seachem purigen

[illumnae]

i've read on shrimpnow that this can help to remove tannins in the water without altering the ph/kh, anyone have any experience with this? it seems that using this would give us the best of both worlds - crystal clear water with the use of peat/ketapang leaves

[illumnae]

sigh, bumping an ignored post once again

[mordrake]

used it for my ex-marine tank... worked well as claimed
for freshwater, a cheaper alternative would be normal charcoal

[illumnae]

quality charcoal that lasts long before "maxing out" would cost quite abit too though, and the cheaper one that needs to be replaced often would end up costing quite abit as well =)

i was thinking of using this to remove the brown colour from ketapang leaves which charcoal doesn't do 100%

[mordrake]

may be cheaper in the long run.
apparently, purigen can be re-juvenated by soaking in diluted bleach...

http://www.seachem.com/products/prod...s/Purigen.html

[Quixotic]

If you are not too concerned about the plants, then it would probably serve its purpose.

Purigen is said to remove ammonia/nitrite/nitrate much much more effectively than other media. I am unsure of the actual implications, but if they are THAT effective, then your plants might be starved of these nutrients. I guess it might not be as evident for folks keeping shrimps as plants are mostly moss, and moss don't need that much nutrients anyway.

Also do read the Purigen FAQ on the website regading the use of some slime coat products with Purigen. It is said that these products, if they are anime based, will cause Purigen to become toxic.

[illumnae]

thanks for the tips Quixotic. I'm intending to use the Purigen in my low tech 2ft apisto tank planted only with crypts, echi parvifluous "tropica" (both supplemented with root tabs) and peacock moss, so i think the lack of plant nutrients might not be a huge issue for me.

i've read the purigen faq and i'm abit concerned about the antichlorine i use as it's called "Stress Guard" by i think "Big Boy" or something like that (it's not the Seachem one) apparently 2x the recommended dosage helps to create an extra slime coat on the fish to destress them...i suspect it's what the faq is referring to. however, i figured that i could just buy a small bottle of Seachem Prime and to use that for just the Purigen tank.

alternatively, does anyone know of any product that would remove the brownish water caused by ketapang leaves?

[galactuz]

There's no other products tried and tested (at least known to me) to be able to remove the tanning from ketapang leaves or other material such as from driftwoods or even ADA Amazonia soil except for Purigen by Seachem.

Purigen works by adsorption i.e. acting as a magnet attracting unwanted particles and/or organics to stick on the media. That is why it is "rechargeable"/recycled but not perpetually.

[wynx]

Let me share what happened to my case. After 1 month of frustration of super cloudy water that started after I uprooted all vallisneria from my Aqua Soil Tank, the tank cloudiness is incredible. It is almost like mud water! No kidding!

I tried large water change with super low flow, minimize water flow, etc..changing filter media...oh well, nothing seems to help

So, then my research lead me to 2 things, UV and Seachem Purigen.I am not very willingly to try those since they tend to have some effects of the bio chemistry of the tank.
I have not started on UV lights since I have exactly got the right hose to pipe water into the sterilizer. I worked on the purigen, 250ml all into my top layer of 2028 into a very small bag.

1st day not visible results...2nd day some 36 hours later, the clarity is returning. My wife message me to relay the good news!

On the 3rd day, the clarity is still improving. I am astounded. I can't wait till the whole tank goes crystal clear.

anyway, anyone want to share their experiences as well? Like how many days did it take to clear the tank with purigen and what is the effect of the purigen in the planted tank affecting KNO3? If it actually suck up nitrates, I reckon I can load it up by adding more fishes or dosing seachem Flourish Nitrogen or something to bring up the KNO3 level.

Any thoughtS?

[illumnae]

Glad to hear your tank is recovering wynx

I've done some research since my initial post here. It seems Seachem purigen does not remove nitrates. Instead, it reduces ammonia, which in the long run leads to less nitrate. However, if you add nitrate in as KNO3, it will not be "sucked up" by the purigen. Plantedtank forum users are heavy proponents of purigen, and they are users of EI as well. The results that they share mirror yours, and this includes removing tannins and not just cloudiness.

[wynx]

Well, it is too early to say about the recovery part, since I really didn't want to add chemical stuff into my tank's system cos I really don't know what will change.

Anyway, I read from website that with lower nitrates, fishes like discuses will be happier. Not sure if it is true or not.

It was a last resort thingie. Anyhow, I will keep you guys posted.

As it stands, there might be a need for me to alter my fert regime. We will see what happens

[tonicwater]

I am using it in my 4ft african cichlids for the lat 1 yr or so. True to it's words, it is able to clear up the water very fast (my cloudy 4ft tank is crystal clear the next morning after I put in purigen at the previous night).

I had used server other sort of water/fish treatment/condition stuff from other brands and seems to be ok with purigen.

[illumnae]

I forgot to share my experience with it. I used it to clear up cloudiness/tannins in a newly set up tank. I did a hodgepodge base fert (JBL Aquabasis + lots of peat) so my water stained alot. The purigen took some time, but eventually after a week it cleared the tank up. I used 1/2 bottle in each of my 2028s.

As stated earlier, I don't think nitrates are affected by the purigen per se. It soaks up ammonia, which leads to less nitrates being formed eventually. However, if you dose nitrates direct, it is not affected by purigen.

As my peat leeched into the water during a recent rescape, my water is starting to look like pee again. I may invest in another bottle of purigen (was lazy to recharge, so I threw away the last bottle after it worked)

[mordrake]

for my ex-6ft, i used onyx sand so pH was a tad high for my liking.
to lower it, i used more than 2 kg of peat, loads of wood as well as blackwater extract. needless to say the water quickly turned tea-ish. quickly put in a bag of purigen and wala, crystal clear water after a few days

[Shadow]

how about your ph? after the water change to clear does the pH clib back to original value before you adding 2kg of peat?

[wynx]

how about your ph? after the water change to clear does the pH clib back to original value before you adding 2kg of peat?

Not sure about others. But my pH was pretty much constant after these few days of purigen.

[khtee]

must we put the purigen in a cannister filter? Just throw them with a bag into the tank can work?

[wynx]

must we put the purigen in a cannister filter? Just throw them with a bag into the tank can work?

Based on my research, it works when you have water passing thru them. Dumping them in the tank won't work or won't work as well.

It is supposed to polish water as it passes thru the filter. Hope this helps.

[celticfish]

The Purigen media is really really tiny.
So tiny they drop through the mesh bags you get from the LFS.
What do you guys use to hold the Purigen?
Cheese cloth?

[khtee]

The Purigen media is really really tiny.
So tiny they drop through the mesh bags you get from the LFS.
What do you guys use to hold the Purigen?
Cheese cloth?

I hear say some of the brothers here use women's stocking...... 3 layers.