food
- Excrement
- Dead fish
- Dead plants
If left in the tank, the decomposing organic matter will be converted over to ammonia. There are bacterial species that will convert ammonia to nitrites and then nitrites to nitrates. So, if there is a sudden spike in nutrients available, then it will most likely be causing the cloudy or milky water.
Are bacterial blooms harmful?
The only potential issue you have to worry about when it comes to bacterial blooms is the oxygen level in your tank.
If you see you fish gasping for air on the water surface, then you need to take immediate action due to oxygen deprivation.
How to use Seachem Prime during bacterial bloom
While Seachem Prime is most likely not the cause behind your bacterial bloom, it can be part of the solution.
To see how you can use this product to get rid of the cloudy or milky water, you can do the following:
1. Start off by taking 25% of water out of your tank.
2. You should also take clean your filter while you are doing a water change.
3. Furthermore, remove any uneaten food, dead plants and/or dead fish from the aquarium.
4. Next, you can start dosing Seachem Prime directly to your tank. The water conditioner will remove chlorine and chloramine if you are adding back in the water you get from your sink.
When it comes to dosage, you should add 5 mL for every 50 gallons (or 200 liters), of water that your tank is capable of holding.
5. Once you are done dosing with Seachem Prime, you can start refilling your tank with new water.
6. Leave your tank alone for 24 hours.
7. If the tank water still has not cleared up 1 day after a water change, then you can repeat the previous 6 steps again and again until your bacterial bloom goes away.
