Purigen?

[mrg02d]

Hello all,
I have a 20 gallon nano. I was wondering whether or not it would be worthwhile to run purigen in my tank? Right now I have 20lbs of live rock, 30lbs of sand, and a AquaClear 50 HOB filter. My water looks clear, but has a lot of fine particulate matter floating around. Would it be worth changing out the carbon in the AquaClear 50 for some Purigen instead?

I do weekly water changes of 15%. My water parameters are constant at:
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10-20ppm (hard to distinguish with API filter)
Phosphate:0
Alkalinity: 10dKH
Calcium: 360ppm ( I will begin dosing with calcium tomorrow)
Thanks,
Matt

[mandarinlove]

Hi there!

I have a 29 bio cube and I use it along with chemi pure. Purigen lasts forever and it helps control your nitrates and keeps ammonia down, although you really should never have ammonia issues again as long as your tank is cycled. I would use it especially with your nitrates being a little high....

My water is really clear. Just use some sort of filter pad to put over it so the water hits that first, then the purigen.
Good luck!

[mrg02d]

Hello,
My tank fully cycled about 1.5 months ago. The only thing that is high are the nitrates. I added purigen last night to the AquaClear 50 power filter. How long should I wait to measure nitrates to see if the purigen is making any difference?
Matt

[CaptainAhab]

Purigen doesn't remove nitrates, it removes the organics before they can be converted into nitrates.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by CaptainAhab

Purigen doesn't remove nitrates, it removes the organics before they can be converted into nitrates.

Took the words out of my mouth. Purigen is a great product, in my opinion, but it doesn't act as a "nitrate sponge". It doesn't last forever, but it can be regenerated many times over using common household bleach and a chlorine remover. Get a couple bags and cycle them in/out every month or so.

At this point, water changes are the easiest/best way to reduce nitrates.

[mrg02d]

So Purigen can be a cheap alternative to a protein skimmer maybe?

Anyways, It DOES appear to be lowering my nitrates! Before adding the purigen two days ago, I tested at a solid 20ppm (the highest since cycling two months ago). Today, its down to the 5-10ppm range. (Both 5 and 10ppm look alike). I dont know what else could have done this? It was a solid orange and now is a solid yellow. (Just not the super light yellow that signifies zero nitrates.)

I have not done any PWCs since adding the purigen. No skimmer.
Matt

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by mrg02d

So Purigen can be a cheap alternative to a protein skimmer maybe?

Uhhhh.... no. The cheapest alternative would be no protein skimmer. It's really not that much different than running carbon - it's just that you can regenerate it.

Anyways, It DOES appear to be lowering my nitrates! Before adding the purigen two days ago, I tested at a solid 20ppm (the highest since cycling two months ago). Today, its down to the 5-10ppm range. (Both 5 and 10ppm look alike). I dont know what else could have done this? It was a solid orange and now is a solid yellow. (Just not the super light yellow that signifies zero nitrates.)

I have not done any PWCs since adding the purigen. No skimmer.
Matt

Not doubting your test results, but I'm pretty darn sure it wasn't the Purigen. I've had those API nitrate kits test funky on me - showing nitrates when there really wasn't any there. Could be that. But if you read the Seachem technical info on their website and on the box, in good ol' fashioned marketing-speak, they even tell you it doesn't actually remove nitrates themselves...

"Purigen controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds."

I've seen some websites that sell it claim that it removes nitrates, but I don't believe Seachem themselves have ever made that claim.