Prime Fresh and Saltwater Conditioner + Seachem Matrix Bio Media

Doing an emergency fish in cycle for my tank and this stuff is amazing. Can get me through the trials of being a new fish owner and keep him safe till healthy bacteria is established in my tank.Performing Emergency fish-in cycle with Seachem PrimeStep 1: Set up your aquariumIt’s time to set up your aquarium. And, that includes all the equipment – heaters, filters, air pumps… Get it in there! Don’t forget to rinse it with fresh water first!The beneficial bacteria need a surface to cling to, namely your substrate and filter media. So by setting everything up, you give your bacteria as many surfaces as possible to cling to.Add water to the tank, and don’t forget to dechlorinate it with your water conditioner first.Finally, you want to keep all electrical equipment, such as heaters, filters and bubblers, switched on throughout the entire cycling process. Not only will this keep your fish as comfortable as possible, but it will also make your tank cycle faster.Want to cycle your tank as quickly as possible? Check out FishLab’s tips for speeding up the cycling process.Step 2: Adding your fishBefore you add your fish, you want to acclimate them first. This will give them the best chance of survival.You want to feed your fish throughout the cycling process… You don’t want them to starve!When feeding your fish, however, it’s important that you don’t feed them too much. The more you feed them, the more they are going to poop. And the more they poop, the faster your ammonia levels are going to rise.Also, remove any uneaten food from the tank, a good aquarium net will make this easy. Any uneaten food left behind will break down into ammonia, causing the levels to rise.If a fish dies during the cycle, remove it from the aquarium ASAP. Its decaying body will also give off ammonia. Don’t panic if one of your fish dies. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all your fish will – this one might have been extra sensitive.Step 3: Test, test, test, and test againNow, use your ammonia test kit every 24 hours.What you are looking for is any sign of ammonia. Trust me. It won’t be long before it appears.Once your test kit returns positive for ammonia, it’s time to move to the next step.Step 4: Dealing with ammoniaOnce you detect ammonia, it’s time to start dosing with Seachem Prime. Follow the instructions on the bottle to determine what a single dose would be for your tank – the larger the aquarium, the more Prime you will need. Fortunately, a little goes a long way, and many of you will find that a single bottle of Prime will get you through an entire cycle.For this method, Seachem Prime is the most important ingredient. You see, a dose of Prime will bind ammonia, nitrite and nitrate for 24 to 48 hours, making them harmless to your fish.Picture Seachem Prime locking up ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in a jail cell for up to 48 hours. While in the cell, these nasties cannot harm your fish. However, once their time is up, and they are released, they will once again attack your fish.It is for this reason that you need to dose regularly with Seachem Prime, to keep these nasties locked up.A single dose of Prime will treat up to 1 part per million (ppm) of ammonia. Prime can be dosed up to 5 times safely. So, 2 ppm of ammonia can be treated with two doses of Prime, 3 ppm can be treated with three doses, and so on.Anything less than 1 ppm should be treated with a single dose. Between 1 ppm and 2 ppm, two doses. You get the idea. Oh, and it goes without saying that it’s better to overdose than underdose.*Once your test kit reads 2 ppm of ammonia, you should perform a 50% water change. This should cut your ammonia levels roughly in half. Repeat this process until you notice that your ammonia levels are not rising as quickly as before. Typically, this will take a week or two. When this happens, you are ready to move to the next step.Bookmark this page so that you can easily find it when you are ready for the next step!Step 5: Nitrites start to appearNext, you need to test for nitrites. If none are present, keep repeating the previous step and testing for nitrites daily until you get a positive result.Now that nitrite has entered the equation, you need to make sure you are dosing with enough Prime to protect your fish from both ammonia and nitrites.Fortunately, working out your new dosage is pretty simple – just add your nitrite and ammonia readings together.Let’s say your test returns the following…Ammonia 0.25 ppmNitrite 1.5 ppmAdding the two together will give you a total of 1.75 ppm. A double dose of Prime will take care of it.This time, if your combined ppm of ammonia and nitrite reaches 4, perform a 50% water change.Keep repeating this. You will eventually notice that your ammonia drops to zero. This is a good thing – bacteria are eating the ammonia as quickly as it is being produced, resulting in a zero reading.Continue daily dosing and testing for ammonia and nitrites. Once your nitrite levels stop rising as quickly, you are ready for the next step.Step 6: Nitrates appearNow, you want to test for nitrates. If none are present, keep repeating the previous step and testing for nitrates daily until you get a positive result.Once nitrates are present, you are nearing the end (woohoo!). Continue testing for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Your ammonia levels should still be zero, and your nitrite levels should be declining.Keep dosing with Prime until both your nitrite and ammonia levels are zero. At this stage, the beneficial bacteria are eating them as quickly as they are being produced.Congratulations! You have successfully completed a fish-in cycle.

Saw this recommended from an aquarium keeper. This is the only water conditioner that my betta fish seem to like. Betta fish have healthier bubble nests after tank changes when using this product.There is A LOT in the bottle and I wound up diluting it so it would work better in smaller tanks because it is highly concentrated. It is somewhat hard to measure out. Note: this product contains sulfur and smells slightly from the bottle but does not cause the tank to smell.

I never had the patience to wait for nitrogen cycle for any of the tanks however I found a combination that works every single time without a single fish fatality. Seachem Prime+ Tetra self start + API master test kit. Seachem Prime not only dexotify chlorine and metals but also ammonia and nitrites. The two toxins that kills fish in new tanks. It even allows to go upto 5x the dosage so I just test water parameters for first 3 weeks (API master test kit) and manage it with weekly 50% water changes and Seachem prime being added to the water. Usually I mix distilled and tap water at 40/60 ratio to bring the water to right PH and hardness since tap water in my area is highly alkaline. By then the ammonia and nitrite released get attacked by the Tetra beneficial bacteria and the plants suck up the nitrates, they keep multiplying until the tank completes the nitrogen cycle. Another constant is the temperature. I maintain it at 79 for my Bettas and I also use Seachem Acid buffer and Ph regulator sometimes. Legacy way of doing the wait game for nitrogen cycle is not required with products like this in the market.

I also have a beta water conditioner but I found this to be way better. Super easy to treat with and does a lot of heavy lifting, I occasionally still use the beta conditioner if the metal in the water is higher or if the water is harder than I’d like, but really this is my go to from now on.

When I was first cycling my tank, i had a CRAZY nitrite spike for about a week. I dosed prime daily for the entire time, and none of them died! None of them showed any kind of weird behavior, and none of them showed any signs of gill burn.People on the internet argue about whether this stuff can actually keep your fish safe. I maxed out the nitrites on my api test kit, and they were all fine thanks to seachem prime.

Es Primordial

My favorite water conditioner. Never let my fish tank go wrong.

Seachem makes a fabulous product highly recommend this product if you're in the fish aquarium hobby does a really good job.