Purigen Problems?

[JohnRoscoe]

Background: I've long performed a weekly 4 gallon water change in my 16G tank, and have had excellent water quality consistently. A month ago I added a large piece of driftwood from LFS after boiling first. The small amount of tannins was getting old, though, so I purchased the small mesh bag of Purigen and added it to my HOB filter.

It's been 2 days and the Purigen worked; my water is chrystal clear again. Nothing new in the water tests, but both of my Brilliant Rasboras look very stressed. Rapid breathing, lethargic, not interested in eating.

I'm filling buckets from my RO for a water change now. Any chance the Purigen is responsible for the odd behavior of my Rasboras?




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[Kimbie]

I would take the purigen out and recharge it. That will give your fish 24+ hrs to recover if it is the purigen. If they don't perk up while the purigen is out, you may have a bigger problem.

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[Brookster123]

I would take the purigen out and recharge it. That will give your fish 24+ hrs to recover if it is the purigen. If they don't perk up while the purigen is out, you may have a bigger problem.

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Why recharge it?? I'm no expert on purigen but it may be the dw??

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[Kimbie]

When you first put it in, your tank is cleansed of all impurities, that will dirty the purigen quickly. Once you recharge after the first one, it will be longer between recharge (up to 6 for seachem brand)

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[Brookster123]

Im new to purigen so I don't know there. How dark was the water. Do you always use ro water for wc?

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[Kimbie]

I do not, I use Tap. I had very yellow water from tannins. Used purigen and it cleared up in 8 hrs. The white beads will turn Brown when they need to be recharged.

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[Brookster123]

I do not, I use Tap. I had very yellow water from tannins. Used purigen and it cleared up in 8 hrs. The white beads will turn Brown when they need to be recharged.

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Sorry, addressed to op

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[JohnRoscoe]

I do always use RO water for changes. We have it for drinking and I've always taken advantage of it for the aquarium. The Purigen doesn't show any discoloration, so I don't think need to recharge it.

I've done the water change since my original post and left the water level a bit lower so that the filter will splash more on entry and add more oxygen. Rasboras still not looking their best, we'll see how they do tonight.


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[Brookster123]

How long was the water stained? How dark was it??

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[JohnRoscoe]

The driftwood has been in a month, causing the staining. It was about as mild as you could get and still consider it stained. Tank was slightly dimmer and colors didn't pop, wife didn't even notice until the Purigen was introduced and water went back to sparkling clear as it was before driftwood.


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