Purigen Any Affects/downside

[clivealive]

hi,
iam gonna get some purigen and was wondering if there is a downside or anything.
does if affect medicines or anything etc.
gonna get 100ml for 200L tank
 
regards
 
Clive

 

[fluttermoth]

It will strip a lot of stuff out of the water, so you have to take it out if you need to medicate.

I believe it will also remove plant fertilisers as well.

Why do you want to use it anyway? It's not really necessary in most set ups.

 

[DrRob]

I believe it will also remove plant fertilisers as well.

 
Doesn't seem to.
 
It can reduce availability of ammonia and a few other things, and therefore parts of the nitrogenous fertilisers, but it's by a process of removing organics that can be broken down into that process.

 

[elmo666]

Purigen is a curious product. As said it removes organic compounds, so in theory is capable of absorbing anything that occurs naturally in the aquarium. Tannins, acids, nitrogenous waste(does not remove nitrate) and so on. It does remove medications, nice thing is tho it can't dump what its absorbed without going through the recharging process. I've contacted Seachem support a few times over this product for different reasons, and yes it with remove some of the compounds found in ferts. I must say when I first added it the clarity after a day or two was brilliant. I'm torn between keeping it going in my external, or using peat and Blackwater extract for my discus tank. Not that its anything to do with this thread but I'm battling bba and hair algae in a new setup so I'm a little distracted from that at the moment. Ran the question past Seachem, they recommend the Purigen of course. Downside is cost.... I paid £50 for it with the media bag.

 

[DrRob]

The other downside is that some have had trouble with recharging it. Anecdotally it's been due to the water used in the recharging process, and I have access to RO....so have had no trouble.

 

[clivealive]

i want it to remove my nitrate tbo and clear the water is a bonus.

 

[elmo666]

Well, Purigen won't remove nitrate directly, but does deal with nitrogenous waste. I'm not entirely sure how much of that converts/contributes to nitrate. As for the recharge, Seachem now recommend a 1:1 mix of bleach and water, with 6% bleach being the best to use. I've switched to this method, and use a 1:1 dechlorinator mix to neutralize the bleach. Purigen comes out sparkling clean. Incidentally, make sure the dechlorinator is just the plain old stuff with no stress coat or other additives, it reduces the purigens effectiveness.

 

[clivealive]

i have read the purigen and nutrafin aqua plus shouldnt be used together as it could make the purigen toxic.
i have my last lot of aqua plus to use up (2 -3 months supply) and i have some prime to try for the future.
so will order my purigen soon but wait until the aqua has gone.
 
what dechlorinator do u use?
 
question: ref use a 1:1 dechlorinator mix to neutralize the bleach.   wont that be an awful lot of dechlorinator
 
 
also bleach i saw was 99.9 % i think  hmmm or is that the germs it kills lol

 

[fluttermoth]

What levels of nitrate do you have, in the tank and in your tap water?

 

[clivealive]

around 30 ppm in tap water  about 50-60 in tank.

 

[elmo666]

Sorry guys, should proof read, should have said 5:1. Seachem recommend 30ml of prime to 240ml water. I use the 5:1 mix through personal preference. Once recharged I rinse for half an hour, then use the dechlorinator mix. Only for this I use wilkos dechlorinator, I get 3 recharges out of a bottle. Once soaked for 8 hrs, giving it a good stir every now and again, then a good half rinse again before returning to the filter.

 

[elmo666]

Well, made the decision tonight. Did an hours cleaning in the tank, trying to take out as much bba and hair algae as possible. It's really getting me down, spent over £150 on plants when setting it up, looked a picture. Did take 6 hours to aqua scape, most of that fixing various anubias and ferns to a lovely 2' long piece of bogwood. Tbh looks a mess now. Taken out the purigen, added peat to the filters, and Blackwater extract added. That was my original plan when setting it up, but was torn between that and sticking with the purigen. We'll see how things go.......

 

[clivealive]

yes bba is a pain in the ****    i cleaned some plastic plants but rocks and ornaments are a nightmare.

 

[elmo666]

Well, mine must be a strange strain, not on anything but my plants. Spiteful stuff must know how much they cost me lol

 

[clivealive]

get some kissing gourami's