Purigen in QT tank

[sophie68]

Hi all,:)
Is it a good idea to use Purigen in my QT? Will that raise my PH????
I feel that my water quality would improve. Right now, I am using an aquaclear for 50 gallon (my QT tank is 25 gallon) but I am still getting a tiny bit of ammonia in the AM. So every AM, I rush to do a WC. I have probably been overfeeding....I thought that adding a 2nd filter with Purigen would clear up my water (and I will reduce my feeding too). Any ideas????

Thanks!
Sophie

[ed8t]

Purigen doesn't affect pH unless during regeneration you did not soak it in an acid bath after the bleach bath. I used to use Purigen in my non-discus planted tanks to polish the water, but it was a pain to regenerate and it was another cost that I didn't need.

I personally wouldn't use it for Discus because nothing beats good clean water to keep things pure, but I never had ammonia issues like you are having...

Just out of curiosity what dechlor/water conditioner are you using to treat your water?

[sophie68]

Hi,

Thanks for replying! I am using Ultimate, which removes/neutralizes everything:ammonia/chlorine/chloramine/heavy metals. It is even supposed to age water! Not sure about that.... :antlers:
Sophie

[ed8t]

Hi Sophie,

Do you get ammonia readings out of the tap using the same ammonia test kits? If you get 0 ammonia, I bet you $.05 Ultimate is giving you the false positive readings in ammonia.

If you use Nessler's reagents type of ammonia test kits, Ultimate will probably give you false positive readings. I get the same using Prime - about .25 ppm ammonia so I ignore testing ammonia in tanks that I treated the water with Prime.

Down at the very bottom of the page, the heading for test kits:

http://www.petsforum.com/aquascience/PDFs/ULTIMATEPDS.PDF


Try another water conditioner that doesn't neutralize ammonia ie. AP Water Conditoner, and I suspect your ammonia readings will be a thing of the past...;)

[sophie68]

Hi again,

I am not using Nessler's type of test kits. Unfortunately, my ammonia reading is real!!!!:mad::mad:
I have already tried doing what you suggested. There is no ammonia in my tap water. (I had another ammonia problem in my 80 gallon which is now resolved:):)).
Thanks for your feedback!!!!

Sophie

[ed8t]

hmmm...I owe you a $.05 then. :)

Ultimate should render your ammonia harmless then, IIRC your pH is below 7.0 and with your waterchanges, I wouldn't expect ammonia to be a problem so Purigen would be overkill. Sounds like you're going through a mini-cycle, so I would keep an eye on Nitrites and if that occurs, salt or Prime would help detoxify Nitrite poisoning and Purigen too if you decide to go the $$ route.

[Apistomaster]

I would not use any Purigen if you are also using any medications.
Nor would I rely on Purigen to control ammonia. Having that said Purigen will improve water quality to a considerable degree.

I only use it in one of my Discus aquariums routinely, my Heckel Discus tank. I modified a PhosBan Reactor to retain the small granules and run it half full of Purigen in my wet/dry filter's sump.
Despite the fact I use mainly live foods and make two 75% water changes a week you would be amazed at how much waste it adsorbs. I recharge it each month as it has turns from cream white color to almost chocolate brown. The discus appear to have better color. It is not a necessity but it has its uses. It seems to reduce the frequency and intensity of panic behaviors which in part may be caused by the so-called "fear substances" some fish are thought to produce.

I sometimes also use it in breeding tanks where it seems to have a positive effect. This has been most noticeable in breeding some wild Corydoras and Loricaridid sucker mouth catfish. They often spawn soon after adding Purigen filtration.

[guille2007]

Hi Apistomaster
I have just started to use purigen as you have recommended and yes very clear water, what's the best procedure for recharging please

[Ed13]

It seems to reduce the frequency and intensity of panic behaviors which in part may be caused by the so-called "fear substances" some fish are thought to produce.

I sometimes also use it in breeding tanks where it seems to have a positive effect. This has been most noticeable in breeding some wild Corydoras and Loricaridid sucker mouth catfish. They often spawn soon after adding Purigen filtration.
Sounds vey interesting Larry.

[Apistomaster]

Hi All,
Keep in mind I use Purigen on a limited basis and don't think it is worth using in all your set ups. It does no harm but is just one more expensive thing to spend discus money on.

I wash used Purigen just like sand to help remove most of the crude not contained within the Purigen granules.

Then I drain it using a mesh coffee filter to remove excess water.

Next step is to place it in a container that has a water proof seal and then cover it with straight plain Chlorox bleach and let it soak 24 hours. The water proof cover helps prevent accidental spills.

Decant the bleach and again rinse the recharged Purigen as described above in fresh water. At this point I add 1/2 tsp of Prime to the container and stir or shake for a minute. That is it and it will look and smell just like new.

I have two liters of Purigen so I always have some recharged and ready for use when I pull the used Purigen out of the system.
Also don't know how long this stuff can be recharged and still retain efficacy. It looks like a long time but that is not a statement based n science.

I am not sure why some fish seem stimulated to spawn but my wild guess is that fresh Purigen helps increase the redox potential of the water so it more closely simulates the levels of flowing natural clean waters. Just a hypothesis. I have a couple electronic meters but not one that measure redox.