O.d. Of Seachem Prime?

[BeckyCats]

I did a water change on my 55gallon tank today and while refilling, accidentally dropped about 30-40 ml of seachem prime in the water. The recommended dose for my tank size is 5ml. It says you can use up to 5times the dose under certain circumstances, but that would still only be 25ml. A quick internet search told me that most folks think you can't overdose on prime, so I carried on with the refill. Then, after the tank was fully refilled, one of the female pearl gouramis made a cracking vocalization sound. I had read that they could this but since I have never heard it until this moment, this suggested to me that she did it from stress, most likely due to the excess Prime. I promptly did another water change to dilute the Prime. Everyone seems okay, but I am still freaked out and worried.

Can Prime be harmful in large doses?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yes, any dechlorinator can be harmful, even fatal if overdosed to such an extent. Prime is particularly a strong dechlore hence why so little is needed for water changes compared to other brands.
 
If you did a large water change quickly after realising your mistake, then things may be ok. But if you only did say, 25% water change, I would then suggest doing another 25 - 50% again if thats the case.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

When in doubt... do a large water change... as large as possible.  Even as high as 90% if necessary.

 

[BeckyCats]

The second water change was just over 50%. They are all still okay. If there was going to be a problem, would I have seen it by now do you think, or should keep worrying?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The second water change was just over 50%. They are all still okay. If there was going to be a problem, would I have seen it by now do you think, or should keep worrying?

 
I'd say that you are likely past that point now.  In the future, just one really big water change would be best.

 

[BeckyCats]

In future, let's hope I'm not so clumsy!

Thank you for your help!

 

[Byron]

I agree with other members' advice here.  Most manufacturers will say overdosing their water conditioner is harmless, but this is really not an accurate statement.  All water conditioners contain some chemical(s), and when any such substances are added to a fish tank, they end up inside all the fish.  So these should be kept to the absolute minimum, whatever the conditioner.
 
As you mention Prime, i will not use this product because it messes with the nitrification and except in new tanks or if nitrite or nitrate occur in the tap water, this is unnecessary and only adding more of what is unnecessary.  Keeping all additives to the minimum, both quantity and what they do, is wise.
 
Byron.

 

[BeckyCats]

 
As you mention Prime, i will not use this product because it messes with the nitrification and except in new tanks or if nitrite or nitrate occur in the tap water, this is unnecessary and only adding more of what is unnecessary.  Keeping all additives to the minimum, both quantity and what they do, is wise.
 
Byron.

Hi Byron. That is very interesting to hear. I had been using a different brand but switched to Prime specifically because so many people say it is the only thing they will use. I also got it for the tank at work because the tap water in that town has ammonia in it, so the prime helps with that. But for my water at home with no ammonia in the water, I didn't think about the affects that the extra chemicals would have. For the past month (about as long as I've been using Prime), I have noticed a lot of tiny white spots in the water that didn't used to be there. I was assuming it was a bacterial bloom possibly caused by changing out my filter pads, but since I didn't change the bio filter, I am still confused about how it could have happened. I was going to post a separate thread about it, but could it possibly be related to the effect prime has on nitrates/ nitrites? My tanks always read at about zero for each, so maybe the extra chemical processing is screwing things up somehow?

 

[Byron]

Hi Byron. That is very interesting to hear. I had been using a different brand but switched to Prime specifically because so many people say it is the only thing they will use. I also got it for the tank at work because the tap water in that town has ammonia in it, so the prime helps with that. But for my water at home with no ammonia in the water, I didn't think about the affects that the extra chemicals would have. For the past month (about as long as I've been using Prime), I have noticed a lot of tiny white spots in the water that didn't used to be there. I was assuming it was a bacterial bloom possibly caused by changing out my filter pads, but since I didn't change the bio filter, I am still confused about how it could have happened. I was going to post a separate thread about it, but could it possibly be related to the effect prime has on nitrates/ nitrites? My tanks always read at about zero for each, so maybe the extra chemical processing is screwing things up somehow?
 

 
I wouldn't think Prime responsible for particles in the water.  I won't guess about causes, but will say that cleaning filters usually causes a temporary lack of clarity as the various bacteria (aside from the nitrifiers) need to re-establish and re-settle.
 
As everyone knows from my posts, I caution using any additives/chemicals/treatments unless they are absolutely necessary and are the right product for the issue.  An aquarium is an artificial environment, but the natural processes from nature will still work, though they can be drastically affected/altered by any of these products.  The fewer additives entering an aquarium, the better, as there is less likelihood of various interactions taking place.  Something I had to learn, and we must all recognize, is that making one alteration however small can have far-reaching consequences because of the interactions within the system, chemically and biologically.  So I always go for the "less is better" approach.  This will always favour the fish.
 
I'm using the API Tap Water Conditioner now; it only deals with chlorine/chloramine and heavy metals [I don't need the latter, but it is impossible to find a good conditioner that doesn't detoxify heavy metals, and it doesn't seem to hurt].  Kordon's NovAqua (without the "Plus") is another I have used when I was able to get it locally.  And I only use the absolute minimum for the volume of water changed.  Neither of these add other "stuff."
 
Byron.