Purigen refresh?

[jweis]

My bag of Purigen has turned a latte color and I am thinking I should refresh it. I've read I can soak it in bleach. What do I after that? It seems the bleach would leech out into the aquarium water....?

[londonloco]

then soak it in prime overnight....24 hours later sniff, if it doesn't smell like bleach, mine goes back in the sump

[jweis]

then soak it in prime overnight....24 hours later sniff, if it doesn't smell like bleach, mine goes back in the sump

Thanks for the tip. I ordered Prime on Amazon and it will be here in 2 days.

[Jeff120]

Any dechlornator will work fine, you dont need Prime.
I then soak mine in H2O for 24hrs. Seachem recommends soaking in an alkaline buffer.

[jweis]

Any dechlornator will work fine, you dont need Prime.
I then soak mine in H2O for 24hrs. Seachem recommends soaking in an alkaline buffer.

Since I have well water, I didn't have any dechlornator. I'll soak the Purigen in bleach tonight, then let it set in Prime the next day/night, then soak in water for a couple of days.

I LOVE Amazon Prime. I can quickly order the items and they get to my house with free shipping in two days. It takes me longer than that to fit in a trip to the store.

[DelawareJim]

Why do people use Purigen anyway?

From What I remember from the product description, it's supposed to remove ammonia, and its nitrogen byproducts which would be used by the plants. Doesn't a periodic water change do the same thing? And why collect your fertilizer from the water column and then flush it when recharging the Purigen?

It always reminds me of those homeowners who buy lawn fertilizer then bag the grass clippings and throw them away. Why not just save yourself the work mowing and throw the fertilizer in the trash. You're doing the same thing.

Cheers.
Jim

[150EH]

I never used a dechlorinator, I would rinse it well, let it dry so all the chlorine would evaprate and add a final rinse before putting it back in my filter, I never had a problem.

[jweis]

I'm just super paranoid because of my shrimp. I don't want to kill them.

[takadi]

Jim, from what I've read and heard, purigen is simply an organic water column polisher, so it doesn't remove inorganics like ammonia and other nitrogen compounds. I believe the bleach "recharge" wouldn't work if it were an ion exchange type thing that absorbs inorganics.

[sfarkhan]

I've used Purigen in my pervious filter and two in the current one. Purigen helps control ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. It also doesn't strip the water of trace elements which, from what I understand, carbon does to some extent. I imagine that has an affect on ferts.

It also polishes the water. The first day I had tea tint from the driftwood, by that afternoon, it was gone.

I use it in place of carbon because it can be recharged and lasts longer (about 3-4 months on the previous tank) between recharges so it's a lot cheaper than buying carbon.