Seachem is a big name in the aquarium business. Their suite of products helps aquarists tailor their ecosystems to exacting standards. From chemical and biological filtration to fine-tuning your water chemistry, there’s a Seachem product that helps you meet your needs!
Seachem Prime Conditioner
Seachem Prime is one of the most advanced water conditioners on the market and combines dechlorination and heavy metal neutralizing with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate detoxification! Prime even stimulates healthy fish slime coat production so they have a proper barrier to opportunistic infections.
An interesting aspect of Seachem Prime is that it detoxifies rather than outright removes ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Thus you may get a “false positive” when performing a test because technically the chemicals are still there.
They’ve simply been bound by Seachem Prime and are unable to interact biologically with aquarium fish and plants. Eventually the compounds are either taken up by nitrifying bacteria or removed once you perform a water change.
Pros of Seachem Prime:
- Multifunctional – dechlorinates, neutralizes heavy metals, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate
- Stimulates healthy fish slime coat
- Works instantly when refilling during a water change
Of all the products here Seachem Prime is the one I’d want on hand at all times when doing aquarium maintenance. It rolls several functions into a single bottle yet is entirely safe for regular use.
Seachem Stability
Typically, cycling an aquarium is a process that can take weeks to months. However Seachem expedites this thanks to their Stability product, which contains all of the beneficial cycling bacteria needed to jump-start your ecosystem.
Seachem Stability is meant to eliminate the chances of New Tank Syndrome occurring, which is caused by ammonia/nitrite toxicity in an uncycled tank.
Ideally you’ll be using this product along with a proper colonization media like Seachem Matrix. The bacteria will seed the media over the course of a week and your aquarium can be considered fully cycled!
Unlike some other products the bacteria within Seachem Stability are in spore form. In this state they require neither food nor refrigeration until activated by entering the water. You’ll need to already have fish (or be performing a fishless cycle) for the bacteria to feed and cycle the aquarium!
Pros of Seachem Stability:
- Guarantees a wide variety of beneficial bacteria
- Fully cycles your aquarium in a week
- Allows you reach full aquarium carrying capacity faster and with no animal stress
Since the usual method of adding a single fish per week is so slow I always use bacterial additives to reliably jump-start the process!
Seachem Purigen Ultimate Filtration
Of all the various functions water changes provide, removing organic waste buildup is primary. This means not only leftover poop and traces of organic matter but ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate residues.
Seachem Purigen is a revolutionary product – a resin that has a high affinity for nitrogen-containing molecules. Since in the aquarium these are usually free-floating proteins and the remnants of the ammonia cycle, these problematic compounds are absorbed by the resin as it floats by.
Free floating essential minerals like salt and potassium go unabsorbed as they contain no nitrogen. Since it’s not an ion-exchange resin like most of the competitor brands Purigen won’t get clogged by these innocuous ions.
Over time, the media darkens as molecules build up. When that happens Purigen can be recharged using a 1:1 bleach to water mixture, followed by dechlorination following Seachem’s instructions.
Pros of Seachem Purigen:
- Resin agent has high affinity for problem molecules but not beneficial/harmless ones
- Porous structure for higher surface area
- Reusable once fully loaded
Seachem Purigen is a reusable replacement for standard activated carbon/charcoal media and should take its place in a filter bag!
Seachem Matrix High Capacity Biofiltration
Seachem Matrix is an optimal substrate for beneficial nitrifying bacteria. According to Seachem each liter has a surface area of roughly 700 m2, which is an astounding area for a load of pellets around 10mm in diameter each!
The pores are sized so all of the bacteria that manage the Nitrogen Cycle are present, from ammonia down to nitrate! And as an inert substrate Seachem Matrix never needs to be replaced or recharged.
Pros of Seachem Matrix:
- Abundant surface area for bacterial colonies
- Does not decay or break down
- Can be used with most types of filtration
Some ceramic filter media offer similar surface area but don’t provide the tailored pore size of Seachem Matrix. However for canister filters with especially fast flow, you might be better served with ceramic cylinders with holes for better water flow throughout the media.
Seachem Equilibrium Mineral Balance & GH Water Treatment
Seachem Equilibrium is a specialty product meant to remineralize water that’s been treated for planted aquascapes, Caridina shrimp tanks, and other freshwater systems requiring exacting chemistry.
Many hardness additions also add KH (carbonate hardness) – together they affect both the pH and the CO2 carrying capacity of the water in negative ways. Seachem Equilibrium affects purely the GH content, adding potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese to the system.
Be sure to measure your GH first before adding Seachem Equilibrium and only add more post-water changes. Like all dissolved metals the elements of Seachem Equilibrium don’t disappear as water evaporates; they grow more concentrated instead.
Pros of Seachem Equilibrium:
- Provides essential minerals for plants, invertebrates, and fish without carbonates, salts, or phosphates.
- Doesn’t evaporate out and comes in quantities that can last years at a time.
While it’s not a product for everybody I highly recommend Seachem Equilibrium if you keep species in need of GH control like shrimp and freshwater plants.
Seachem Flourish Planted Aquarium Supplement
Seachem Flourish provides iron, calcium, and other essential nutrients for plants in concentrations ideal for update. Other brands tend to provide everything, including nitrogen and potassium, all in a single blend.
However, according to Seachem, this is suboptimal and can lead to overdoses of micronutrients despite good macronutrient levels.
Seachem actually makes several planted aquarium supplements and navigating the selection can be a bit confusing at first. In addition to Flourish they offer Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium-specific blends. Seachem Trace specializes in tiny doses of elements like Boron and Vanadium. And Seachem Flourish Advance provides phytohormones that boost plant growth.
However for aquascapers looking for the widest selection of available nutrients, Flourish is the product you want to be using. Seachem even provides a product reference chart for which product is best as well as a Planted Aquarium Dosing Schedule!
Pros of Seachem Flourish:
- Provides a balanced blend of micro and macronutrients
- Phosphorus content is too low to spur algal growth
- Pairs perfectly with their Flourish: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium products
You may want to also use Seachem Flourish Tabs if your aquatic plants are heavy root feeders like many carpeting plants. However as an open water fertilizer Seachem Flourish has no equal!
Seachem Flourite Planted Aquarium Natural Substrate
Clay gravels are some of the best planted aquarium substrates you can buy for an aquascape. They have a high cation exchange capacity (CEC) which allows them to absorb and retain beneficial compounds from the water column (such as Seachem Flourish). This way nutrients aren’t lost so easily to the filter and plant roots can eventually uptake these nutrients.
Seachem Flourite comes in both red and black, adding color contrast to the green of healthy plant growth. It has no effect on water chemistry but does cause some initial cloudiness that quickly fades within a few days.
Unlike some clay-based substrates Seachem Flourite won’t soften or lose its form over time. Nor does it lose its CEC – Seachem Flourite is good for the lifespan of your aquarium!
Pros of Seachem Flourite:
- Latches onto free-floating nutrients for plants to uptake via roots
- Good for the lifespan of your aquarium
- Naturally and attractively colored
While it’s mostly nutrient-free Seachem Flourite does provide small amounts of iron as well. As a stable sponge for plant nutrients that encourages strong root growth Seachem Flourite is hard to match!
