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Starting Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 8/22/2008 5:41:06 PM
Posts: 126,
Visits: 78
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| Hi, I have two questions. First I ran out of water conditioner and when I got new my lfs gave me Prime. I was using Amquel or something else before. I did my water change today & used the Prime for the first time. I think I used a little too much. Is Prime ok or should I use something else? My 2nd question is, did I understand right when someone said don't replace filter cartridges monthly like the manufacturer suggests, but rinse & reuse till they fall apart? Thanks for any advice. I have had my aquarium for 3 months, so still kinda new. staffordmom
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Fishkeeping GURU
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 3:15:22 PM
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Prime is fine, as is Amquel, but both have ingredients that are not necessary if you have a fully cycled tank and your water dept does not use chloramine. A simple dechlorinator such as API's Tap Water Conditioner or Wardley's Dechlorinator (both of which are much cheaper than Prime and Amquel) are generally considered better for fish because it is best to avoid chemicals if possible. The more natural our fish's enivironment is, the better.
And yes, it is best to not change the filter cartridges as per manufacturer instructions. Simply rinse in tank water (not tap) and reuse until they are falling apart or so clogged water won't run well through them even after a good rinse. When you finally do change them, put a new one in the filter with the old if possible, or at least in the tank, to colonize with bacteria for a week or two before pulling the old one out.
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Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 3:22:16 PM
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Overdosing Prime won't hurt your fish until insanely large doses, but do be careful about overdosing too often, as it will start binding ammonia and/or nitrites if there is too much left after the chlorine is gone, and this can start to disrupt your cycle slightly.
Prime is very useful for cycling tanks or transport and things like that. As Hailey said, it's not exactly necessary if your tank is stable, but the last time I told somebody that they went and threw out the entire bottle. Go ahead and use it up first.
20 gallon long
Lionhead - Kiko
Calico Lionhead - Little Bean
29 gallon
Fantail - Oliver
Black Moor - Damian
Calico Ryukin - Serafina
2.5 gallon
male betta - Pirate
10 gallon planted
minnow, betta, guppy
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Moderator
Group: Moderators
Last Login: Yesterday @ 2:21:17 PM
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Much as my friends who manufacture filters -- and cartridges -- really hate for me to say this, I really think that many fish do badly because hobbyists religiously replace their cartridges every two or four weeks -- and throw away the beneficial bacteria of the Nitrogen Cycle when they do this. Wash the cartridges until they fall apart. And if you do have to replace them, make sure that you never replace more than half of them at any time.
***************************Be warned -- everyone at college has a weird roommate. If you don't have a weird roomate -- then you're the weird roommate.
Conan O'Brien, Stuyvesant High School.
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