Reef Discussion

[Mantis Dundee]

Hi all,
I picked up my new juvenile Blue Tang yesterday. I have put him in my little 40l quarantine tank. All my parameters are fine except nitrate. It is about 20 ppm. I thought this is probably fine for fish but I decided to throw in half a cap full of Prime just to be safe.
My questions are, should I continue to dose a small amount of prime daily while the fish is in there with that amount of nitrate? Also how long do people quarantine their new fish for.
It was already at lfs for a week and a half being medicated and fresh water dips recovering from an eye parasite. It was also in a tank with a cleaner wrasse going hard at him. Good LFS. They refused to let me have it until it was in tip top full recovered condition. I am really liking these guys the more I go there. No BS. If they don't know answer they go and get the right staff member who knows exactly, rather than making up some BS that they think sounds believable.
Cheers guys!:rolleyes

 

[Buddy]

Prime wont do anything for Nitrate. It will help with Nitrite and Ammonia though. I QT my fish for 2 months, if there is any sign of disease then the 2 months starts over again when there is no sign of disease. Is this a newly set up tank? If so, it will cycle and you should dose prime daily as it only lasts for 24 hours. Also I would recommend regular water changes.

 

[chimaera]

Yeah water changes is the best way to stay on top of nitrates in a tank like this.

 

[Mantis Dundee]

Prime wont do anything for Nitrate. It will help with Nitrite and Ammonia though. I QT my fish for 2 months, if there is any sign of disease then the 2 months starts over again when there is no sign of disease. Is this a newly set up tank? If so, it will cycle and you should dose prime daily as it only lasts for 24 hours. Also I would recommend regular water changes.

Actually prime detoxifies nitrates and nitrate, not removes but detoxifies. At least that is what it says on the bottle so I believe it as it is a pretty reputable product. This is an established tank however it has very little live stock in it other than a couple of green chromies a couple of months ago. It has been set up for about 8 months. A small amount of substrate and a couple of little bits and pieces of love rock. It has had a few water changes but not many as there has usually been no live stock in it. When I have changed I have changed about 50% though. Now there is a fish in there it will be weekly but on a smaller scale.
Anyway thankyou, you have answered my question in the fact that it only last 24 hours. So I will continue to put a little splash in each day.
I don't think 20ppm is that bigger concer for fish anyway is it. What you reckon? Obviously if your worried about algae yeh but I am only concerned about the fish welfare as it is just a quarantine tank.

 

[Buddy]

Ah ok if its an established tank then I wouldn't even worry about prime. A little bit of nitrate is fine for fish :)

 

[Mantis Dundee]

Ah ok if its an established tank then I wouldn't even worry about prime. A little bit of nitrate is fine for fish :)

Cheers thought so. Just wanted to be sure. Spoke to the Doc bout it just before, and he said no worries really.