Question regarding Nutrafin Aqua Plus

by Sandman1969 Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:32 am

I just bought some of this recently as I wasn't able to get Prime yet. But am wondering if it really can only be added to water BEFORE adding the water to the tank?
Is there any repercussions for adding it directly to the tank during a water change?

by caoder Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:59 am

that would depend on the chemicals in your water. If you have Chloramine then its best to treat before adding to tank, if you have only chlorine treating in tank is OK.

by Sandman1969 Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:05 am

How would I find out?
I live in London Ontario.
From what I can tell, it's just hard water with chlorine. I have seen no mention of chloramine.

EDIT: turns out we have both.

My tanks are big, so am unable to treat the water before adding it as I don't have anything big enough to use.

by nyleveiam Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:23 pm

I did some research on this because I was curious... apparently, the key is to treat the water left IN the tank for the total amount the tank holds as that way the water you add will immediately be treated.
If you add the water first, then the conditioner, there is a chance that the chloramine (or chlorine), will kill off your filter bacteria and maybe burn the gills of your fish in the time it takes to add the conditioner after the water.
Other information I found out is that chlorine will gas off hence the leave the water out for 24 hours before placing in the tank of the olden days, but chloramine will not gas off. This is why the water departments have switched to chloramine.
This from a person who uses untreated well water!! Smile

by Sandman1969 Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:19 pm

Well, what I did was use an old large pot and treated that water before putting it into the tank. Till I realized just how long that would take. I ended up using the syphon to fill & added the conditioner to the incoming stream. It's been almost 12hrs & the fish seem fine, mind you the id shark has a bloated belly.

by Suprd71 Sun Oct 19, 2014 6:28 am

You will find that Prime will cost you some $$$ in the long run servicing big tanks. Get the powder form Safe. A little goes a long way, 1kg jar will last you couple years or more. Petsandponds online has it.

by Sandman1969 Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:18 am

Checked it out and will look into it.
But the directions are vague. It goes from a 10g to a 50 g, then skips to 300+ gallon tanks.
So how much would I use for a 130g & a 125g tank?

by Suprd71 Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:35 am

Sandman1969 wrote:Checked it out and will look into it.
But the directions are vague. It goes from a 10g to a 50 g, then skips to 300+ gallon tanks.
So how much would I use for a 130g & a 125g tank?

Seachem has issued new application instructions which over ride the container instructions.You have to look up your city water report to see the level of chlorine and possible chloramine in your water. I am able to use 1/4 tsp for 180 gal tanks. You may need a bit more. I can help you with the dosage to start you off.

by Sandman1969 Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:38 pm

I was told by Big Al's that our water has both chlorine & chloramine. As for how much, no clue. London doesn't seem to provide that info.
Would those new instructions include the liquid form as well? I got those instructions from the Seachem website.

by Suprd71 Sun Oct 19, 2014 6:57 pm

As far as I know, Prime is still one cap for 50g. City water reports are a matter of public record and must be made available to everyone. I looked up London water, and see no mention of chloramine in the 2013 report. Chlorine averages about 1.5ppm, thats fairly low. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate also fairly low. You could easily use at most 1/2 tsp of Safe for either of your tanks, 125+130g I believe?