Seachem Prime dosing

[Freeway8]

Hi, I'm going to make the switch of my tap water conditioner from API Stress Coat+ to Seachem Prime, as I see often recommended here and elsewhere.
15-gal freshwater, non-planted, well established with good and stable parameters over time. Fish seem happy and healthy.

I typically do a 5-gal water change on my 15-gal tank, every 2 weeks.
Using SC+, that's been a 2.5mL dose for 5-gal (per bottle, 5mL per 10-gal).
Prime dose to be 0.5mL per 5-gal (per bottle, 5mL per 50-gal).

Pretty sure of my math, just want to check to be certain this very tiny Prime dosage is correct. Thanks!

 

[Geoffrey]

Math looks right to me!

 

[Essjay]

A 7.5 gallon change every week would be better

 

[Freeway8]

A 7.5 gallon change every week would be better

Noted, thank you. Of course there are a wide variety of opinions on amount and frequency of water changes, but generally, yeah, more is better.

 

[Byron]

Some will advise using Prime, but I certainly do not. The API Tap Water Conditioner is safer, it has less chemicals in it, and it is highly concentrated.

The API Stress Coat is not safe either as you say, it has aloe vera which is now believed to be an issue for fish gills.

Bottom line in all this--only use what is absolutely essential, and in conditioner this means detoxifies chlorine (and chloramine if this is added by the water folks). Heavy metals is OK too, this is one area where Prime is not advisable because it has a chemical that prevents plants from assimilating nutrients (like the heavy metals iron, copper, manganese, zinc) which API TWC does not use, so safer.

 

[Freeway8]

Prime is not advisable because it has a chemical that prevents plants from assimilating nutrients (like the heavy metals iron, copper, manganese, zinc) which API TWC does not use, so safer.

Thank you. I had noted in my original post that I have a non-planted tank. But I didn't realize that API offered a TWC (only) product, I will consider that. I agree that only what is essential is best, I do not like to add treatments or chemical filtration.

 

[Essjay]

I use API Tap Water Conditioner. It contains only thiosulfate to remove chlorine and EDTA to bind metals.

The dose rate for this product is 1 drop per gallon for chlorine and 3 drops per gallon for chloramine. It lasts a long time and with a 15 gallon tank the larger bottles will be well out of date before you are half way through. I bought a 1 fl oz/30 ml bottle as that has a dropper in the lid, then bought larger bottles (4 fl oz/118 ml) to refill the small bottle.