Purigen Fluidised Reactor

[Cpiman]

Here is my Latest Project. I wanted to find a better use for my Magnum 350 Canister filter other then using the micron filter. I have used Purigen in the past in the bag but it never worked the way I wanted it to. So i got on the inter-web and started looking around for some ideas. I didn't want to get a true reactor i was trying to keep my costs down. I had seen some people use there magnum with 4 bags in it and it seemed to work well but I wanted it to work a little better with moving around the Purigen. So here is the idea I came up with.


First, I attached a hose on the suction side of lid. I used a 1/2 hose for this.
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I did this by turning the deflector off to the side
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Then I took a Purigen bag and cut out the bottom to attach to the filter to keep the Purigen from getting in the micron filter. I used zip-ties to secure the ends and left extra on the bottom.
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Here is the assybeld filter. As you can see i have the hose with a curve to create a swirly effect to keep it off the bottom.
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Here is a video showing how it works.

https://youtu.be/hLG5pSgEx0U

[rickztahone]

I really love DIY projects. I will say this however, it does seem like that purigen is tumbling too hard. Normally what I see in these type of reactors is slow tumbles. TFS

[Cpiman]

I really love DIY projects. I will say this however, it does seem like that purigen is tumbling too hard. Normally what I see in these type of reactors is slow tumbles. TFS

I can slow it down if needed. I will play with the intake flow a bit.

[Tshethar]

Looks promising! I, too, love this kind of stuff, and also recently added a Purigen reactor (for the first time) to a setup after watching some DIY videos of others' designs. I went with the Phosban 550 approach, which seems to be mostly good, though struggles a little to diffuse water evenly, though probably because I have a ton of Purigen in it. One of these days I may put something up about that design. It's similar to others you'll see on the web but, like you, I used an old Seachem "The Bag" I had to cut material to better contain the media.

Personally, I'm not sure that the extra agitation of media is a problem, though it does make me wonder if there is some ideal "contact time" or the like that would make this stuff work at peak efficiency. So long as it isn't clumped together (as it usually is when sitting in a bag in a filter), then I would think it should do fine. Main problem I watch out for with too much flow is the possibility with my design of blowing the stuff out of the reactor and into the tank. Just in case, I have an extra, leftover small 100mg bag zip-tied to my output at the top of the tank to catch anything that might escape.

The one thing that seems extra important in your design would be the prefilter. I have mine after an Eheim canister, which is itself after a sponge prefilter, so that the media doesn't clog quickly. If you have something there then your micron cartridge and Purigen should be able to go for a while without needing a recharge. Seems like a nice mod for a magnum to me! Let us know how it holds up after you use it for a while. :thumbsup:

[Cpiman]

I was also worried about the amount of flow but I figured as long as it is supended it will also work just as good. The flow will normally slow after a few days as the filter starts to get dirty.

I like the pre-filter idea. I also use a cascade 1500 and a 1000 on the same tank. I wonder if I could take the output of the 1000 and pipe it right into the intake of the magnum? Or I could use a sponge pre-filter and wash that daily....

[Driftwood Mike]

Great idea! How much purigen are you using in your set up

[Cpiman]

Great idea! How much purigen are you using in your set up
I'm using 500 ml in there.

[Jack L]

I really love DIY projects. I will say this however, it does seem like that purigen is tumbling too hard. Normally what I see in these type of reactors is slow tumbles. TFS

why would it matter the how fast it moves? it just needs to be in contact with water..right?

i just put my purigen packs in sump, no agitation at all and the material seemed to absorb evenly.

[Cpiman]

I think that having it always moving uses the full contact surface of the be beads. What I have seen in the past when in the bags that the outside layer would be dark brown but the inside would still be white.

[Jack L]

i've only used the little packs, put it in my sump were in a main flow area. it got all browned even.

but when i recharged it, i could see how lack of flow didn't get it all clean evenly.

it worked great at removing some tannins, but i haven't put it back in yet after recharging. the stuff has a rather offputting smell too.

[Tshethar]

I was also worried about the amount of flow but I figured as long as it is supended it will also work just as good. The flow will normally slow after a few days as the filter starts to get dirty.

I like the pre-filter idea. I also use a cascade 1500 and a 1000 on the same tank. I wonder if I could take the output of the 1000 and pipe it right into the intake of the magnum? Or I could use a sponge pre-filter and wash that daily....

I've never owned a Cascade filter and don't know their flow rates, etc., but I don't think I would be inclined to connect the output of one of those to the input of the magnum. While it would allow you to get what amounts to your polishing level of filtration at the last stage--a good thing--that benefit probably would not be worth the cost. (Basically, you would have one pump more than you would need, and you might end up trying to restrict flows in different ways that could be difficult to fine-tune. Maybe with a good combination of valves that would work, but generally you don't want to restrict flow too much, it seems to me, either for pump life-span or possibly for excess pressure on joints and o-rings. Maybe more importantly, if you have something that is more complex design-wise, it's usually harder to break down and thus less likely to be something you get around to servicing.)

So, if you keep it simpler and just go with a pre-filter, I think you'll best happiest if you get something like Poret foam with a higher density, which you can squeeze out easily during WCs and which will restrict flow a bit but will do a lot mechanically for particulates. Otherwise I bet that "The Bag" is going to get covered in mulm/detritus pretty fast and you'll find yourself taking apart the canister more than you want to. Personally, I don't yet know how my reactor is going to work out, but I agree that recharging Purigen is something of a PITA for a variety of reasons, and I would like to be able to set it and forget it for at least a couple of months. Not sure what other options you might have on the pre-filter, but I would put any extra creative energy into a solution for that...

[afriend]

I can tell you for certain that a flow rate of 0.5 g/m is all that is necessary for tanks up to 100g. Higher rates will not make the water cleaner.

For sure you want to pre-filter the water in order to minimize having to service the reactor more often and this will also help to make the purigen last longer before regenerating, and also increase the time before the pre-filter needs to be serviced.

Been using purigen in a reactor for more than three years now. Really great stuff.

I buy the 2L size of purigen from Pet Mountain. They normally sell it for about $72. If your willing to wait awhile, they often put it on sale for 10% or even 20% off with free shipping with a total purchase of $75 or more.

Hope this helps.

Paul