Purigen anyone??

[Newreeflady]

tmz, how are you running them together? In same place or different? If you put purigen in a fluidized bed with carbon will that cause it to become clogged with ash?

I was wondering about the differences. Carbon has long been used to remove organics, but it would make sense for them to have different affinities for any given range of molecules.

It says it removes nitrogenous waste (ie, ammonia and ammonia by-products)... is there a risk of over doing it? I was always told not to use ammonia removers or biological filtration may become comprimised long-term. I guess that's OK, though, as long as you don't plan to yank it out too quickly. I might consider using this stuff, sounds pretty good. nm

-A

 

[thebanker]

I use Purigen, but can't figure out exactly what it's doing. I've had the small pre-packaged bag in my 50g for about 2 months now, and it's turned a light tan color.

I guess it helps? I didn't notice anything miraculous. It's certainly good stuff, but not sure exactly how good it really is.

 

[thebanker]

To follow up on this, my dad runs a bag of purigen on is 3g picotope. The water in it is crystal clear all the time, with great polyp extension and even montipora growth under a 9W power compact light. He swears by it, and the tank looks fantastic.

I'd be curious to see a side-by-side comparison of purigen v. ROX carbon!

 

[tmz]

Angela


I run it in fine mesh bags in a an old canister filter. attached to a frag tank.. I run carbon in there as well as in a separate reactor. I don't know about ash problems. But I use rox8 carbon which has almost no dust.
I think gac removes some ammonia too.
I suppose one could overdo it but I've never seen any ill effect from using it and/or gac in my system.

 

[Newreeflady]

Angela


I run it in fine mesh bags in a an old canister filter. attached to a frag tank.. I run carbon in there as well as in a separate reactor. I don't know about ash problems. But I use rox8 carbon which has almost no dust.
I think gac removes some ammonia too.
I suppose one could overdo it but I've never seen any ill effect from using it and/or gac in my system.

I have a canister filter, but was actually thinking I was going to use it for intermittent water polishing, not full time. However, I might rethink this. So, you run it full time with the purigen in it as the sole media, then? I also have the TLF carbon reactor, so I could run it separately with just the carbon.

Yeah, I don't have the dust-free carbon, it's so expensive! I was looking at just acid washing the stuff I have now (I have a ton of the marineland black diamond.) The only reason I'm considering the purigen is because it can be recharged. How many times can one successfully recharge one batch? How much of this stuff would you run on a tank with about 65g twv?

Thanks!
-A

 

[tmz]

I should note the frag tank attached to the cansister filter is also integrated into the larger system via drain/return from the sump.

 

[tmz]

I use both purigen and gac in the same canister filter. separated by the mesh bags. I don't think I would personally use purigen as a sole source just because I've come to trust gac over the years. Both are adsorbents and quality gac is extremelly porous perhaps more so than a resin even one like purigen which claims it is 500% more porous than other polymer resins.I like them both so use them both.

I've regenrated it several times.

 

[Pufferpunk]

it's turned a light tan color.

Time to regenerate.

 

[BlueFaceAngel]

did you know purigen cures ich? lol

 

[thebanker]

Time to regenerate.

That soon? People are saying it turns almost black before they regenerate. Or do you think I get diminishing returns on the purigen's absorbant ability?

 

[Pufferpunk]

It usually lasts me about 3 months but I use many bags at once.

 

[Sweetlou]

I bought some Purigen and placed the bags in a chamber in my sump.. HOWEVER im not 100% that it worked as I bought a new spectrapure R/O unit The best thing you can do for Algae is USE GOOD R/O Water.. Within 2 weeks of using the new water the Algae was GONE! Hope this helps

 

[Newreeflady]

I bought some Purigen and placed the bags in a chamber in my sump.. HOWEVER im not 100% that it worked as I bought a new spectrapure R/O unit The best thing you can do for Algae is USE GOOD R/O Water.. Within 2 weeks of using the new water the Algae was GONE! Hope this helps

Most of us, at least I think, try to start with good water. I start with DI. Regardless, food in, nutrients in. You must have a way to get stuff out. Purigen is just another media to help effect that, and it may be a media that takes things out that GAC, GFO and skimming don't I don't even have an algae problem in my tank, but it would be nice to know that I'm taking out whatever nutrients might be building up that may adversely affect my system... eventually. Even if it looks good now

Good move adding an RO unit to your arsenal. RO/DI would be even better. I also use my RO for drinking water, thereby serving a dual purpose. Sometimes I save the wastewater for my houseplants

cheers,
-A

 

[tmz]

GAC, skimming and resins like purigen to remove organics are important. Total organic carbon buildup is a problem and can harm corals. Unfortunately, measurements for hobbyist are not available so using gac, purigen and aggressive skimming are almost shots in the dark in terms of total organic carbon reduction. The effects on nitrate and inorganic phosphate are not direct removal but rather removal of organic material holding carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous and other things. GAC is probably the most reliable organic adsorbent at least the most used and tested and may be enhanced by ozone use which breaks up organic chains increasing their affinity. Needless to say those adding carbon supplements9 like vodka, vinegar, commercial products, absorbic acid, etc, ) need to be especially mindful of organic carbon export.

 

[camelheights]

Can you please tell me how much your Dad uses of the purigen in the 3 gal tank? I've got a 14 gal biocube. I purchased the box that has it in a bag already. Would this be too much for my little tank???? Everything is doing wonderfully in it, but never hurts to give them the best!

 

[Pufferpunk]

I don't think you can use too much of this stuff.