# What's in your AquaClear?



## falcooo (Sep 30, 2011)

I just wanted to post this and get an idea what everyone else does…what kind of filter media do you run in your AquaClear (or similar HOB filter)? It comes standard with sponge, carbon, bio media, but I am debating getting rid of the carbon as it doesn't appear to have much purpose in a planted tank, and some people even claim it removes nutrients/ferts from the water column. Is stuffing the AC with filter floss a good idea?


----------



## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I use bio media on top and 2 sponges on the bottom


----------



## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

I didn't use the carbon. It has pores that trap things. I have heard that it even can remove some of the things from the water that plants need. I know that's kind of vague, but I don't have hard facts. But a lot of people don't use it.

Btw, I have found that the sponge does a lot for clarity of the water, and mine traps a lot of gunk. I clean it once a week.

I sort of think that maybe additional media may slow down the flow. I'd keep the particulate filter, which traps stuff and gets harder for the water to get through, at manufacturer's specs. That's just my opinion, though..


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Bottom to top: sponge, sponge, bio. Sometimes I use carbon. After the carbon fills up it just turns into bio media. I dont subscribe to the notion that carbon absorbs anything of value in a planted tank, nor that it releases previously absorbed material over time. But I have no science to back that up and you'll get different opinions from different people. I believe Amano starts all his tanks with carbon and just leaves it in there. He seems to do alright.


----------



## WestHaven (Jun 30, 2012)

I have two Penguin 200 filters on my 29 gallon tank. One filter just has two of the C-size filter pads with the carbon removed. The second filter is filled with biological media only.


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi falcooo,

Sponge & Sponge


----------



## nugzboltz (May 20, 2008)

Bottom to top - sponge, purigen, and bio media has worked well for me.


----------



## TLy (Oct 20, 2014)

After removing carbon, I filled the extra space with more bio media and filter floss. Water quality and clarity were great.


----------



## plo589 (Jul 8, 2013)

Bottom: sponge/foam
Then purigen on top of left half of sponge, bio media on top right half of sponge/foam, then biomedia on top of purigen. 
I've been using the same foam in my AC 110 for 1.5 years, but I think I might replace it soon. I've noticed a bit of flossy foam pieces floating in the tabk here and there.


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

My AC20 has sponge, and the bio-bag has the biomedia that came with it, plus an extra portion of matrix to fill the rest up.

That said, this is probably more biomedia than I need, but I had it laying around.

I might, at some point, stick in some more sponge, some floss, or a coarse micron pad (ie: 300 micron). I have all of these around as well, but that involves cutting them to size, and I'm lazy


----------



## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Sponge ,sponge,and small bag of substrat pro on Aquaclear 70.
Only placed the bag of media there to help seed this tank for it is new 20 gal tank housing a couple dozen painted fire red cherry shrimp.


----------



## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

bottom to top: sponge, bio media bag, bio media bag, that's it. 

I thought about adding purigen, but have yet to do it. I'm not sure it's necessary.

Edit: Oh - almost forgot - I have a sponge on the intake for shrimp safety that also acts as a prefilter.


----------



## Sub1117 (Sep 21, 2014)

Sponge, floss, purigen, biomedia


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Sponge pre-filter with course sponge, filter floss, Seachem Matrix and Purigen in the AquaClear.


----------



## goodbytes (Aug 18, 2014)

My tank is heavily planted and I'm running a canister alongside my AC70 so I don't bother with biomedia as the sponges will hold enough bacteria to do the job. I use three sponges with some coarse Marineland Rite-Size cut to fit sponge material ($8.00 at the local big box pet store) at the bottom. I would recommend putting some coarser sponge material at the bottom regardless of what you decide to put above it as the fitted AC sponges, of which I use two, become clogged too quickly for my taste.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

falcooo said:


> I just wanted to post this and get an idea what everyone else does…what kind of filter media do you run in your AquaClear (or similar HOB filter)? It comes standard with sponge, carbon, bio media, but I am debating getting rid of the carbon as it doesn't appear to have much purpose in a planted tank, and some people even claim it removes nutrients/ferts from the water column. Is stuffing the AC with filter floss a good idea?


 Several others have suggested these items which I use in all my AC filters:
In addition to coarse sponge & ceramic bio-balls, I use filter floss (replaced every 2 weeks), along with Purigen (re-charged about every 3 weeks or so), and pre-filters on the filter intakes, rinsed frequently. 
Water is  always crystal clear, and I sure can't complain about the water quality produced by the Purigen either.


----------



## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

nugzboltz said:


> Bottom to top - sponge, purigen, and bio media has worked well for me.


Same, although I no longer use my AC20.


----------



## Jordin (Jun 21, 2012)

I have a cannister filter running with 2 Aquaclear 110's. The cannister is full of biomedia.

In both AQ110's, I have a course sponge, fine sponge and filter floss.

I feel that purigen and charcoal are un-necessary if you have good filtration and a regular water change schedule.

Under the baskets on my AQ110's, I crushed up some biomedia to fill the bottom to provide even more mechanical and biological filtration. I haven't seen anyone else do this but it's a great way to maximize space and your filter.


----------



## tiggity (Feb 21, 2012)

Sponge, Sponge, Bio Media


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

Jordin said:


> I feel that purigen and charcoal are un-necessary if you have good filtration and a regular water change schedule.


Purigen is a godsend for those of us with driftwood too big to boil.  I have two large pieces I pulled out of the Suwannee River that have been tanning for 5 months now.


----------



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Bacon, lettuce and tomato.. wait no...that's my lunch! Foam, cut to Fit poly fiber pad and a bunch o biomax baby!


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

[QUOTE=I feel that purigen and charcoal are un-necessary if you have good filtration and a regular water change schedule.


I believe that many people would find Purigen a necessity if they really knew the extent of the impurities it removed, and how much it contributed to improve water conditions & quality.


----------



## Jordin (Jun 21, 2012)

discuspaul said:


> I believe that many people would find Purigen a necessity if they really knew the extent of the impurities it removed, and how much it contributed to improve water conditions & quality.


I'm going to go to the fish store now and grab a bag to put in one of my AC110's.

You've all convinced me to try it... I was afraid it would remove too much from the water in my planted tank. After checking some sites and videos it looks like a lot of people love this stuff, planted tanks included... I didn't realise you could recharge it easily also.

Any advice on how best to recharge the purigen? Does it only need recharging when it is discolored?

Has anyone ever had an issue with this in their planted tank?

It looks like it's got a lot of great reviews... Can't wait to see what it does for my water quality...


----------



## falcooo (Sep 30, 2011)

I ended up going the SPONGE, SPONGE, BIO route.

But I would like to find room for some Purigen as well, does anyone take advantage of the space on the left of the filter where the intake goes into? I would think a bag of purigen would serve the same purpose there as it would still suck of impurities...am I wrong? Or any reason the left side of the filter would be a bad idea?


----------



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

falcooo said:


> I ended up going the SPONGE, SPONGE, BIO route.
> 
> But I would like to find room for some Purigen as well, does anyone take advantage of the space on the left of the filter where the intake goes into? I would think a bag of purigen would serve the same purpose there as it would still suck of impurities...am I wrong? Or any reason the left side of the filter would be a bad idea?


I'd put it at the end of the run, it's very fine, same as the bag, it will most likely clog much much sooner in that spot, stick it under the biomax.


----------



## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Jordin said:


> I'm going to go to the fish store now and grab a bag to put in one of my AC110's.
> 
> You've all convinced me to try it... I was afraid it would remove too much from the water in my planted tank. After checking some sites and videos it looks like a lot of people love this stuff, planted tanks included... I didn't realise you could recharge it easily also.
> 
> ...


Recharging instructions are included with the Purigen packets. Essentially soak it in bleach for several hours (or a day?) and then rinse the heck out of it, and finally soak in Prime to kill off the chlorine. You can do it as often as needed, or less. It won't hurt anything if its in there, needing a recharge, it just won't clean the water anymore. I'd guess every 1-2 months, roughly? Depends on your water, of course.

Pretty much no downside to using Purigen, from the tank's standpoint. Just pull it if you're dosing medication.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

After several years of using Purigen 24/7 in my planted discus tanks, I've found that the best approach to use it most effectively is as follows.

- Don't let the Purigen beads adsorb too many impurities for too long a time, in order not to compromise it's efficacy. What that means is to re-charge the Purigen before it becomes very dark brown, almost black. Do it when the particles reach light to medium brown. In my tanks that usually means after about 3 weeks' use - no longer. 
That will also allow the bleaching to fully return the beads to their original off-white color, giving the Purigen the greatest possible adsorption ability.

- Bleach the Purigen with full strength bleach for up to 24 hours, but not longer. Rinse very well several times in 'conditioned' water. You want to remove all traces of the bleach, as well as the chlorine in your tap water with the conditioner. If you alternate Purigen bags like I do, then after re-charging, leave your well-rinsed Purigen in clean conditioned water while it awaits it's next use when the alternate bag in your filter needs re-charging. Don't let it dry out.

- I've found that Purigen may be re-generated up to a dozen times without seemingly losing too much of it's adsorption ability. So chuck it & get fresh stuff at that point. After about a half dozen re-charges, start keeping an eye on the bag(s) which may begin to deteriorate and can come apart. ( Makes a real mess in your tank !)
And remember not to leave it in bleach for much longer than 24 hours if you use full strength bleach - it can cause the beads to begin disintegrating.
Hope this helps.


----------



## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Seachem recently (ish) revised their instructions on recharging the Purigen packets. IIRC they definitely warn against full strength bleach. The instructions give the appropriate dilution.

Per Seachem's techs on their own website:

Soak in a 1:1 bleach:water solution for 24 hours in a non-metalic container in a well ventilated area and away from children. Rinse well, then soak for 8 hours with a solution containing 2 tablespoons of ChlorGuard™, Prime®, or equivalent dechlorinator per cup of water. Rinse well.

See: http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=3593

and: http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Purigen.html


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Do you guys not worry about Purigen removing nitrates? Ive never used it so pardon a dumb question. Just seems strange to add nitrates on one hand, and use a media that takes them out on the other.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

kman said:


> Seachem recently (ish) revised their instructions on recharging the Purigen packets. IIRC they definitely warn against full strength bleach. The instructions give the appropriate dilution.
> 
> Per Seachem's techs on their own website:
> 
> ...


 
Well, I've used full strength bleach 24/7 for over 4 years straight & never had a problem.
I suspect they give that caution because they know the Purigen beads will begin to fall apart/disintegrate to dust if left in the bleach for say, 2 or more days, like a lot of forgetful people may do.
And also, they may also know the bags will begin to deteriorate faster with full strength bleach. They don't provide the explanatory logic for using 1:1 water bleach vs. just bleach, do they? 
I go with what works for me - At times, manufacturer's instructions are an over-abundance of caution, in my estimation.


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

burr740 said:


> Do you guys not worry about Purigen removing nitrates? Ive never used it so pardon a dumb question. Just seems strange to add nitrates on one hand, and use a media that takes them out on the other.


Purigen doesn't remove nitrates... 

Purigen removes nitrogen containing organic waste... Those would normally break down (in part) to form ammonia, get converted to nitrite, then nitrate... This is how it "controls" nitrates..

But if you are dosing KNO3, it is entirely unaffected by purigen, because it is never a complex organic waste product purigen will absorb...

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=3888


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

mattinmd said:


> Purigen doesn't remove nitrates...
> 
> Purigen removes nitrogen containing organic waste... Those would normally break down (in part) to form ammonia, get converted to nitrite, then nitrate... This is how it "controls" nitrates..
> 
> ...


 Exactly - couldn't agree more.


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

mattinmd said:


> Purigen doesn't remove nitrates...
> 
> Purigen removes nitrogen containing organic waste... Those would normally break down (in part) to form ammonia, get converted to nitrite, then nitrate... This is how it "controls" nitrates..
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. That is one thing I never understood before, and the main reason Ive never tried Purigen in my plant tanks.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

burr740 said:


> Thanks for the info. That is one thing I never understood before, and the main reason Ive never tried Purigen in my plant tanks.


 Ime with it, Purigen has never adversely affected plant growth or fertilization efforts & practices, whether low-tech or high tech with pressurized CO2.
I think the proof is in the pudding - here's a couple of examples of planted tanks using Purigen 24/7, for you to have a look-see:

http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/3RedSnakeSkins
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/Anubias

or one more:
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/redrubys


----------



## flight50 (Apr 17, 2012)

I use to run dual AC300s on a 55g back in the day that later, got replaced by two 2213s. I only ran sponges in my setup. I never use carbon in anything. Sponges are easy to clean and very durable. Only reason I replaced the ACs was due to noise. As water evaporated, it became annoying while trying to have movies nights. Before replacing, I did modify the housing to accept a water diverting flap but I lost surface aggitation more than I liked and then came the 2213s.


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> Ime with it, Purigen has never adversely affected plant growth or fertilization efforts & practices, whether low-tech or high tech with pressurized CO2.
> I think the proof is in the pudding - here's a couple of examples of planted tanks using Purigen 24/7, for you to have a look-see:
> 
> http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/3RedSnakeSkins
> ...


Thanks. Im going to try some in my tanks now that I understand the mechanics better.

Btw Ive looked at your pb albums before. You have some wonderful, just immaculate looking set-ups.


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> Don't let it dry out.


What would happen if it were to dry out?

By the way, i've been an advocate for this stuff up until I had to recharge it yesterday. I still love it but sweet mother of God does it call for a gigantic amount of Prime. I followed Seachem's instructions to a T and had to use 60 mL of Prime. After letting it sit in RO/Prime water for 24 hours I then let it dry out for about 8 hours. After reading your post I went and threw it in some dechlor water.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

burr740 said:


> Thanks. Im going to try some in my tanks now that I understand the mechanics better.
> 
> Btw Ive looked at your pb albums before. You have some wonderful, just immaculate looking set-ups.


 Thank you very much - I do like to keep my tanks 'immaculate' - it's actually very easy to do - just takes a little extra effort & work. I'd be glad to give you some details if you wish.

But you know, Purigen really gives anyone a leg up insofar as maintaining crystal clear water, along with removing many impurities to improve water quality.
Oh, and btw - if you've seen my set-ups before, perhaps it's time for me to take some new pics - LOL


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

StrangeDejavu said:


> What would happen if it were to dry out?
> 
> By the way, i've been an advocate for this stuff up until I had to recharge it yesterday. I still love it but sweet mother of God does it call for a gigantic amount of Prime. I followed Seachem's instructions to a T and had to use 60 mL of Prime. After letting it sit in RO/Prime water for 24 hours I then let it dry out for about 8 hours. After reading your post I went and threw it in some dechlor water.


 
If you've ever noted, when you buy the 'bag' of Purigen, or the 250 ml jar & bag it yourself, you'll find that's it's kept a little bit moist - for good reason - if you allow it to dry out, it makes it that much more difficult for the beads to do their adsorption work effectively.

As for using Prime as conditioner - I don't know how you've interpreted Seachem's instructions on using Prime - mine says 1 capful (5 mL) for each 50 (FIFTY) gallons of water. Your bucket of water used for re-charging Purigen shouldn't need more than a few cups of water - thus the need for Prime conditioner should be just a miniscule amount - no more than a few drops in the cap !
My gosh, man - check it over again.


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> As for using Prime as conditioner - I don't know how you've interpreted Seachem's instructions on using Prime - mine says 1 capful (5 mL) for each 50 (FIFTY) gallons of water. Your bucket of water used for re-charging Purigen shouldn't need more than a few cups of water - thus the need for Prime conditioner should be just a miniscule amount - no more than a few drops in the cap !
> My gosh, man - check it over again.


Here's Seachem's instructions from the Purigen product page:



> Regeneration: Soak in a 1:1 bleach:water solution for 24 hours in a non-metallic container in a well ventilated area and away from children. Use regular 8.25% hypochlorite household bleach (non-scented, no dyes, do not use a splash-less bleach). Rinse well, then soak for 8 hours with a solution containing *4 tablespoons of Prime®*, or equivalent dechlorinator *per cup of water.*


I used a measuring cup used for baking, filled it with water, then added the 4 tablespoons of Prime. According to Google, 4 tablespoons = 59.1471 mL. It put quite the dent in my bottle. :icon_roll


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

I think more to the point... 5ml of prime is enough to dechlorinate 50 gallons of tap water, which the EPA allows to contain up to 4ppm of chlorine.

However, the regeneration solution you soak purigen in is not 4 ppm, it is 80,000 ppm (what you get from a 1:1 bleach solution). 

Ok, so the 4ppm solution is 800 cups, and the 80000 ppm solution is 1 cup, but there is still 25 times as much chlorine present in the regen solution as there is in 50 gallons of water.

Some of that chlorine never gets absorbed by the purigen, but you really need to hit it hard to make sure you've removed it all before you stick it back in your tank, hence the super-dose recommendation.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

StrangeDejavu said:


> Here's Seachem's instructions from the Purigen product page:
> 
> 
> 
> I used a measuring cup used for baking, filled it with water, then added the 4 tablespoons of Prime. According to Google, 4 tablespoons = 59.1471 mL. It put quite the dent in my bottle. :icon_roll


 4 tablespoons per cup of water !!!

That's absolutely ridiculous - something is extremely awry with those instructions - but you say you got it on google - hey, that's bad - somebody copied or quoted something very wrong !!

I've been using Prime for may years, and it actually needs far less quantity/volume than any other conditioners - A re-charging bucket of water for Purigen should NOT need more than a couple of drops of Prime to neutralize chlorine/chloramines.


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> but you say you got it on google - hey, that's bad - somebody copied or quoted something very wrong !!


I copied the instructions from Seachem's website, but the math conversion was done via Google.

In either case, mattinmd is dead on regarding the super-dose. :thumbsup: A single dose of Prime removes 3.3 mg/L of chlorine, but there is *far* more chlorine in a 1:1 bleach:water solution than that. The reason a single dose works in your tank is because city water contains very little chlorine (4ppm in my case).


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Another number to ponder. If you regenerate with 1 cup water + 1 cup bleach, it would take 8.4 tablespoons of prime to neutralize it all. Obviously much washes out, but there is still a ton of bleach in that purigen when you are done. Trying to neutralize it with a few drops of prime is foolish and risks nuking your tank. 

Those numbers are Seachem's recomendations. Those numbers fit basic santiy checks. Seachem used to suggest somewhat less, but found it wasn't enough for modern 'ultra' bleaches. After some customers had die-off problems they raised it. Clearly not too much overkill.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

mattinmd said:


> I think more to the point... 5ml of prime is enough to dechlorinate 50 gallons of tap water, which the EPA allows to contain up to 4ppm of chlorine.
> 
> However, the regeneration solution you soak purigen in is not 4 ppm, it is 80,000 ppm (what you get from a 1:1 bleach solution).
> 
> ...


 

Excuse me - in what proven scientific treatise did you find that a 1:1 water/bleach solution produces 80,000 PPM's of chlorine in 1 cup ?
That defies logic and is ludicrous to me. Point me in a plausible explanatory direction.

There is absolutely no need for that very significant amount of Prime to be used in a bucketful of water to remove chlorine from tap water that has been used to rinse Purigen following a bleach re-charging.

If that were the case, I would have had many dozens of dead discus by now.


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> Excuse me - in what proven scientific treatise did you find that a 1:1 water/bleach solution produces 80,000 PPM's of chlorine in 1 cup ?
> That defies logic and is ludicrous to me. Point me in a plausible explanatory direction.
> 
> There is absolutely no need for that very significant amount of Prime to be used in a bucketful of water to remove chlorine from tap water that has been used to rinse Purigen following a bleach re-charging.
> ...


To be fair, you said you alternate your Purigen bags so it's possible all that chlorine has gassed out while sitting.

Also, the FAQ section of Clorox reveals this:



> How much available chlorine is in a bottle of CGB at 8.25% NaOCl?
> 
> 95% of available chlorine is present in a NaOCl solution. Therefore, 8.25% NaOCl x 95% will give 7.84% available chlorine. When diluted 1:10, the final solution will have 0.784% of available chlorine.
> Example 1: A bottle of CGB1 has *8.25% (or 82,500 ppm)* NaOCl, when diluted 1:10, you obtain 8250 ppm of NaOCl, and 7837 ppm of available chlorine.
> Example 2: At label strength, CGW contain 0.55% (or 5500 ppm) of NaOCl, since 95% of this is available chlorine, the active chlorine level is then 0.52%.


Since you are diluting it with water via Seachem's instructions, it's more like ~40,000ppm of available chlorine.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

The point to be made here is that, following a bleaching of the Purigen, there are several thorough rinses of the Purigen taking place with tap water, with oxygenation involved, thus removing the bleach component to a residual, non-harmful, minute measurement or quantity, if any.
The chlorine present in that final rinse tap water is neutralized with the requisite small amount of Prime.


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> Excuse me - in what proven scientific treatise did you find that a 1:1 water/bleach solution produces 80,000 PPM's of chlorine in 1 cup ?.


Meh, bad math.. I went off 1 cup/gallon being 6000 pppm, 6000 * 16 cups/gallon... but that fails to account for the cup of bleach itself changing the total volume.. oops.

edit: removed more bad math.. its late, and I'm watching football.. bad idea to do math.

Bump:


discuspaul said:


> The point to be made here is that, following a bleaching of the Purigen, there are several thorough rinses of the Purigen taking place with tap water, with oxygenation involved, thus removing the bleach component to a residual, non-harmful, minute measurement or quantity, if any.
> The chlorine present in that final rinse tap water is neutralized with the requisite small amount of Prime.



Have you actually regenerated purigen the way you prescribe, and put it in a tank afterwards?


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

mattinmd said:


> Meh, bad math.. I went off 1 cup/gallon being 6000 pppm, 6000 * 16 cups/gallon... but that fails to account for the cup of bleach itself changing the total volume.. oops.
> 
> edit: removed more bad math.. its late, and I'm watching football.. bad idea to do math.
> 
> ...


 I have been regenerating Purigen exactly the way I describe for several years. In discus tanks, mind you, and I haven't lost one of them.

The Purigen doesn't go into the tank until after it has been very well rinsed for several times after a bleaching, until I am completely satisfied there is extremely little, if any, residual bleach remaining within the Purigen bag.
My rinses are done with Prime to ensure any chlorine in the rinse tap water is neutralized.

Bump: Well folks, I think I'm done debating this issue. 

If any one of you who wishes to use Purigen to obtain all of it's benefits, but you want to play it safe by using the ludicrous amount/quantity of Prime described above to neutralize chlorine, then go right ahead and do so.
As for me, I'll continue to do what I've been doing using Purigen, and rely on my over 50 years of fish-keeping experience to guide me.
'Nuff said.


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Fair enough.. It works for you, and I can't take that away from you. By all means, if it works with discus fish it can't be too horrible.

I still think we both agree that purigen is great stuff.

Your results surprises me though, because it runs counter to my own personal experiences. I'll have to try things out your way a few times and see if I get similar results.

The first time I regenerated purigen, I soaked it in 50/50 bleach mix overnight (9 hours or so). I then rinsed it and the glass it was in out quite thoroughly for a minute or so under flowing tap water (not dechlorinated, but certainly less than the soak). I scoffed at the directions and filled the pint glass with water, and added a teaspoon of prime, then left it sit for 24 hours.

The next day, I pulled the bag out, and it positively reeked of bleach. It smelled like white towels at a hotel where they just nuke them with bleach, strong enough to smell from 4 inches away. I would never consider putting it in a tank.

I let it dry out, and sit for a few weeks (I have a second bag that was in the filter). It still smelled of bleach. At that point, I had some much cheaper API tap water conditioner (not stress coat!), and used 60ml of that in a cup of water to dechlorinate it. That finally made it stop smelling of bleach.


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Perhaps you are not rinsing it well enough after the re-charging. A pint glass is too small to do this in. I rinse mine several times in a 5 gal bucket with lots of fresh new water each time, kneading the Purigen bag well every time to remove as much of the bleach solution as is possible. Then I let the bag sit in the bucket in lots of de-chlorinated water (API is good) for as long as it takes to dissipate all of the bleach residue. Works for me.


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> As for me, I'll continue to do what I've been doing using Purigen, and rely on my over 50 years of fish-keeping experience to guide me.
> 'Nuff said.


No hard feelings. A quick search yields many topics of residual bleach in Purigen causing pH crashes, wiping out stocks and killing the plants. Since this is a public forum, I was just trying to get the facts straight since this thread will one day be dug up by someone through a Google search looking to be sent in the right direction. Your way has been working thus far, especially when it concerns Discus- we all know how delicate they are. However, since I am still relatively new to all of this, i'm just trying to get facts straight as I have no experience to guide me... only the directions on a bottle. roud:


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Yes, it's quite true that bleach residual in Purigen bags has caused a lot of misfortunes for fish-keepers - and I'd wager that the majority of the problems is caused by a lack of care and attention in completely dissipating the bleach residual through neglectful/insufficient rinsing.





StrangeDejavu said:


> No hard feelings. A quick search yields many topics of residual bleach in Purigen causing pH crashes, wiping out stocks and killing the plants. Since this is a public forum, I was just trying to get the facts straight since this thread will one day be dug up by someone through a Google search looking to be sent in the right direction. Your way has been working thus far, especially when it concerns Discus- we all know how delicate they are. However, since I am still relatively new to all of this, i'm just trying to get facts straight as I have no experience to guide me... only the directions on a bottle. roud:


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Another serious danger in re-charging Purigen occurs when using any conditioner which contains amine-based polymers. A number of these conditioners combine chlorine removal capacity with stress coat protective agents, as an example.

As I understand it, amine-based polymers will bind with Purigen resin to formulate, or create if you will, highly toxic chloramines from the chlorine. Chloramines are then introduced into the tank with the Purigen bag.

Prime and Safe are 2 conditioners which are not amine-based, thus are safe to use for de-chlorinating rinse water following the bleach re-charging of Purigen. 

(Seachem says it makes no products which are amine-based.)


----------



## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> Prime and Safe are 2 conditioners which are not amine-based, thus are safe to use for de-chlorinating rinse water following the bleach re-charging of Purigen.
> 
> (Seachem says it makes no products which are amine-based.)


Technically, the problem isn't Amines as a whole. Tetrasodium EDTA is an amine, present in most water conditioners and is safe when regenerating purigen.

What is not safe is amine based slime coat enhancers.

http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Purigen.html

Really, just don't use any water conditioner that also claims to enhance the slime coat other than prime when regenerating. AFAIK only 2 products claim slime coat enhancement and dechlorination at the same time... Stress coat and Prime. You do the math.

Seachem have stated API tap water conditioner (not stress coat!) is fine, and that makes sense as it contains no slime coat enhancers at all. It is just dechlorinator (sodium thiosulfate) and metal detoxifier (tetrasodium edta).

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=3577

This much is why I do my "bulk" dechlorinating with the API tap water conditioner. It is a lot cheaper than prime. It doesn't have many other positive attributes that Prime has (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate detox), so I use Prime as my tank water conditioner. However, those other attributes are irrelevant if you just have a bunch of chlorine to neutralize.


----------



## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> The point to be made here is that, following a bleaching of the Purigen, there are several thorough rinses of the Purigen taking place with tap water, with oxygenation involved, thus removing the bleach component to a residual, non-harmful, minute measurement or quantity, if any.
> The chlorine present in that final rinse tap water is neutralized with the requisite small amount of Prime.


Sorry to necro an older thread, but felt I should post my findings. I decided to try Paul's method of rinsing this time around. I rinsed the bag thoroughly, for at least 3 - 5 minutes straight. I then added enough Seachem Safe for a 5g bucket and let it sit over night. Today, I used a chlorine test kit for spas and got 0 chlorine reading. Just to be extra safe (no pun intended), I added another 5g bucket worth of Safe and will allow it to sit overnight again. I fought against this pretty strongly last time, but Paul was and is correct in his method.


----------

