Seachem SAFE!!

[RD.]

The current directions for Safe treat 1.25ppm chlorine/1ppm chloramine. Check your water report for how much chloramine or chlorine you have, and dose your tank based on the total tank volume, regardless of amount of water changed.

If your water is treated with 4ppm chloramine or 5ppm chlorine, use 1 teaspoon per 200 gallons (instructions before 2014).

I use these spoons for my smaller tanks https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Stain...ash+measuring&qid=1565274621&s=gateway&sr=8-3. I use the drop spoon (about 1/64 of a teaspoon) for every 5 gallons because I know that I have 4ppm chloramine.

I don't bother mixing the safe in water before putting it into the tank. I put it in the same area as where I am going to refill. I have had fish try to eat the undissolved particles because they think I am putting in food, and have noticed no immediate side effects from doing so.

Ditto, I never mix with water. I add a portion of each premeasured amount of Safe as I am filling.


I'm not personally thrilled with the post 2014 change in directions, I suspect that a lot of people are under-dosing.
I discussed that change in detail in this past topic:

The Dumbing Down of Seachem

Approx 3 yrs ago Seachem decided that due to customers not being able to add 1+1 and divide by 2, they would simplify their dosage instructions on Seachem Safe. This topic was brought up by @pops , to which I added my 2 cents...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[RD.]

my water is only treated with chlorine at 1ppm. its been working for me in my tanks.

Good to hear, but probably would have been better had you prefaced your initial comment with that. For some folks, using your suggestion could result in their fish taking a large hit of free ammonia when they filled their tank back up. NH3, even in small doses, is toxic to aquatic organisms.

 

[BichirKing]

that's why Im here , your lots smarter than I !

 

[RD.]

Ha, probably not, I'm just trying to make sure that no one needlessly exposes their fish to something that is potentially toxic.

 

[Rocksor]

Stabilizing agents are just that, they keep the solution in a stable environment, rendering the product stable, in this case for many years. But as per a conversation I had with the head chemist & CEO of Seachem many years ago, Safe does not contain any form of stabilizing agent, and his advice was that if one was pre-mixing water & Safe, that it should be used up within 30 days or so.

So I'm confused about Safe still being able to break chloramine/chlorine bond in 30 days pre-mixed in bottle with tap water versus statements about it breaking down within 48 hours. Or is that 48 hour period the only time it can bind with free ammonia? Whereas the chemicals that break the chlorine and ammonia bond as well as render chlorine harmless works for up to 30 days in the tank?

 

[RD.]

So I'm confused about Safe still being able to break chloramine/chlorine bond in 30 days pre-mixed in bottle with tap water versus statements about it breaking down within 48 hours. Or is that 48 hour period the only time it can bind with free ammonia? Whereas the chemicals that break the chlorine and ammonia bond as well as render chlorine harmless works for up to 30 days in the tank?

When I asked the CEO yrs ago it was for a friend who was wanting to use a doser in his auto drip. I can only assume that in a concentrated form it retains it's ability to perform for up to around the 30 day mark, where in a tank, once mixed with 02, organics, free ammonia, etc, it only lasts approx. 24-48 hrs before it is completely spent. Both Prime & Safe are reducing agents, so once it runs out of ammonia to reduce, it will seek out 02 etc, until it is used up.

 

[Matteus]

Sodium thiosulfate is not something that I personally recommend, unless one is strictly treating for chlorine. For chloramine, especially with large water changes, and even more importantly with high pH vales where free ammonia (NH3) becomes very toxic - I always recommend products such as Seachem Prime and/or Safe.




Stabilizing agents are just that, they keep the solution in a stable environment, rendering the product stable, in this case for many years. But as per a conversation I had with the head chemist & CEO of Seachem many years ago, Safe does not contain any form of stabilizing agent, and his advice was that if one was pre-mixing water & Safe, that it should be used up within 30 days or so.

Got it. Thank you Neil. I think I over complicated it in my head. You already explained it right in the same sentence. My bad.

 

[RD.]

No worries, glad to help.

 

[dr exum]

anyone had any negative outcomes due to over dosing?

 

[RD.]

All reducing agents such as Prime, Safe, etc, have the potential to reduce 02 levels to unsafe levels if excessive amounts are used.