Bottom line: no need to worry.
Prime, like any de-chlorinator (they all use sodium thiosulfate) removes chlorine, which is what water companies used to use, but it does not bind nitrogen products, such as nitrates, or the heavy metals that our plants use. However, water companies found that adding ammonia to the chlorine (creating chloramine) was more effective than just chlorine. So, if you have chlorine, only (I don’t think many water companies do this anymore), you can use a de-chloinator containing only sodium thiosulfate (if they still exist), and nothing will be bound (binding is not bad, read on).
The problem came when water companies started using chloramine. The sodium thiosulfate removes the chlorine, but leaves behind the ammonia, which is bad for our animals. So, Seachem (and others) started adding chemicals that bind the ammonia, but it also binds the downstream products such as nitrite and nitrate, as well as many of the plant-used heavy metals.
The important part of this is that, while the sodium thiosulfate removes the chlorine (it’s gone), the additional chemicals only temporarily bind the nitrates and metals, and even in this bound form they are still available to our plants and BB. Then, about 48 hours later, they are all released from the bound form. By binding the ammonia (keeping it away from our animals) for a couple days, it allows the BB to convert that bound ammonia into nitrate.
Incidentally, an RO system that has an AC pre-filter will also remove most of the chlorine (nearly 100%).
Prime, like any de-chlorinator (they all use sodium thiosulfate) removes chlorine, which is what water companies used to use, but it does not bind nitrogen products, such as nitrates, or the heavy metals that our plants use. However, water companies found that adding ammonia to the chlorine (creating chloramine) was more effective than just chlorine. So, if you have chlorine, only (I don’t think many water companies do this anymore), you can use a de-chloinator containing only sodium thiosulfate (if they still exist), and nothing will be bound (binding is not bad, read on).
The problem came when water companies started using chloramine. The sodium thiosulfate removes the chlorine, but leaves behind the ammonia, which is bad for our animals. So, Seachem (and others) started adding chemicals that bind the ammonia, but it also binds the downstream products such as nitrite and nitrate, as well as many of the plant-used heavy metals.
The important part of this is that, while the sodium thiosulfate removes the chlorine (it’s gone), the additional chemicals only temporarily bind the nitrates and metals, and even in this bound form they are still available to our plants and BB. Then, about 48 hours later, they are all released from the bound form. By binding the ammonia (keeping it away from our animals) for a couple days, it allows the BB to convert that bound ammonia into nitrate.
Incidentally, an RO system that has an AC pre-filter will also remove most of the chlorine (nearly 100%).
