# Tetra AquaSafe vs Seachem Prime



## Barbara Turner (17 Feb 2020)

Just looking on amazon and I  can buy 5 litres of  Tetra AquaSafe for £19.99 delivered whereas 1L of prime is £24.99

I read that Aquasafe Leaves a film on the water’s surface, Will my skimmer sort this out in a few minutes?


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## Kezzab (17 Feb 2020)

Yes, but how much water will it treat? 5ml prime does 200ltr, 5ml aquasafe does about 10-15ltr. 1ltr prime will treat about 3x as much water i think.


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## Barbara Turner (17 Feb 2020)

I didn't realise there was such a massive difference for 100 litres based on standard dose and manufacturers websites

Tetra aquasafe =50ml
Seachem prime =2.5ml

When you work out the cost to treat 100 litres
Tetra aquasafe =  20p
 Seachem prime = 3p

I think ill stick with prime


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## alto (18 Feb 2020)

But then Tetra Aquasafe includes such special compounds such as 
_seaweed extracts (natural biopolymers), which support the development of beneficial filter bacteria for healthy and clear water_
And
_provides a slime coating to help wounds heal and protect fish from abrasions. Unique colloid ingredients have been designed to protect fish’s delicate gills and membranes._

Not mentioned is the term PEG Poly Ethylene Glycol  
- or that fish gills and membranes do quite well on their own, or unique fish ability to adjust and alter their slime coat biochemistry 
- or that labyrinth fish can experience impairment from these “slime coating” and “unique colloid ingredients”

And this gem
_No, water conditioners typically do not remove free ammonia from the water.
You would need to add something like Tetra SafeStart Plus instead. This is the nitrifying bacteria that will naturally break the ammonia down. 
When doing partial water changes, you may want to set new water up the day before so the ammonia is gone when you pour it into the tank._
 

All that aside, I have used Tetra Aquasafe several years back (when Seachem products were not available) - though it’s obviously been reformulated (eg, the seaweed extracts)
But the tech support reply to the client with 1ppm ammonia in tap water could’ve been much better

I’ve always preferred Prime for its lack of unnecessary additives and it’s economy


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## jaypeecee (18 Feb 2020)

Hi Folks,

Even though I don't use tap water conditioners (TWCs), I got deeply involved in a very recent discussion on another forum about these products. In a nutshell, the crux of what was being discussed was how well the array of TWCs cope with chloraminated water. Having removed chlorine from tap water, how well do TWCs handle the resulting ammonia? If my memory serves me right, Seachem _Prime_ binds the ammonia, which is then biologically available to the nitrifying bacteria in the filter. I don't know if this bound ammonia would be available to plants. I think the dosing of Seachem _Prime_ needs to be repeated on a daily basis for a few days but please check this with the _Prime_ blurb.

TWCs also need to 'neutralize' (I love that word!) heavy metals for which, I believe, they use chelating agents. As @alto has mentioned above, additives such as Aloe vera are to be avoided where labyrinth fish are being kept.

JPC


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## mort (18 Feb 2020)

Tetra aquasafe was the best selling product when I ran a lfs, mainly because it didn't last very long. If people asked my advice I always pointed them to prime which is what I used but as silly as it sounds lots of people prefered aquasafe simply because it was blue and they thought it did more.


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## Barbara Turner (18 Feb 2020)

mort said:


> Tetra aquasafe was the best selling product when I ran a lfs, mainly because it didn't last very long. If people asked my advice I always pointed them to prime which is what I used but as silly as it sounds lots of people prefered aquasafe simply because it was blue and they thought it did more.



I'm currently changing 200 Litres every other day, I would be getting through a lot of aquasafe..


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## mort (18 Feb 2020)

Barbara Turner said:


> I'm currently changing 200 Litres every other day, I would be getting through a lot of aquasafe..



We were given 4L tubs of aquasafe by the reps and I had no issue using it but have always used prime at home because its good and economical. If you are going to keep doing such large water changes you could consider seachem pond prime which as far as I know is the same product just twice (give or take a little) as concentrated.


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## ian_m (18 Feb 2020)

Barbara Turner said:


> I'm currently changing 200 Litres every other day, I would be getting through a lot of aquasafe..


Wow. If performing such large changes have you considered sodium thioisulphate as it is even cheaper than Prime, but you do have to mix/prepare the solution your self.

From a "popular auction" site 1Kg of sodium thiosulphate costs £6 (or even 25Kg for £100).

Popular mixes are 0.1gr per 10litres of water, this 1Kg will do 1000/0.1 x10 -> 100,000 litres or comparing with prices above 0.6p per 100 litres (30 times cheaper than Aquasafe).

Might want to double if you suspect chloramine.

Also Aquasafe cannot be used with Seachem Purigen as it "clogs" the pores and renders Purigen non functioning.


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## jaypeecee (18 Feb 2020)

ian_m said:


> If performing such large changes have you considered sodium thioisulphate as it is even cheaper than Prime, but you do have to mix/prepare the solution your self...Might want to double if you suspect chloramine.



As I understand it, sodium thiosulphate will only remove chlorine. Doubling the dose will not help if the water contains chloramine. Nor will sodium thiosulphate help with heavy metals.

JPC


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## Barbara Turner (18 Feb 2020)

mort said:


> We were given 4L tubs of aquasafe by the reps and I had no issue using it but have always used prime at home because its good and economical. If you are going to keep doing such large water changes you could consider seachem pond prime which as far as I know is the same product just twice (give or take a little) as concentrated.



Thanks for the tip, That should last a while. (assuming I can convert from gallons and teaspoons) It works out to 1ml = 250Litre

I've just ordered a 1 litre bottle of Seachem Pond Prime Water Conditioner, Even if I double dose at 2ml per water change it's still going to last about 3 years. 
After 6 months i'll drop down the frequency of water changes. 

At £7 a year it's not worth mixing my own sodium thiosulphate, If I ever get to build my own house with a built-in tank I might need to order 25Kg sodium thiosulphate.


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## ian_m (18 Feb 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> As I understand it, sodium thiosulphate will only remove chlorine. Doubling the dose will not help if the water contains chloramine. Nor will sodium thiosulphate help with heavy metals.JPC


And that's a big a big no from me....

Sodium thiosulphate reaction with free chlorine. Most common reaction is number 2 below. The residual hydrochloric acid also reacts with the thoisulphate to sodium chloride, water, sulphur and sulphur dioxide.




Sodium thiosulphate reaction with chloramine.




Heavy metals in the UK (and EU) is not an issue as very strict limits are set on the supplied water.


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## Conort2 (18 Feb 2020)

Seachem also sell something called safe which is prime in dry form which works out even cheaper. I believe this does everything that prime does but is much more economical, not that prime is expensive anyway. However if you’re changing large amounts frequently it may work out better.

cheers

Conor


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## jaypeecee (19 Feb 2020)

ian_m said:


> And that's a big a big no from me....
> 
> Sodium thiosulphate reaction with free chlorine. Most common reaction is number 2 below. The residual hydrochloric acid also reacts with the thoisulphate to sodium chloride, water, sulphur and sulphur dioxide.
> View attachment 131691
> ...



Hi @ian_m 

OK, I am not a chemist. That's why I said 'As I understand it...'. The source of my information was _The Aquarium Wiki_, which states "Chloramine is more difficult to remove as sodium thiosulphate will break chloramine into its two component parts and only remove the chlorine. The ammonia has to be removed by another chemical. Such chemicals are Aliphatic Amine salts, hydrosulfite salts or sodium hydroxymethane sulfinic acid".

With reference to heavy metals, I am fully aware that we have strict limits in the UK and EU but those limits apply for the benefit of human consumption. I don't think we should automatically apply those figures to fish or other organisms. Take copper, for example. In 2018, the copper concentration from my water company reached 1.02 mg/l. The LC50/96h for Malaysian Trumpet Snails is 0.14 mg/l. Those are the facts.

JPC


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## dw1305 (14 Mar 2020)

Hi all,





jaypeecee said:


> sodium hydroxymethane sulfinic acid"


That is probably the compound in "Prime", Seachem won't tell you, but "Amquel" has a patent, and it <"uses this type of compound">. 





jaypeecee said:


> I don't think we should automatically apply those figures to fish or other organisms. Take copper, for example. In 2018, the copper concentration from my water company reached 1.02 mg/l. The LC50/96h for Malaysian Trumpet Snails is 0.14 mg/l. Those are the facts.


It is a fair point, tap water has to be <"safe for human consumption">, but there aren't any other provisos. 

I'm not a tap water user, but if I was I wouldn't be too concerned about the ammonia from chloramine. The reason for this is I don't tend to do large volume water changes (I like frequent smaller ones) and I have very "weedy" tanks.

cheers Darrel


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