Purigen refresh?

[150EH]

I hadn't used it in a long time but lately some folks at TPT were singing the praises of Purigen so I dropped a 100 ml bag in my canister on my high tech 150 and it seemed nice at first with a little extra water clarity but after 10 days or so my tank has gotten out of balance with green dust type algae collecting quickly on the glass and everything else seems to be getting dirty too. I'm not 100% sure if it the Purigen but that's my only change so I'm going to pull it out tomorrow, so it's got to be stripping some essential nutrient from the water and that was my exact argument at TPT because Seachem's site doesn't recommend it for a planted tank and only for Discus and Cichlid I believe.

I can see using it in a shrimp tank that is low tech to keep any unwanted build up of ammonia or nitrites but I'm not so happy with the planted tank.

I was wondering how many members here use it and on what type of tank?

[londonloco]

I use it on my Tangy 125g which is moderately planted with low light plants. Of course, I use it on my 20g long reef. I'm thinking of adding it to my lightly planted newly set up mbuna tank. Every tank in this house gets gda on glass, specifically where the power heads flow hits the glass. I just scrape it off once a week during wc's, never gets bad enough to bug me. I can't imagine the purigen being the culprit, but what do I know, could be!

[150EH]

I have no idea either but it's the only thing different and I'm talking every other day on the glass cleaning and before it was every week and two weeks if I am being lazy. But like you said what do I know it could very well be something else but thanks for your reply, I'm so courious but so far most people love it.

[JLW]

My pet peeve with it is that it is so incredibly fine. I can't find a mesh bag to put it into that'll hold it, and for service tanks, I can't use nylons.

I always have it leak out when I use it. I wish they'd make the particles a little bigger. . . I know, not as efficient, but, still....

[Jim Miller]

Google "The Bag" by Seachem. It's made for Purgen, etc.

jim

[Aaron]

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.

Right. That's why I've used it. It keeps the water super clear by removing the organics in the water column. It's true that those organics are eventually broken down into useful nutrients like nitrogen, however, in my experience that same process seems to lead to algae problems. The less organics in the water column, the better. Also, having super clear water makes for excellent penetration of the lights and a more pleasant viewing experience.

[jweis]

Google "The Bag" by Seachem. It's made for Purgen, etc.

jim

Yep, you need "The Bag". It isn't cheap, but it works well.

[Aaron]

Google "The Bag" by Seachem. It's made for Purgen, etc.

jim

Yep, you need "The Bag". It isn't cheap, but it works well.

I've always just used the pre-bagged purigen. Of course, they wouldn't work in a smaller filter well though.