Question about Purigen?

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squirrilah fish

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The packaging said to recharge it when it gets brownish/ black, but in your experience how long/often do you find yourself recharging it? Assume normal amount, normal water conditions/maintenance.
 
The packaging said to recharge it when it gets brownish/ black, but in your experience how long/often do you find yourself recharging it? Assume normal amount, normal water conditions/maintenance.


Depends completely on how 'dirty' your tank is.

Recharging purigen has very specific instructions. You NEED to follow these EXACTLY.

There was a thread a while back where the OP failed to follow the recharge instructions. They lost their fish
 
Depends completely on how 'dirty' your tank is.

Recharging purigen has very specific instructions. You NEED to follow these EXACTLY.

There was a thread a while back where the OP failed to follow the recharge instructions. They lost their fish


That's scary. I will make sure I do.

Really want I am wondering is how often do other Purigen users find themselves recharging it?
 
So it should last a while then, not going to have to recharge after like 2 weeks.
 
Definitely not. Unless you're using one of the 100mL bags on a 50g tank or something. The 100mL bag has lasted oh...at least three months on my overstocked 5g. Looks pretty dingy, but a large portion of the bag is still near the original white color.

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With average water conditions you should probably recharge every 1-2 months. Buy enough for two bags and keep one recharged and ready to use.
 
We'll see how long 500mL in a large canister lasts on my 65g going through its cycle.

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With average water conditions you should probably recharge every 1-2 months. Buy enough for two bags and keep one recharged and ready to use.


Ya I'm using it between 3 filters, and have one extra. I want to work out a schedule so I don't have to recharge all three at once, and can just kinda rotate them through. They all have more than the required amount, so we will see, I just started using it, been really happy so far. Checked my really overstocked. 55 yesterday and it was at 2-4ppm Nitrate. Last water change was like 5 days ago.
 
I found that the initial pouch of purigen didn't last that long. It took out all the impurities and the tank became crystal clear. The next pouch has lasted months longer.
I have decided that I don't want to recharge the pouch - I can't make myself associate bleach with aquariums. What I have done is buy a tub of purigen. When the pouch needed recharging I snipped off the end and removed the blackest area (it never seems to blacken evenly in my filter - probably just the way the water flows). I add a spoon of fresh purigen and use a 'clip it' to reseal it. This has been very effective and less costly than replacing the pouches. Obviously not as cheap as bleaching but I feel happier.
 
I tried recharging Purigen once... Followed the direction exactly, and at the end of the process it looked and smelled like new. I then put it into a ziplock bag to use the next day when I would clean my canister out. But, that next day, when I was going to use it, the outer layer of the purigen was dark black (it was brown before I recharged)... smelled like purigen was suppose to... but clearly I'm just a failure... and not sure what went wrong
 
Did you use plain bleach or some other variant with other additives? I've done that before and ruined a perfectly good filter material before...

Sent from my SM-T310 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
We'll see how long 500mL in a large canister lasts on my 65g going through its cycle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
500ml should last at least 6 months in a 65g, as long as you are not severely overstocked. Check it every 1-2 months and move the purigen around inside the bag. Bleaching it is not as scary as you think. As Sk3lly said, as long as you follow the instructions, you'll be fine. You also don't need to buffer it anymore. They changed this instruction about a year ago but there may still be packets out there with the old instruction on them. Check their website for the latest updates plus they have a FAQ and forum section there too.....
 
Did you use plain bleach or some other variant with other additives? I've done that before and ruined a perfectly good filter material before...

Sent from my SM-T310 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Yup, regular 6% Clorox like their forum suggest. It was just the outer Purigen bead layer, the inner beads were fine... suppose I could try to recharge it again, but I haven't really noticed much of a significant change with out it to really care.
 
Yup, regular 6% Clorox like their forum suggest. It was just the outer Purigen bead layer, the inner beads were fine... suppose I could try to recharge it again, but I haven't really noticed much of a significant change with out it to really care.


I've noticed a big difference in my tank since I added it. I'm still on my regular maintenance schedule, but it's keeping the Nitrates below 10ppm instead of 20. I'm really liking it so far.

Been about 5 weeks or so.
 
I found that the initial pouch of purigen didn't last that long. It took out all the impurities and the tank became crystal clear. The next pouch has lasted months longer.
I have decided that I don't want to recharge the pouch - I can't make myself associate bleach with aquariums. What I have done is buy a tub of purigen. When the pouch needed recharging I snipped off the end and removed the blackest area (it never seems to blacken evenly in my filter - probably just the way the water flows). I add a spoon of fresh purigen and use a 'clip it' to reseal it. This has been very effective and less costly than replacing the pouches. Obviously not as cheap as bleaching but I feel happier.

Keep in mind that bleach is by far the best cleaner for aquariums out there. It breaks down into completely harmless compounds within a few hours of being exposed to light as well as the open air. There aren't many other cleaners out there that will do that.

I personally bought a larger tub of purigen and made my own pouches out of a fine mesh brewing bag and hot glue. It cost me about $20 for 10 bags or so and is practically the same mesh as the purigen bags. I have enough to rotate between my dirty and clean ones for recharging.
 
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