Using Seachem Prime in a holding tank

[mrbacony]

I am setting up a new tank and breaking down another one. I moved my 4 existing fish (2 clowns, Royal Gramma and Flame Hawk) plus inverts to a 20 gallon holding tank that was cycled before they were moved to it. Of course I realize that putting that bioload at one time on a newly cycled tank could spike ammonia (which it did slightly today).
I dosed Prime while mixing up a new batch of saltwater. I then did a 10 gallon water change once the new water was made. I tested the levels again tonight and they are still slightly elevated with ammonia (measured using Red Sea test kit).
My question is, would dosing Prime each day suffice for the slight ammonia spikes, or do I need to be doing a 5-10 gallon water change each day until I can no longer see a spike or I move them over to the newly cycled display tank (which will probably be another 2-3 weeks)?
Thank you

 

[Idoc]

Water changes are going to control the ammonia. Prime binds the ammonia, but only temporarily. I believe it will release the ammonia again after about 48hrs. You might do best by adding some bottled bacteria daily in order to attempt to neutralize the ammonia.

 

[mrbacony]

Water changes are going to control the ammonia. Prime binds the ammonia, but only temporarily. I believe it will release the ammonia again after about 48hrs. You might do best by adding some bottled bacteria daily in order to attempt to neutralize the ammonia.

The bacteria idea….. I did not think about that. I have a new bottle of Microbacter 7 on the shelf. Thanks for the tip

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not presently convinced that Prime actually does anything useful for ammonia based on tests folks have done and the lack of any composition information, proposed mechanism, or data from Seachem despite having been challenged about its efficacy for many years.

This has more:

Prime Does Not Remove Ammonia

Last August we discussed data that cast doubt on the ability of Prime to remove ammonia from artificial seawater. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/does-prime-actually-detoxify-free-ammonia-nh3.849985/ Since then, I continued the search for evidence that Prime removed ammonia from artificial...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[mrbacony]

I'm not presently convinced that Prime actually does anything useful for ammonia based on tests folks have done and the lack of any composition information, proposed mechanism, or data from Seachem despite having been challenged about its efficacy for many years.

This has more:

Prime Does Not Remove Ammonia

Last August we discussed data that cast doubt on the ability of Prime to remove ammonia from artificial seawater. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/does-prime-actually-detoxify-free-ammonia-nh3.849985/ Since then, I continued the search for evidence that Prime removed ammonia from artificial...

www.reef2reef.com

Good to know, but also hard to hear. That means daily water changes would be the only thing to keep ammonia under control.
Any other suggestions?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Good to know, but also hard to hear. That means daily water changes would be the only thing to keep ammonia under control.
Any other suggestions?

hydroxymethanesulfonate may work in this application:

ClorAm-X®

ClorAm-X is a dry powder water conditioner and ammonia and chlorine neutralizer . It detoxifies and removes ammonia, chlorine and chloramines in both fresh and saltwater.

reedmariculture.com

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Treatments for Elevated Ammonia: Hydroxymethanesulfonate
Various types of compounds are used in commercial products to bind ammonia in marine aquaria. One is hydroxymethanesulfonate (HOCH2SO3-). It is a known ammonia binder16 patented for aquarium use by John F. Kuhns17 and sold as Amquel by Kordon and ClorAm-X by Reed Mariculture, among others.

Ammonia's reaction with hydroxymethanesulfonate is mechanistically complicated, possibly involving decomposition to formaldehyde and reformation to the product aminomethanesulfonate (shown below).16 The simplified overall reaction is believed to be:

NH3 + HOCH2SO3- --> H2NCH2SO3- + H2O

What ultimately happens to the aminomethanesulfonate in a marine or reef aquarium is not well established, but it does appear to be significantly less toxic than ammonia, and more than likely it is processed by bacteria into other compounds.

Marineland Bio-Safe claims to contain sodium hydroxymethanesulfinic acid (HOCH2SO2-). I do not know if that is a typographical error, or if Marineland really uses this slightly different compound.

Note: products containing hydroxymethanesulfonate hamper the ability to test for ammonia when using certain types of test kits (see above). Presumably, the H2NCH2SO3- formed is still reactive with the Nessler reagents, even though it is not ammonia.

 

[mrbacony]

Thanks for the link. Interesting read