Benefits Of Purigen

[afriend]

Purigen is a product manufactured by Seachem. It's used in the filter system to absorb organic waste products. I began using it about three months ago in my 100g discus show tank and have had extremely good results. This is a brief summary on why I believe it to be a really good product.

About a week after placing it in my canister filter I noticed that my adult discus looked and acted healther than ever before. Their colors were brighter, they held their fins higher, they were more active, were more eager to eat, and they were less aggressive than before. All of this was more than just slight changes, they were obvious. I would be very interested in knowing if anyone else has had a similar experience using Purigen.

The main thing that Purigen does is to absorb disolved organic compounds (DOCs). These come from fish waste and uneaten food. As the product absorbs these compounds, it slowly turns beige, then brown, then almost black. After use, it can be regenerated and used again. Further information is available at Seachem's website at Seachem.com. They have a forum where Seachem's Techs answers questions. I found it very informative and useful before I deciced to use their product.

Healther fish is not the only benefit obtained from Purigen. My tank maintaince has been reduced substantially. The fish poop no longer accumulates at the bottom of the tank. Instead it dissolves and is then carried to the filtration system where it is removed by the Purigen. I have a bare bottom tank and there has been far less than a single days accumulation and I have not cleaned it out for an entire month. There is also much less slime on the glass or the mechanical filters.

Another benefit is the drastic reduction in algae. With my bioload and daily water exchanges, the nitrate level was about 5ppm without the Purigen. I noticed that the nitrate level droped and has remained at zero, immediately after I started using the Purigen. My maintaince routine used to be that I removed all decorations and cleaned them monthly. After three months of using Purigen, I havn't had to clean them yet, and they look like they were just cleaned.

The final benefit I obtained from Purigen is water clarity. I considered my water really clean before, but now it "sparkles".

Purigen is available in two ways. It's sold in prepackaged 100ml bags, or you can get it in loose form. I first tried the 100ml bag and placed it in my Nu-Clear canister filter. After about 10 days I noticed that the water clairty wasn't as clear as first, so I removed the bag and cut it open. It was obvious that the water was not flowing thru the bag evenly because some of it was still white while some was dark brown. Then I did a little research on the internet to see what others were doing with Purigen, and then decided to make a Purigen reactor. I now use Purigen in my custom built reactor and have had good results in getting the water to flow thru the Purigen beads evenly. If anyone is interested in how I did this, I'm willing to share my experience.

I'm very interested in hearing from others with similar or different results. My results have been so dramatic that I am curious as to why there seems to be very little information available about the product.

[Elliots]

Purigen works but most Discus owners change a lot of water frequently that makes the Purigen less important in tank maintenance. As you may know Purigen loses its ability to clean youir water and has to be recharged. I used it but I decided its benefit was marginal so I stopped using it. I do not know what a Purigen reactor is. My water is clear from water changes, cleaning my filters and a submerged combination of a powerhead and UV sterilizer

[discuspaul]

I've been using Purigen 24/7 in my planted discus tank for over 3 years now. Wouldn't be without it.

Can't say my results have been as dramatically beneficial as yours, but I'm well satisfied that Purigen brings a lot of improvements to a planted discus tank that only receives 3 wcs a week.

[lizziotti]

I now use Purigen in my custom built reactor and have had good results in getting the water to flow thru the Purigen beads evenly. If anyone is interested in how I did this, I'm willing to share my experience.

yes please share I've been using the bagged version without the results I was hoping I didn't know about a reactor thanks for sharing. I agree if we can do more for our discus why not



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[1077]

I used this product for it's ammonia scavenging capabilities while using auto feeder until I could get home from work to change water.

[joeyNdana]

Can't agree more, the immediate benefits I got from Purigen had me amazed even though the postive reviews I had read set the expectations pretty high. Some folks look at the cost vs. benefit as the drawback but its been worth every penny so far, will never be without it.

[korbi_doc]

Hi afriend, I'd surely like to know more 'bout using Purigen in a "reactor"....could you elaborate, or just send it in an IM.....my fish'n I need all the help we can get to succeed....would it by any chance, work in an AC Filter? tia, Dottie




[QUOTE=afriend;1003671]Purigen is a product manufactured by Seachem. It's used in the filter system to absorb organic waste products. I began using it about three months ago in my 100g discus show tank and have had extremely good results. This is a brief summary on why I believe it to be a really good product.

Purigen is available in two ways. It's sold in prepackaged 100ml bags, or you can get it in loose form. I first tried the 100ml bag and placed it in my Nu-Clear canister filter. After about 10 days I noticed that the water clairty wasn't as clear as first, so I removed the bag and cut it open. It was obvious that the water was not flowing thru the bag evenly because some of it was still white while some was dark brown. Then I did a little research on the internet to see what others were doing with Purigen, and then decided to make a Purigen reactor. I now use Purigen in my custom built reactor and have had good results in getting the water to flow thru the Purigen beads evenly. If anyone is interested in how I did this, I'm willing to share my experience.

[fredyx]

I've been using the product since some months, 100ml bag and 250ml package, in two of my cannister filters and I have not notice the poop disolving or disappearing... From the point of view of clarity no significant changes so far. In theory it absorbs organic compounds but I have not notice any change in nitrate buildup.....(No effect on TDS...) I feel a kinda frustrated with the product that did not match my expectations...

[afriend]

Thank you all for your very kind replies. I plan to answer each one individually, but first I would like to provide a little more background about my use and experience with Purigen. I have a 100g show tank with ten discus. My setup includes an automated water exchange system with which I exchange about 45g daily. I use a mix of 2/1 RO to untreated well water. My TDS is 75 with a PH of 7.4. Click on the link below for some pictures showing my water filtration system and pictures of the tank.

http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/pscramer/library/100g%20Discus%20Tank%20with%20Filtration%20System

When I first started using Purigen, I placed a 100ml bag in the bottom of my Nu-Clear canister filter. This did not last very long and the results, although beneficial, was not what I was hoping for. I then removed the bag, cut it open and examined the Purigen. It was obvious that the water was not flowing thru the bag evenly. It was then that I decided to build my Purigen reactor. I believe that it is important to get good water flow inorder to obtain alot of water contact with the Purigen beads. When this is done properly, I believe that the Purigen absorbs nearly all of the disolved organic compounds (DOCs). Another important consideration is water circulation in the aquarium tank. I use 6 bubble lift tubes to lift the water from the bottom to the top of the tank. This then allows the filtration system to do its job. Some of the lift tubes are visible in the tank pictures.

A few of the pictures show the botton of the tank. I have not siphoned off the fish poop for three weeks when these pictures were taken. If one examines these pictures closely, there is a very small amount, which is considerably less than one days input. This small amount is very fresh and disolves within one or two hours after the fish have droped it. My water exchange rate is about 45% daily, both before and after I started using Purigen. I used to have to syphon it off daily, otherwise the accumulation was awful. I believe that without the Purigen the water becomes saturated with DOCs and the result is that the poop doesn't dissolve (even with a large exchange rate) and that this clearly indicates that the Purigen is doing it's job.

Basically what I'm trying to get accross here is that the details of how Purigen is used is important in order to achieve good results.

I'll discus the build considerations of the Purigen reactor in more detail shortly.

I'm still in the learning stage here, so I welcome any and all constructive thoughts.

[afriend]

Purigen works but most Discus owners change a lot of water frequently that makes the Purigen less important in tank maintenance. As you may know Purigen loses its ability to clean youir water and has to be recharged. I used it but I decided its benefit was marginal so I stopped using it. I do not know what a Purigen reactor is. My water is clear from water changes, cleaning my filters and a submerged combination of a powerhead and UV sterilizer


Before using Purigen I exchanged 45% water daily. Even with this amount I could not reduce the DOCs below saturation.

Purigen is easily recharged using bleach. Seachem claims that Purigen looses about 10% effectiveness each time it is recharged.

Perhaps the reason that you found that the benefit was marginal is that there was insufficient contact between the water and the Purigen beads.

My water filtration system is shown in the Photobucket pictures. The filter on the right is a mechanical filter, the Purigen reactor is in the center and the biofilter is on the right. Purigen removes ammonia and nitrites, but Seachem still recommends using a biofilter. I concur.

As far as water clarity is concerned, I thought it was clear before using Purigen, but now it's WOW!!! (It really sparkles.) Perhaps you can tell it in the pictures.

[afriend]

I've been using Purigen 24/7 in my planted discus tank for over 3 years now. Wouldn't be without it.

Can't say my results have been as dramatically beneficial as yours, but I'm well satisfied that Purigen brings a lot of improvements to a planted discus tank that only receives 3 wcs a week.

Discus Paul,

I really don't know much about using Purigen in a planted tank. Glad to hear that you got good results. I do know that Purigen removes nitrates but I guess that doesn't bother your plants much. What method do you use with the Purigen?

[Second Hand Pat]

Paul, are you familiar with the phosban reactor used on marine tanks. I bet this could be used for purigen also. I think the concepts are the same.
Pat

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=TL4311&child=TL4311&utm_source=adwordsfroogle&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=adwordsfroogle&utm_content=TL4311&gclid=COmUn4fXubcCFSho7AodYFIA1Q

[afriend]

yes please share I've been using the bagged version without the results I was hoping I didn't know about a reactor thanks for sharing. I agree if we can do more for our discus why not



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Lizziotti,

Thank you for your reply. I didn't get good results using the bagged version either. It's only with the use of a reactor that I obtained really good results. The technicians at Seachem have told me that a reactor is "more trouble than it's worth." I disagree, and that my results clearly indicate this. Will discuss how a Purigen reactor works soon. In the mean time, take a look at the pictures on Photobucket. If you look at the picture that shows my entire filtration system, the Purigen reactor is in the center.

[Corona]

I've been using Purigen for about two years now and I like it. I use the bagged version; but, later added extra bags and overlapped them in different directions so that most of the water in the filter will pass through the bags.

[discuspaul]

Paul, are you familiar with the phosban reactor used on marine tanks. I bet this could be used for purigen also. I think the concepts are the same.
Pat

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=TL4311&child=TL4311&utm_source=adwordsfroogle&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=adwordsfroogle&utm_content=TL4311&gclid=COmUn4fXubcCFSho7AodYFIA1Q

Yes, I believe the concepts are the same, and that piece of equipment may well work for using Purigen in a reactor.
Question is: Will that reactor fully contain all of the minute particles (beads) of Purigen, which are extremely tiny, and readily escape even out of some fine mesh bags, unless they are doubled up.

afriend is certainly correct in saying words to the effect that the efficacy of the Purigen is highly dependent on the tank water flowing through and reaching the greatest number of Purigen particles - which is the reason for a reactor working so well with this product.
Based on my research, a number of persons have built their own Purigen reactors, but to date I have not heard of any being manufactured & sold commercially for specific Purigen use.
I wonder though, how much of a process hassle it may be to re-charge the Purigen with bleach in a reactor every 3 weeks, as I do with rotated Purigen bags in my filters. Perhaps afriend can/will clear this up for us.

I personally find that Purigen does an amazing job at clarifying water, and while I have no concrete evidence as to it's purifying effect, I also believe it has good water purifying qualities as well, as claimed by Seachem.

In my case, I use Purigen 24/7 on a rotating basis as I re-charge (I have 4 bags on the go at once - 2 in the filters, and 2 being recharged/rinsed). The water in my planted tank is crystal clear 100% of the time, and I need do very little vacuuming of the sand substrate each time I do a wc 3X a week.
I do ensure though, that the Purigen bags never have more than 1/2" layer of Purigen particles in them, to get a maximum of water flow through them, and I re-charge them frequently, before the particles even get dark brown from adsoption, much less black, to ensure optimum efficacy.

[Second Hand Pat]

Paul, I have this reactor and could perhaps do a test to see this works. I could run it on the 230, the 100 or the 75.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id93k6trNqY

[discuspaul]

It would be real good of you, Pat, if you could find the time to do such a test. I believe there would be a good number of discus-keepers who would be quite interested in the results.

Watched the video and it appears that reactor should contain the fine Purigen particles - which are small enough & light enough, that the action inside the reactor would continuously toss the beads around through the water for maximum exposure to adsorption by the particles.

One thought though, I believe the intake & out-take tubes entering & exiting the reactor would need some fine mesh covering at the bases to prevent the particles from escaping into the tank. You wouldn't want millions of Purigen particles throughout your 230 gal tank, Pat. LOL

Of even more interest, would be how easily & quickly one could fully remove the dirtied particles for re-charging with bleach, and then returning them to the reactor once cleansed & rinsed of bleach.
I suspect it wouldn't be practical nor safe to bleach the Purigen right in the reactor, and rinsing it properly therein with conditioned water for the next use.

[Second Hand Pat]

Ok Paul, I can first run the reactor with the purigen in a bucket to ensure no purigen escapes as a first test. So need to get some purigen and find the reactor. :)

[afriend]

Discus Paul and Second Hand Pat,

I would like to respond to several issues in your preceding posts about building a test trial Purigen reactor. I would like to see you do exactly that and then compare my results with yours. First of all, I am familiar with the two reactors referred to in your posts. I considered using them, as well as other reactors available, but decided not to use either of them for more than one reason. My primary reason has to do with my specific application. My filtration system shown in Picture #3 is located in my basement, immediately below my aquarium located on the first level. This creates a water pressure of about 5psi to the reactor. I do not know if either of these reactors are built for a 5psi water pressure (maybe they are, but I was not certain). Pat, in your case since the bucket can be placed near the water height, this should not be an issue. The second reason I did not use them is because I could not figure out a good way to place a filter in the path of the return water which would assure that the Purigen beads would be stopped from going into the tank.

Here's some information about Purigen and a usable reactor that I think may help you. The Purigen beads are quite small (about 200 micron diameter). Most of them are also just SLIGHTLY more dense than water (perhaps 5% of them are less dense than water and they will float). You will need to place a flow valve on the input side of the reactor. It is important that the flow rate be adjusted properly. Too fast and the beads will brake up into smaller pieces, and if too slow, not enough water will flow thru them.

You will need a filter which will stop the beads from going into the tank. (According to Seachem the beads will not harm the fish, it's just to keep the tank looking nice) The filter I use is 30 microns, but you could use one up to 100 microns. The filter needs to have a large surface area so that the beads do not plug it up. You could possibably use one of Seachem's bags that they sell (they call it "The Bag"). The amount of Purigen that the reactor should hold is also important (a larger amount allows for lots of surface area exposed to the water). For my 100g tank, I use 250ml of Purigen.

As how to remove and recharge the Purigen with bleach, it's really quite easy. Get a wide mouth jar and poor the used purigen into the jar. Stirring the Purigen/water mixture just before poring into the jar helps. Then just wait for about 30 seconds and allow the beads to settle to the bottom of the jar and carefully poor off the excess water. This is very easy and you will get the hang of it right away. Seachem recommends using a 50/50 mix of bleach and purigen. The following day, just poor off the bleach, add water, mix, let the mixture settle and repeat this a few times until the remaining bleach is diluted. Then add a cap of PRIME and let stand another day and rinse again. Be sure that the bleach does not contain phosphates. Keep the beads wet until they are used again. I have two batches of Purigen, one that is in the reactor and one that gets regenerated.

Another important consideration is to assure that the water is well circulated in the aquarium. I accomplish this by using 6 bubble lift tubes in my 100g tank. This assures that the organic compounds get dissolved and transfered to the filters where the Purigen can do it's job.

In my filtration system, water from the tank is first put thru the mechanical filters (30 micron) and then a small portion is directed to the Purigen reactor. I think that this will help to keep the Purigen reactor from getting pluged up.

I also want to mention that I believe that what and how the fish are fed is also important. I have been feeding mine color bits, freeze dried blood worms, freeze dried California black worms, and frozed blood worms. I feed them about six times daily and I "spoon feed them." By that I mean that I give them small amounts and wait until they eat it all before giving them more. I try not to give them so much all at once such that it accumulates on the tank bottom. Since I know that some beef heart mixes may contaminate the water considerability, I avoid feeding this to my fish. I do not have enough experience with Purigen to know if it will handle large amounts of food contamination. So this is an area that you might experiment with. Another possible consideration is that some foods may contain alot of ingrediants that will not disolve in water.

Finally, I just want to offer my assistance in any way I can. I believe that attention to detail is important to achieve good results, and I would like to see you get the same or similar results as mine. Please be advised that I did not exaggerate my results in anyway, and I am convinced that once our community finds out what it can do, it can make a big difference. If you would like my email address for that purpose, let me know and I will PM for you. In the mean time if you would like to send me some pictures of your approach I will be glad to offer suggestions.

Paul C.

[Second Hand Pat]

Paul, for simplicity I will place the reactor in my sump. This is what I did for my marine setup. In my 230 setup the circulation is determined by the output points from the pump which directs the water to the overflow which has inlets at the bottom of the overflow and at the water level where the water goes to the sump through mechanical media, bio-media to the bottom of the sump...ie your typical wet/dry.

The reactor will be placed just before the pump which returns water to the tank.

[discuspaul]

Thank you very much, Paul C., for your detailed explanation of the procedure you use, and your offer to assist further with a comparison of the approach to be taken by Pat, with yours, and the results.
I'm certain Pat will give it a good test, and hopefully the end result can develop into a sound and facile approach for assisting many hobbyists with the maintenance of high quality water conditions for keeping discus, particularly in planted environments.
I have long believed that the use of Purigen is a boon to good discus-keeping, and perhaps this exercise can prove helpful to many others, especially those who may now feel that Purigen has no useful purpose in discus-keeping.

[Ryan]

Pat, I have half a jar of Purigen sitting in a closet. It's never been used. I put half in a bag and tried it in my 210 gallon cichlid community with no noticeable difference to the tank or fish, so I gave up. I also have the other half still in the bag but it needs to be cleaned and recharged. It's yours for free if you want it. PM me.

[AQUARAMA]

I didn't get good results using the bagged version either. It's only with the use of a reactor that I obtained really good results. The technicians at Seachem have told me that a reactor is "more trouble than it's worth." I disagree, and that my results clearly indicate this. Will discuss how a Purigen reactor works soon. In the mean time, take a look at the pictures on Photobucket. If you look at the picture that shows my entire filtration system, the Purigen reactor is in the center.

Don't know how these reactors work. Do you connect it on the exhaust of the filter or can u run it on it's own with airpump or something?

I have seen a discus a month ago that was raised with use of purigen and it reached adult size faster than others. It also was bigger then average adult discus
I think purigen works, im trying it since last week now

How long does the purigen lasts before you have to clean it for re-use?

[afriend]

1077,

It's true that Purigen absorbs ammonia and nitrite. However that's not it's main function. If you are experiencing ammonia issues, it's most likely that your bio-filter is not functioning properly. Seachem does not recommend operating an aquarium without a bio-filter. I concur.

Paul C.

[afriend]

Can't agree more, the immediate benefits I got from Purigen had me amazed even though the postive reviews I had read set the expectations pretty high. Some folks look at the cost vs. benefit as the drawback but its been worth every penny so far, will never be without it.

joey,

The cost will depend on a number factors. In my 100g tank I have 10 discus. I use 250ml and recharge it three times (thirtyfour month useful period). I buy the 2 liter size for about $82 including shipping. This works out to be about $2.50 per month.

Paul C.

[afriend]

I've been using the product since some months, 100ml bag and 250ml package, in two of my cannister filters and I have not notice the poop disolving or disappearing... From the point of view of clarity no significant changes so far. In theory it absorbs organic compounds but I have not notice any change in nitrate buildup.....(No effect on TDS...) I feel a kinda frustrated with the product that did not match my expectations...

Could you describe how and where you are placing the Purigen bag in your canister filter. Is it placed so that the water flow is forced thru the bag? How are you placing the loose Purigen in the filter. For some reason you are not getting the water to flow thru the Purigen. As for nitrate buildup, Purigen reduces nitrate to zero and will not change your TDS.

Paul C.

[1077]

No,, I was not having ammonia issues.
Was raising a group of juvenile Discus with four feeding's a day,three of which were provided by auto feeder.(while I was working)
Was just insurance for me till I could get home to perform daily water change.
Prolly could have done without it ,but it brought me comfort from the stress of raising the young fish to adult size.

In hindsight,,I could have plopped a bunch of floating pennywort in the tank to achieve the same result's.
For those who say they did not notice improved water clarity,I think if you look at the water from one end of the tank to the other,,the improvement is much more noticeable than looking at the tank from the front.IMHO