Purigen Carbon

[jcook54]

I've been using carbon in my tank since I started in this hobby and am thinking about changing to Purigen. I use Purigen along with carbon now in the 100mL bags and rotate them in and out as I recharge them. I was wondering if it would be wise to use more Purigen instead of both. I've been dealing with phosphates and I know that carbon can be a contributor. Also, I've been looking at a a BRS dual media reactor and want to put phosguard in one chamber with purigen in the other. Any thought? Plus, carbon is kind of a pain. If purigen will do the same thing, I can't think of any reason not to. It's more expensive but easy to bleach, Prime and recharge.

 

[seachem]

Thanks for the post! I'm glad that you are wanting to use Purigen, as it is a great filter media! To be honest, it is completely up to you whether you want to use Purigen instead of the carbon. Many people will use both, while others will only use the Purigen. I guess it depends on the needs of your tank. Using more Purigen will certainly not hurt anything. However, we do not recommend using Purigen in a media reactor as the beads are very small and they will grind against one another causing a dust. The best place for it will be one where it will receive maximum water flow through the media. Since Purigen can be regenerated, you could put one to use and store the other in a little bit of water to prevent drying. This way, when the one you are using is ready to regenerate, you can just switch it out with the fresh one. Always keep them in rotation.

Now, since you say you are dealing with phosphates, I would recommend trying our SeaGel, which is a 50/50 blend of our MatrixCarbon and PhosGuard. We use this in all of reef tanks here at Seachem. These two medias work well together because like you said all carbons do release some phosphates and adding PhosGuard to the mix compensates for this. SeaGel works well in a media reactor as long as you can turn the flow down a bit.

I hope this was helpful!

 

[jcook54]

Thanks for your reply. The Seagel was an option I was considering as well. I've got some more thinking to do. However, your post leads me to ask an additional question. Is it bad to let the bagged purigen get dry? After I bleach and soak them in Prime I usually let them dry out. I test them for chlorine (bleach) after I soak them in Prime per the instructions just in case but letting them dry increases my comfort level. There really is something odd about soaking filter media in bleach, even though I've done it plenty. So, I've I messed up my growing collection of Purigen bags up by letting them get nice and dry?

 

[seachem]

You are welcome. We recommend storing the Purigen in a small amount of water when not in use to keep the beads moist. If they are able to dry out completely, they may shrink in size and potentially escape out of the bag. So if you haven't experienced this, then I'm sure they are just fine. Now that you know though, you can store them in a little of water in the future. :thumbs:

 

[nanonano]

I just hooked up the BRS Reactor yesterday (PITA). Got the Purigen and Chemi-Pure Elite (has GFO in it) and I'm running one in each chamber. If the Chemi-Pure didn't take up the whole cannister on one side I'd run them both in one and floss in the other but oh well.

Here are some pics:

alt="" />

alt="" />

alt="" />

alt="" />

alt="" />

 

[seachem]

Thanks for the pics! :up:

 

[nanonano]

Seachem;471920 wrote: You are welcome. We recommend storing the Purigen in a small amount of water when not in use to keep the beads moist. If they are able to dry out completely, they may shrink in size and potentially escape out of the bag. So if you haven't experienced this, then I'm sure they are just fine. Now that you know though, you can store them in a little of water in the future. :thumbs:

Are you supposed to rinse the Purigen before you use it like you do with Chemi-Pure?

 

[seachem]

Yes; we recommend rinsing it before putting it to use.

 

[tnyga]

Is that the 24" fixture? Your tank looks longer than just 4 inches more Love the light...cant wait to get mine this evening!

 

[nanonano]

Seachem;472012 wrote: Yes; we recommend rinsing it before putting it to use.

I figured. I did rinse it for about a minute. Working great after I got the Chemi-Pure to stop spitting out yellow water for 10 mins and soaking my purigen brown.

Luckily I ran it with tap water into the sink until it was completely clear.

 

[nanonano]

tnyga;472018 wrote: Is that the 24" fixture? Your tank looks longer than just 4 inches more Love the light...cant wait to get mine this evening!

Yep! Tank is exactly 24" I believe. Or really close.

You will love this hood. It's amazing.