Warning to everyone using Seachem Purigen and Regen

[Unknownfuture]

I’ll keep it brief. I’ve been recharging this stuff for awhile with no apparent issues to note until two days ago. Regen followed as normal I even done an extra soak. PH neutralised to tank water specs. Confirmed on ph tests. No chlorine detected. No smell on bags. Placed the bags in and went out for Father’s Day. I checked the fish cam and realised a normally reclusive discus shooting across the tank. Two and two together I knew it was the bags of purigen. Rushed home took the fish into spare tank and done a complete water change on main tank and got rid of those culprit purigen bags. I lost 6 Sterbai corydoras, 15 tetra and 2 electric blue rams. It’s still early days but the discus seem to be back to eating. Some still a bit ropey. Definitely stressed to hell due to the toxic shock.
I shout out to everyone doing the regens it’s not worth it for that one time ! Please be careful and even if you have been doing it for ages it can go wrong just that once ! I will never be putting anything I soaked in any form of detergent in my tank again. Even if I’m sure it’s clean. If I use purigen again in the future I will just dispose after exhausted. To be fair, fine filter socks and regular water changes I can’t see much difference as to when I used purigen so I guess I’ll stick without it.

 

[Dephea]

I'm sorry to see you lost your fish.

I bought Purigen it recently and was planning to use it this weekend, I did read about it and seems like the main reason why fish die is when people cleaned it in a wrong kind of bleach. Now bear in mind I did not clean mine yet so I can't comment but just wondering if maybe you used a different bleach this time? If all tests came out clear I would consider if there was something else killing the fish

 

[Unknownfuture]

I'm sorry to see you lost your fish.

I bought Purigen it recently and was planning to use it this weekend, I did read about it and seems like the main reason why fish die is when people cleaned it in a wrong kind of bleach. Now bear in mind I did not clean mine yet so I can't comment but just wondering if maybe you used a different bleach this time? If all tests came out clear I would consider if there was something else killing the fish

Same bleach. 15% diluted down to 7.5% thin no added extras. It’s blown me away into never trying it again. If I would have lost all my discus I would have been mortified. Nothing else has been added to the tank. Confused as hell. The only thing I can do is cut out Regen and just buy new stuff if I want to use it. Most of the discus are eating now. The breeding pair haven’t touched much yet but to be fair their behaviour has been like this since day one.

 

[Dephea]

I'm kind of tempted to - if I end up using it - just buy a new bag every time I need it. Don't think I will want to deal with bleach and risk losing my fish

 

[Unknownfuture]

I'm kind of tempted to - if I end up using it - just buy a new bag every time I need it. Don't think I will want to deal with bleach and risk losing my fish

It’s not worth it. You only have to experience it. A hard lesson. The discus thank god are all good. The pair I have have just spawned again back to normal.

 

[Boundava]

I had this happen to me once when I recharged the Purigen. I find I don't need a chemical media anymore in my filters so I stopped using it. I can see where you would need something like this for discus though.

 

[Slaphppy7]

IMO, stuff like this isn't needed in tanks, with regular WC's and filter (not media) cleanings, in hot tap water.

Thanks to the OP for sharing this experience, though I am sorry for your loss of fish....sometimes we learn things the hard way in this hobby.

 

[Unknownfuture]

So true. Water changes is the only way. If your bothered about clarity. UV + fine filter wool/floss thicker the better + very fine micron filter socks before return pump. Swap socks every couple of days. Water change 3 times a week 50% at present and fish thank me for it. I’d love to have the time to do 25% a day but work doesn’t permit. 220 gallons takes a while to change.

 

[Slaphppy7]

220G?

I don't envy your WC days, lol.....is that the tank size, or the amount of water you change?

I'd like to see pics of this big tank...

 

[Unknownfuture]

207 imperial Gallons
249 US Gallons
Was a shop bought unit so everything includes - although I’ve added the UV unit + CO2 for when I want to take plants seriously
Always quote a gallon number in between as many aquarists tend to be from the states

 

[Slaphppy7]

Very nice...

 

[Dephea]

Ahhhh this is gorgeous!

 

[Unknownfuture]

Thanks - Work in progress hope to master submerged amazon swords should set the tank off.

 

[BluewaterBoof]

That’s awful what happened to your fish. I’m so sorry you lost your cories, tetras, and rams.

I don’t use Purigen anymore so I’m not here to advocate for its use, but I’m just curious as to how it was the Purigen that nuked your tank. You said you verified chemically that there was no chlorine left on the Purigen and it did not smell. If those verifications were correct then any residual amount left over would be negligible. I don’t see how that could have polluted such a large tank so badly that it killed off all those fish.

Could there have been anything else that was changed during that period that could have been the culprit? Did you check your other parameters for spikes in anything before doing the water changes? Im just concerned of the possibility that something else contributed and may repeat itself in the future.

When you regen your Purigen do you soak in Prime/Safe so that it neutralizes the chlorine?

 

[Unknownfuture]

I basically tripled the procedure as anything with bleach and live things has always freaked me out.
The prime procedure I done a number of times and then finally a buffer to get it in line with Tank PH.
I’m at a loss. everything else was in check. Removed the bags water change and back to normal. Unless some sort of contaminant got in the water somehow or a dodger batch of purigen. I’ve racked my brains and the only way I’m going to find out is to never Regen the stuff if I use again. It was clearly some sort of chemical shock. My red checkerboard discus was all over the place panicking. Corydoras took the hit first. I just wish I was home at the time as I could have saved them all.

i Try to understand everything especially in a hobby such as this but I’m truly stumbled. These things test us every now and again. A couple of years back in a smaller tank I had some cichlids, water change time, tap water. Some generic chlorine binder and conditioner. Within 20 mins all dead. A few months later I find out water company had used some chemicals to flush pipes due to some issue they had. I found out from a friend. They lost fish that day too. Can’t trust anything