Prime/Nitrite

[Jordan]

I am a huge fan of Seachem products… I currently use Prime, Stabilise and Malawi Buffer.

I am currently experiencing new tank syndrome… the tank has been set up for about 12 days now, and I am experiencing a Nitrite spike (coupled with a small outbreak of ich at the same time unfortunately).

My fish are:
-6 x 1” Labidochromis Caerulus (Electric Yellows)
-6 x 2” Sciaenochromis Fryeri (Electric Blues)
-6 x 1.5” Cryptocara Moori (Blue Dolphins)
-3 x 2” Bristlenose Catfish

My current tank parameters are:
-Tank is a 60G tank
-pH is 8
-0ppm Ammonia
-At least 10ppm nitrite (My test kit only goes up to 5ppm – even with a 2x dilution I was getting a reading of 10ppm)
-Not sure about Nitrate
-Temperature is 30 degrees celcius (to help get rid of ich)
-I have added 2tbsp per 5 gallons of water (to help with ich and nitrite spike) – a total of 24 tbsp of ocean salt in the tank
-I also added 4 times the normal dosage of Prime two days ago to help with the Nitrite spike.

Now – my question is… am I doing everything right? My fish aren’t flashing much anymore… but the Nitrite level is still very high. Does prime become ineffective after 24 hours of being in a tank? Should I re-dose with a 4x normal dose? How long should it take for my Nitrite bacteria to establish well enough to get my Nitrite levels down? I am really worried that the fish are getting a bad dose of nitrite and are being poisoned… although the fish don’t seem to stressed at present.

Thanks for any advice you can provide me with and thank you for
creating such brilliant products!!!

Regards,
Jordan

[Jordan]

Anybody? This is very important!! :)

I tried sending this enquiry (verbatim) via email to Seachem support/info etc. but it keeps bouncing saying that my email contains a spam signature!!! :(

[Tech Support RB]

Prime does act as a "24 hour band-aid" binding to nitrogenous pollutants rendering them non toxic. Prime, like other water conditioners/ammonia binders, tends to biologically degrade after this time period and may need to be re-dosed to keep these pollutants bound until such time that your biological filter consumes them (keep in mind that even though ammonia and nitrite may be bound by Prime, your biological filter can still consume them). Also, the chloride in your aquarium introduced in the salt you used will negate the affect of nitrite poisoning to a degree. To encourage rapid development of your biological filter, I recommend dosing Stability on a daily basis and increasing water flow in the aquarium if possible via a power head or air stone. This will create oxygen rich conditions as your biological filter is dependent on oxygen. I would also suggest using Prime on a daily basis at an elevated dose per the instructions to keep the nitrite bound in a harmless state until your biological filter matures as mentioned above. Performing partial water exchanges is another option to dilute the amount of nitrite in your aquarium. You may also want to cut down on feeding until your biological filter matures as this will also limit the amount of waste produced in the aquarium.