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Every so often there is a question, a discussion or a poll here about using activated carbon in a planted tank. Many here say they don't use it either because it absorbs some of the nutrients plants need or because it's just too expensive. I have lately began using Seachem's Purigen which would be the answer to anyone who wants to use something to filter the water and polish them while avoiding using activated carbon.

You can read the product page (and read the faq too) on the Seachem website to see what they have to say about it. In a true Seachem fashion they don't tell exactly what it removes and what it doesn't, but after asking I was told that it will impact some or most medications and should be removed when medicating but will not remove heavy metals.

Anyway, to my experience with it. I started using after reading about it that it polishes water better than activated carbon (and diatom filter too) while it doesn't absorb any nutrient and can be recharged. I have been using it for over a month now in one of my tanks and I am very happy with the product.

When I was using activated carbon, there would still be some noticeable change in water clarity due to tannins after water changes although not as much as there would be without carbon. With purigen there is no such difference and the water is always clear as could be. I have never used a diatom filter so I can't vouch for their claim that it works better, but it certainly works better than carbon and it works well enough for me.

As for removing nutrients, I take Seachems word that it doesn't. I wish they would list exactly what it removes but I guess I'm asking too much. All I can say is that my plants are growing as they did before and I don't notice any nutrient deficiency. Mind you, I never noticed such a deficiency when I was using carbon.

As for rechargin: after using one pouch on one tank for about a month I decided to put it to the recharge test and see if it still works afterwards. The recharge procedure is quite a kerfuffle (and is outlined in the product page) but I went through it and beads in the pouch did become white again. Yesterday evening I put the recharged pouch in my other tank. This tank had activated carbon in the filter and looked quite clear to me when I put it, but this morning the effect of the Purigen can be clearly seen.

Overall, I rate this product at 9.5/10. I knocked off half a point for the long regeneration process and for the lack of information about some aspects of the product, but only half a point because I really do think it's an excellent product worth its price. I now have Purigen in each of my two tanks and will certainly use it in the future too.

I hope this may be of help to anyone.

Untitled,

I tested this product for removal of nitrates and phosphates, in a tank and in a control. It removed quite a bit of nitrate in both settings and noticeably removed phosphate from the control(I think the tank had waaaay too much po4 to make a noticeable dent in it). Their claim about other nutrients may be true though as I had no way to test for iron and other micro/macronutrients.


matt

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

That is very interesting. The product page says that purigen controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste before it breaks down. The question arose in plantgeek.com's forum how purigen directly affects nitrate. Seachem's person claimed it would only remove an insignificant amount of nitrate directly, but will limit the amount of nitrate produced. They have never mentioned anything about phosphate being removed by it.

During the month that I have been using this product my aim was to see the general effect it has on my tank on water clarity and qulity, and on plants. As I said, it did make the water much clearer, I never even imagined water can be so clear, but I've seen no effect on my plnats. I have only tested for nitrates during this time, as I never test for phosphates. I had to add a little bit of nitrate before and I still have to do so now, but I don't think it's more than I used to, although I'm not being very scientific regarding how much nutrients to add. I might add a little more if my plants show they need it, or a little less if the little algae that I have looks too healthy.

I will certainly keep a closer eye on the plants for signs of deficiency for a while due to what you've posted, but even if it does mean I will have to add a little more nitrate and phosphates, I'm still going to go on using this product as I really enjoy the way it polishes the water.

Thanks.

untitled,

Any product that might make my water clearer is always of great interest to me. I follwed your
link and read their FAQ section.

The first thing that struck me was the whole ph neutralizing routine during recharging. I don’t
have a ph neutral regulator and I guess I would have to buy one then. Or, I always use a new batch
instead of recharging the existing one.

The next, and more important, thing that I read was the [font color="#000080"]“Does AP Stress Coat foul/ruin your
Purigen product?”[/font] question. Well, their answer is that it might render it useless, but Big Al’s
site says for this product that it should [font color="#000080"]“Not to be used with any products with slime coat in
them, this can cause the product to become toxic”[/font].
TOXIC, I don’t think so!!!

So I guess for now I will just wait and see when more reviews (and hopefully none concerning any
dead fish) of this product arrive here at FP. Clear water is nice, but under these conditions I can wait.

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Little Fish,

I've done a little research about Purigen before I bought it. It does sound at first like something a bit complicated and risky. I remember reading somewhere that amine based slime coat products make Purigen toxic, but I also remember reading Seachem's response that it only makes the product impossible to regenerate. Of course it's worth being cautious, but as I don't use any stress coat products in my tank, or anything else other than fertilisers for that matter, I felt that I don't have anything to worry about and indeed, my fish are well. In any case, it's an interesting question and it would be worthwhile to see what Seachem have to say about it. I'll post a question at one of their forums and then post their reply here.

As for the neutralising routine, it does sound complicated when put like that, but in reality it just means placing the pouch in a solution of water and Seachem's Acid Buffer. As I understand it, the problem with the pH is the high pH of bleach in which purigen is soaked for regeneration. I did just what the instructions said and my pH has not changed at all. In other words I don't think the pH neutralising routine is what should stop you using this product. The regeneration routine, although being a hassle, is a price worth paying for having such clear water.

what is the cost of buying the acid buffer? Do you actually save anything versus using carbon over time?

Big Al's sell 250 grammes of Acid Buffer for $4.99, which is a good price compared to what I have to pay for in the UK. Then you need to use 1 tablespoon everytime you regenerate it. As for how often you have to regenerate it, Seachem only say to do so once it's been exhausted. How long does it take for it to be exhausted? I guess it depends on the size of the tank and the amount of waste. I regenerated mine after a month of use on a medium tank. I regenerated it only because I wanted to try the regeneration process and the pouch still worked and looked like it could do more. I would estimate that it would last for at least 2 months on an average tank, and would probably last 3 months, but this is only an my own estimate. As for whether it saves anything versus using carbon, you'll have to do the math yourself, I'm hopeless when it comes to math. What I can tell you is that Purigen does a job that can't be matched by carbon regarding water clarity -- it has to be seen to be fully grasped. This in itself is worth its price, as far as I'm concerned. I'm very happy with it, that's why I started this thread.

As for the question regarding Purigen's toxicity, there's information about it on the Purigen product page, which says:
"Only certain slime coat products will cause Purigen™ to become toxic; the products that do this are amine based. Prime™ and Safe™ are not amine based and so will not cause this problem. If you're curious, what happens is that the amine compounds can strongly bind to the resin, then when they (the amines) come into contact with any chlorine they will form chloramines which are highly toxic. We offer a stress coat product, StressGuard™, which is not amine based and so can be used in conjunction with Purigen.™"

I never used stress coat products myself anyway. I think that if you take good care of your tank and your fish are healthy then you don't need this hocus pocus anyway...

Using your numbers and seachems I get around $6-$12 a year as an average depending how much purigen your using in what size tank. I figured it for my 55g. Marineland black diamond carbon is costing about $24 a year replacing it monthly. I didn't figure in every minor cost like the bottle of bleach or shipping and I averaged some numbers.

I wanted to point out that Seachem has another product PhosGuard specifically for controlling phosphate and silicates. Although this product does not appear to be regenerative, it is not exhuasted "as long as concentrations remain under control".