Seachem Purigen....

[Andrewz00]

any one out there using this stuff?

reading their site:

Purigen® is the highest capacity organic filtration resin on the market. No other products can compare to its ability to clear haziness and polish water to unparalleled clarity. Unlike other products on the market which are simple ion-exchange resins, Purigen® is specifically designed to be an organic scavenging resin. When ion-exchange resins are filled to capacity by metals and other contaminants, Purigen® has barely begun to reach its potential. Purigen® generally ignores simple elemental compounds, having an extreme affinity for nitrogenous organics. The primary source of nitrogenous compounds in an aquarium is waste. Fish, corals, even plants produce nitrogenous waste. Purigen® removes that waste faster and more completely than anything else on the market.

organic scavenging resin? extreme affinity for nitrogenous organics??

maybe im way lost on this.. but HUH? that doesnt sound good for plants, does it?

 

[neilanh]

Folks I know that use purigen are for SW only. Some folks swear by the stuff. Personnaly, I've never used it.

I never even considered using it on my planted tanks - not sure that would be such a good idea.

 

[pat8you]

I'm not 100% sure on this but i belive what the mean is that it is going to help lower your nitrates and reduce the excess nutrients and organic compounds in your water. I have very limited experience with FW and planted tanks since i'm a saltie but if i remember right the plants use the excess nitrates and nutrients. You may see reduced growth or even damage to your plants depending on your tank situation.

 

[Andrewz00]

thats exactly what i was thinking....

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I use it on both my planted tanks and they thrive. I use 500mL of the stuff in a Marineland C-360 on my 55 and 100mL in my 10g HOB.

I find it interesting that you wouldn't consider using it on your planted tank. I use it because almost everyone on The Planted Tank - Articles, Forums, Pictures, Links suggested that I use it.

It takes out excess dissolved organic matter and leaves the vast majority of trace nutrients alone, unlike carbon. Plus it's rechargeable, and I've done it many times (one time with catastrophic results, which turned into a study at Seachem and they changed their packaging and gave me a ton of free stuff for discovering the problem). It doesn't remove all organic matter by any means and me and many other planted tank guys swear by it. At one point, I was able to keep well over 150% fish stock (probably more like 200% at one point) and a tank full of plants and 50% PWC weekly and my nitrates wouldn't go above 40, and I never saw above 80 - even after going 2 weeks between PWCs. It's totally awesome stuff and good for any tank. (And I'm not a Seachem rep, although this is like the 3rd time today I've posted about Purigen...)

 

[pat8you]

I stand corrected. Good info. I wasn't sure exactly what it took out. What happened when you tried to recharge it and it was catastrophic?

 

[Andrewz00]

Floyd R Turbo... totally wasn't trying to call you out from your post on the "filter"thread..... just wanted some more info. hope you didn't mind.

and thanks for the clarification....

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

No, no worries...I kind of wondered if the posts were related...I kind of speed through on my break sometimes and don't look really close...

What happened to me was that I recharged the stuff per their directions (exactly) which involved:

1) 50/50 bleach/water solution for 24 hours
2) 50/50 Prime/Water solution for 4 hours (I think)
3) If using for FW tank, some mixture of Acid Buffer or Neutral Buffer for 4 hours
4) rinsing in between ("rinse well" or something generic like that)
5) put back in filter

I got up the next morning and my guppies were all dead and pH was well off the low end of the scale, <4.0. The problem was that they have you soak it in the buffer for FW, the idea being that you want a more neutral pH for FW, so you have to counter the bleach's high pH. Well the Acid Buffer leached out into the tank and blammo. That combined with the 'fact' that if it had been used on a 100g tank (100mL bag, 100 gallon) the effect would not have been magnified and probably not noticed. But they reproduced the 'experiment' and saw the same thing. They said they were going to change their packaging to suggest a thorough soak/rinse before re-introducing.

I reproduced it myself, recharged the bag, using the original instructions, and found that a 100mL bag after the recharging steps dumped the pH in a 5g bucket from 8.5 to 6 in just over 45 minutes, then I emptied and refilled and it did it again in about 90 minutes. Eventually it all leached out and it was fine and I continue to use it.

But I skip the Buffer step now. I do 50/50 bleach for 24 hours or so, then 50/50 prime for at least a day, rinsing with RO water inbetween, put it in a 5g bucket w/power head and run that for a day or so and change the water 2-3 times and it's ready to go.

I was rather surprised that it hadn't happened to anyone else. Then I found out that everyone on the planted tank site skipped the buffer step and just rinsed the heck out of it, and the buffer step is not used for SW.

 

[Fishguy2727]

If you had a planted tank with 50% water changes and still had 40ppm nitrate I don't think the purigen was doing much and the tank was extremely overstocked and/or overfed.

That said I do use it. I just set some up in a reactor on my reef tank. I have three reactors piggy backing. The first is carbon, the second GFO, the third is purigen. I would have to see some pretty thorough examples to believe it has a significant ability to reduce nitrate, but I do believe it could prove vital with DOC and long term subtle success. I believe that subtle chemicals and nitrition make the difference in the long run, and why so many fish die of 'old age' well before they ever should.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

It doesn't reduce nitrate, ammonia, or nitrite from what I understand. It absorbs dissolved organic matter before the nitrification process.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

It doesn't reduce nitrate, ammonia, or nitrite from what I understand. It absorbs dissolved organic matter before the nitrification process.

Bingo.

If you read Seachem's literature that comes with the stuff and on their site, they say this. Somehow, when the sellers of the stuff write up the description for their websites and catalogs, it suddenly becomes "REDUCES NITRATES!" which is misleading. People put it in there with 40ppm nitrates and get ticked off when they don't see it dropping down.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I never really saw it drop, but it just never really increased that much or taht fast. I had a stretch of several months where my nitrate didn't move much at all, stayed about 20-30 with 35-40% PWCs weekly and something like 40 fish (livebearers & community). Even now it doesn't ever go above 50. I just finished a recharge and put it back in yesterday after 50% PWC so I'll be interested to see what it test at tonight.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Nitrate should be as low as possible, ideally no more than 20ppm ever. Unless your tap water is above 20ppm you should keep the tank under 20ppm.

 

[Osage_Winter]

I am considering adding Purigen to my goldfish tank...does this stuff really keep the water almost transparent looking it's so clear?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

My tap water is between 5-10 ppm. I'd be doing 50% 2x a week to keep below 20.

It depends on the fish you keep too, some are more sensitive. But even SW FOWLR people say under 40-50 is ok.

I guess I don't know where the 20ppm rule originated, but for the most part, fish are OK above it.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I can't speak for others, but I've had it in my tank for 1.5 years and the only time it is cloudy is when I scrape the algae, then it's clear again in 5 minutes. 100% crystal clear. I also use a good canister and have lots of live plants, which helps I'm sure.

 

[Osage_Winter]

Thanks, Floyd.

Do you think it should work just as well with artificial plants?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

It works with any tank setup.

 

[MacMyers]

It works. The only problem is that if you don't buy it in the presealed packs it's difficult to contain and most filter bags can't be bleached. You have to buy "The Bag" from them and it's unwieldy and has a goofy reusable tie on the end. Always end up looking like Santa's Sack of Goodies instead of Filter Media.
First time I used it with the bag the LFS sold me I ended up with Purigen all over the tank.

 

[Andrewz00]

well so far so good.... im thinking i mad add this to my canister... Floyd, what canister are you using?