# Recharging Purigen-Who has guts?



## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Basically everyone.... There isn't any "guts" to it. I've recharged it with several hundred dollars in fish in a tank. Not much mystique to this stuff. Rinse, bleach, rinse, dechlorinate, rejoice.

If you let the glass with the rinsed/dechlorinated purigen sit (with water) for a day or two it insures even further that the bleach has evaporated off(chlorine evaporates, that is why water companies use chloramine).


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## AlisaR (Dec 7, 2011)

I'm not gonna lie, I buy new purigen


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## Lifeblood (Jan 31, 2012)

If you know anything about chlorine (bleach is just watered down chlorine) you recharge it.

Granted it is fairly inexpensive, but why waste money you can spend on shrimp?


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## Jorge_Burrito (Nov 10, 2010)

I recharge, but give it extra time and dechlorinator after the bleach treatment


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

I've recharged my bag of Purigen about 5-6 times already. The prebagged one. I always give it a good soaking in Prime for 3-4 days afterward though. No problems so far.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

After several "recharges" the 100mL purigen bag starts to break down. What I do is use pantyhose to hold little satchels of purigen. Then dump them out of the pantyhose into a glass container to recharge it.

Never had any problems with it.


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## guppies (Jan 16, 2010)

i recharge, no difference just like new, rinse with RO water and prime several times and you are good to go.


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## ohbaby714 (Feb 23, 2011)

I been recharging them for all my tank with no problem. Like everyone said, rinse, bleach, prime, and it's good to go again.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I don't know that I'd have enough guts to recharge....it would be cheap insurance to just buy a new one in my opinion. They are really cheap.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

hedge_fund said:


> I don't know that I'd have enough guts to recharge....it would be cheap insurance to just buy a new one in my opinion. They are really cheap.


I think mainly for the larger tanks it's more cost effective to clean them yourself as you're using like 500+ml. I clean my own little packets out cause I'm cheap . and bleach and dechlorinator is cheaper


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

hedge_fund said:


> I don't know that I'd have enough guts to recharge....it would be cheap insurance to just buy a new one in my opinion. They are really cheap.


We're not talking about black magic or voodoo here. If you smell bleach rinse and re apply dechlor. Simple. 


Sent from my iPhone 4S


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

What ratio for water Prime to be on the safe side?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

You can't really overdose Prime... I've heard of people using 10x the amount.


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## Mike Hawk (Mar 9, 2012)

plamski said:


> What ratio for water Prime to be on the safe side?


Honestly I have seen people dose 10x the dosage for prime on there tanks here during ammonia spikes. I would not worry about adding to much sense you can't overdose. I'm sure someone will be along in a few to tell you the proper dose :icon_mrgr.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Recharged mine for my SS/SSS crystal tank. Just dose the prime, let it sit, rinse really well with water, was all good.


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## Gulfcoastguy (Nov 4, 2011)

So I tried this today used equal parts bleach and water let them soak for 30 minutes they were all nice and white and clean and I rinised them and they turn dark brown again the second I started rinising them? They arent that old this is the first time I tried rechargeing them.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Gulfcoastguy said:


> So I tried this today used equal parts bleach and water let them soak for 30 minutes they were all nice and white and clean and I rinised them and they turn dark brown again the second I started rinising them? They arent that old this is the first time I tried rechargeing them.


Let it sit longer than 30mins and rotate it around. If it's in the package, the outside beads look clean but the ones in the middle need good contact with the bleach so rotate, swish it around, let it soak for a while, then rinse, does lots of prime, rinse again, lots of prime. As soon as the prime hits it, the bleach smell with go away.


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## zergling (May 16, 2007)

I recharge


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## Gulfcoastguy (Nov 4, 2011)

Yea so it helps to read the bottle lol gota let it soak 24 hours not 30 minutes


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

What do you all use purigen for?


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

getting rid of very fine particulates in the water---makes the water look super spiffy clear.


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

I recharge mine but most of the time too lazy so I just buy new. 

You can let it dry out in the sun if you're super worried.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

For me, $6-$10 for 100ml isn't cheap. So I recharge like woah. Literally until it's nigh impossible to be reused.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

What are you guys even talking about?


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## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

jeremyTR said:


> What are you guys even talking about?


...read the title of the thread?


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I recharge one time then new.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

plamski said:


> I’m interested to find out how many of us are willing to recharge purigen and to reuse it with their expensive shrimps and how many prefer to buy new one.
> I’m for new one after 2 recharging failure.


can you elaborate on the 2 recharing failures? did you encounter tank deaths?

oh yeah, No guts, no glory


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Yes after recharging I'm testing it on red cherry shrimps.I kill them all.I'll try with more purigen.
I have 4L used ones.Sunday will be the D-day.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

plamski said:


> Yes after recharging I'm testing it on red cherry shrimps.I kill them all.I'll try with more purigen.
> I have 4L used ones.Sunday will be the D-day.


Are you dosing lots of Prime after to neutralize the chlorine.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

I did it by requirements.Now I'll dose more Prime.Will wash it 3 times 10h each.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

amphirion said:


> getting rid of very fine particulates in the water---makes the water look super spiffy clear.


Do you really notice much difference compared to just using a micron pad? 

I'm just trying to imagine my tank water any clearer... it sounds impossible...


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

With Purigen water is just .........perfect clear-more than necessary 


Chlorophile said:


> Do you really notice much difference compared to just using a micron pad?
> 
> I'm just trying to imagine my tank water any clearer... it sounds impossible...


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## chiefroastbeef (Feb 14, 2011)

How long between the recharges?

My tank is already super clear with coarse foam>eheim substrat pro balls>polishing pads.

Will I see improvement? Itching to try it...


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## TL1000RSquid (Jan 5, 2012)

chiefroastbeef said:


> How long between the recharges?
> 
> My tank is already super clear with coarse foam>eheim substrat pro balls>polishing pads.
> 
> Will I see improvement? Itching to try it...


I recharge mine around every 10 weeks or so, though it could go longer I've seen other people wait till theirs was much filthier then mine. 

All my FW tanks have 1-2 Aquaclears so I don't know how well the eheim canister pads work but when I started using it in my FW tanks I thought my water was pretty clear to begin with but it made a noticeable difference. 

For the OP I've recharged alot of purigen many times never had any die off problems whether its planted fw tank with shrimp or my reef.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

TL1000RSquid said:


> I recharge mine around every 10 weeks or so, though it could go longer I've seen other people wait till theirs was much filthier then mine.
> 
> All my FW tanks have 1-2 Aquaclears so I don't know how well the eheim canister pads work but when I started using it in my FW tanks I thought my water was pretty clear to begin with but it made a noticeable difference.
> 
> For the OP I've recharged alot of purigen many times never had any die off problems whether its planted fw tank with shrimp or my reef.


I had aqua clear filters on some tanks in the past but they didn't do any water polishing really, lots of random stuff floating around.

The default eheim media is amazing, I may try purigen but don't know if it would be worth it!


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Purigen isn't used for filtering out large/visible particulate matter. It's an absorbent polymer that mostly sucks up ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.


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## Alaizabelle (Apr 7, 2011)

I recharge my purigen, never had a problem with it before


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## Buff Daddy (Oct 19, 2010)

chiefroastbeef said:


> How long between the recharges?
> 
> My tank is already super clear with coarse foam>eheim substrat pro balls>polishing pads.
> 
> Will I see improvement? Itching to try it...


Purigen will remove organic material that nothing else will remove. It absorbs organic junk (nitrogenous) that release ammonia,nitrates and nitrites. I was skeptical until I tried it in a cloudy tank with an AC 30. I have a 100ml I have recharged several times with no problems. I only use it when I can't clear water for some reason, or have a spike due to nuking something, and I've used it in along with a UV filter once... awesome substance.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

OK so I might give it a shot and recharge instead of buying a new one again (I'm on my third in the last few months) haha. 

What is the recipe that you guys use in terms of bleach to water ratio? How long do you soak it for in the bleach solution and then the dechlorinate solution?

thanks


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

[email protected] who is afraid to recharge their Purigen. 

I'll soak in bleach overnight, rinse pour a cap of Prime into a 16ishoz cup (same cup I soak it in with bleach) and then wait a few hours, rinse and dip once more into Prime water before putting it back into my tank.

EASY.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

somewhatshocked said:


> Purigen isn't used for filtering out large/visible particulate matter. It's an absorbent polymer that mostly sucks up ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.


And makes your water amazingly crystal clear in the process.

I love this stuff.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Me too/ditto to that. I just recharged a bag of it yesterday and putting it into a tank today caused a noticeable difference. Gorgeous water.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

+1. There is clear water and then there is purigen water. People who say it doesn't work or make water any more clear, have never used it. You can't NOT notice the difference.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Purigen= GREAT STUFF. Especially when you learn how to recharge it-Like myself.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

I am trying to recharge mine now, well one bag of my 3 liters I have spread between 2 20L in canisters and 2 15L in canisters and my 55G. I am trying the 2 huge bags I keep in my 55g


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Talking about recharge.... Is there anyway to rinse the purigen with other chemical other than prime?

2 tablespoon which is 30ml of Prime per cup of water kinda gets expensive in the long run. Every time I recharge I tried to soak my purigen in 1.5 cup of water. (that's 45ml Prime every recharge!)


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

why do so many people use purigen in planted tanks when it takes nutrients out of the tank ? Isnt that the "stuff" thats beneficial to our beloved plants ? And when you dose with Flourish comp, excel etc its surely soaking those up too.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

stevenjohn21 said:


> why do so many people use purigen in planted tanks when it takes nutrients out of the tank ? Isnt that the "stuff" thats beneficial to our beloved plants ? And when you dose with Flourish comp, excel etc its surely soaking those up too.


It doesn't take out any old nutrient or excel, it primarily targets nitrious compounds.


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

According to Seachem's website data, this product "controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds." Plants do this by removing ammonia so rapidly there is minimal nitrite and nitrate anyway, and what little there is, is essential to a healthy aquarium because bacteria in the substrate use nitrate. As for organics, these are essential as a natural source of nutrients, especially CO2. Which is why planted tank aquarists leave the substrate alone.
Seachem admit there is an impact on trace elements. These may or may not occur in your tap water, and you are certainly adding them with Flourish. So why use something that is now going to remove them, even if "minimally" (and we don't know how "minimal" this may be)?
Quoted from another member on a thread regarding this product.


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## babydragons (Mar 14, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> Talking about recharge.... Is there anyway to rinse the purigen with other chemical other than prime?
> 
> 2 tablespoon which is 30ml of Prime per cup of water kinda gets expensive in the long run. Every time I recharge I tried to soak my purigen in 1.5 cup of water. (that's 45ml Prime every recharge!)


I am also curious abiut this though my reason is I still have another product I'm using before I go and buy prime. I want to use what i already bought. Is prime the inly product you can use with the purigen? 

Also how much purigen do you put in the little bags? I put very little in since it says it treats up to 250 gallons of water. I have a 15 gal at the moment.


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## AquaPipes (Jun 4, 2012)

I always have a problem with the bleach not getting to all of the purigen. Anyone tried putting an air stone underneath the purigen in the bleach to help circulate the bleach?


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

babydragons said:


> I am also curious abiut this though my reason is I still have another product I'm using before I go and buy prime. I want to use what i already bought. Is prime the inly product you can use with the purigen? <br />
> <br />
> Also how much purigen do you put in the little bags? I put very little in since it says it treats up to 250 gallons of water. I have a 15 gal at the moment.


<br />
<br />
I have a 100ml bag in my 10g and 125ml bag in my 20g long and 40b<br />
<br />


AquaPipes said:


> I always have a problem with the bleach not getting to all of the purigen. Anyone tried putting an air stone underneath the purigen in the bleach to help circulate the bleach?


<br />
<br />
I just move my around a bit. squeeze it and move it around a little.


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## Mr. Leg (Feb 2, 2011)

AlisaR said:


> I'm not gonna lie, I buy new purigen



want to send me your used stuff, i will recharge and use. lol


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## chunkychun (Apr 6, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> Talking about recharge.... Is there anyway to rinse the purigen with other chemical other than prime?
> 
> 2 tablespoon which is 30ml of Prime per cup of water kinda gets expensive in the long run. Every time I recharge I tried to soak my purigen in 1.5 cup of water. (that's 45ml Prime every recharge!)


I just recharged and dechlorinated with random dechlorinator (5ml) from petsmart and no problems. just let it sit in it overnight and check for chlorine smell and I also did a quick test for chlorine to be on the safe side.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

During recharging I'm moving it around with wooden stick every hour. I’m using 2gal plastic container and I'm recharging 4L of purigen at ones it is less expensive when is in larger amounts. I like to open the bags for recharging.


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> Talking about recharge.... Is there anyway to rinse the purigen with other chemical other than prime?
> 
> 2 tablespoon which is 30ml of Prime per cup of water kinda gets expensive in the long run. Every time I recharge I tried to soak my purigen in 1.5 cup of water. (that's 45ml Prime every recharge!)


I don't know why this product isn't as well advertised, maybe because if everyone uses it then seachem won't make as much money on prime.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html

It's MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than prime and pretty much the same thing. I have a bottle for like $10 to $15 and I expect it to last for at least 5 years ;-)


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## larcat (Jul 27, 2011)

:icon_eek:



randyl said:


> I don't know why this product isn't as well advertised, maybe because if everyone uses it then seachem won't make as much money on prime.
> 
> http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html
> 
> It's MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than prime and pretty much the same thing. I have a bottle for like $10 to $15 and I expect it to last for at least 5 years ;-)


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## Jules (May 20, 2012)

randyl said:


> I don't know why this product isn't as well advertised, maybe because if everyone uses it then seachem won't make as much money on prime.
> 
> http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html
> 
> It's MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than prime and pretty much the same thing. I have a bottle for like $10 to $15 and I expect it to last for at least 5 years ;-)


^+1

Safe is _exactly_ the same stuff as Prime, and one 250ml bottle lasts me over 6 years.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

From the website:

Safe™ is the dry version of Prime® and shares all of it’s advantages; however, Safe™ is even more concentrated than Prime®.


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

hedge_fund said:


> From the website:
> 
> Safe™ is the dry version of Prime® and shares all of it’s advantages; however, Safe™ is even more concentrated than Prime®.


That's Seachem's way to say "Yes, we overprice the Prime, and feel free to pay more to get the extra water in those prime bottles."


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

OMG.How we mist it !?!?! I just bought 1Gal Prime.:-(


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

I'll pay for shipping your old (Purigen) lmao if you're too afraid to recharge it!
Stuff costs an arm and a leg!

-Gordon


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## larcat (Jul 27, 2011)

I'm trying to figure out how you would does Safe for small amounts of water, and failing. Compounded in shrimp tanks because AFAIK, Prime raises TDS...


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

yeah if someone does not want there purigen because they are afraid to recharge it I am in on paying shipping for you to send it to me.

Gordon can have all the prime and try and recharge it all he wants. LOL


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## Jules (May 20, 2012)

larcat said:


> I'm trying to figure out how you would does Safe for small amounts of water, and failing. Compounded in shrimp tanks because AFAIK, Prime raises TDS...


For general purposes seachem recommends adding 1 measure (0.1 g) SAFE for every 55 L (15 gal) of water being treated. 

So, to dose tiny tanks just dissolve 1 measure (0.1 g) in 100 ml of water and then dose the appropriate fraction of that. For example, to treat 1 gal of water you'd add 7 ml of your solution.

(_Note:_ since SAFE does not contain a stabilizer you probably can't store it once you mix it up - so unless you have enough small tanks to use the whole 100 ml of solution, you may be better off with Prime.)


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Think you can throw purigen in the micro wave to evap all the water and moister out of it once cleaned. To make sure everything is off it


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Purigen must stay wet. Other ways it won't absorb .I spoke with Sechem and by their request I added water in my 4L jars for storage.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Purigen doesn't have to remain wet. Remember, it arrives dry.

I've recharged for years and allowed it to dry out before re-use with no problems at all.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Well. I bought 8x2L jars. Purigen was heavy moisturized in all of them. That why I spoke with Seachem. They told me that it will shrink if it stays dry for some time.


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## kingfisherfleshy (Jun 4, 2010)

Never used it with shrimp. Have recharged and used 400mL in my 125g reef. 

So - very sensitive inverts not effected. 

No longer use it though.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Heck I ahve at least 4L split between my shrimp tanks and 500ml in my 55 community, that I am rescaping today!


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

My Purigen has always arrived dry in the bottle.

Maybe purigen has to remain damp after getting wet like RO filters?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

If it had to remain wet, I'm not sure how it could work for me after sitting dry on a shelf for 16 or 17 months before getting reused. Works as well as any other Purigen I've used.

Some will use the argument that every tank is different and that's true. But I've used this Purigen to clean up some real disasters in the past with no problems.

Note: it arrives dry when you buy the single 100g bag. It's a cardboard box with the Purigen pillow inside.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

It does HAVE to remain wet, I've talked to seachem and they recommend it stay moist because once it dries out, the pores in the beads shrink, and when rehydrated some do not open back up, and some beads will break into pieces (no biggie on breaking, except it may escape your filter bag)

And all purigen products are supposed to be moist right out of the container. The 100ml purigen is in a plastic bag inside of the cardboard box


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

All my purigen was damp....even when I purchased the one already in a small bag.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Mine has never come wet/moist/damp from Ken's Fish.

In fact, I got a bag this morning. While it's in a plastic bag, it's not remotely air tight.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah the stuff I have purchased in the past is dry as well


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I dont doubt you got it dry, I'm just saying that seachem told me it is supposed to stay moist. Only reason I even asked them was because i thought something was wrong when i got my first bottle of it and it was wet.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

The same here.
I bought mine 2L jars from kensfish-purigen was wet.


mordalphus said:


> I dont doubt you got it dry, I'm just saying that seachem told me it is supposed to stay moist. Only reason I even asked them was because i thought something was wrong when i got my first bottle of it and it was wet.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

All I can say is it worked like magic! I will continue to use it


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

randyl said:


> I don't know why this product isn't as well advertised, maybe because if everyone uses it then seachem won't make as much money on prime.
> 
> http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html
> 
> It's MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than prime and pretty much the same thing. I have a bottle for like $10 to $15 and I expect it to last for at least 5 years ;-)



I never knew this. THANK YOU SO MUCH!


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

I know I bought 1L it will probably last me a life time


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Seriously anyone ever use the Seachem Safe?
only 1 thread about this product http://plantedtank.net/forums/search.php?searchid=6370482

honestly I never heard of this Seachem Safe product. Is it new???
People just keeping it secret ???

I'm just blown.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

It's not new, not secret, people talk about it on the forum all the time.

Works just like Prime.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Here's how I recharge my purigen:









Put it in 20% bleach solution and stick it on the mag-stir for a couple of hours.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

How do you filter it out. So you do a 80 water to 20% bleach solution not the 1:1 they say. I like the shaker I might buy one huts for that


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

How do I filter what out?

the purigen settles very quickly to the bottom of the flask, so to rinse it afterwards, i just put the flask in the sink and turn the faucet on low, and the purigen stays in the bottom while the water overspills the top and exchanges the bleach for new water. When I can barely smell, or can't smell the bleach anymore, I put it back onto the stir plate and stick a capful of prime into the mixture and mix it up for another 15-20 minutes.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

mordalphus said:


> How do I filter what out?
> 
> the purigen settles very quickly to the bottom of the flask, so to rinse it afterwards, i just put the flask in the sink and turn the faucet on low, and the purigen stays in the bottom while the water overspills the top and exchanges the bleach for new water. When I can barely smell, or can't smell the bleach anymore, I put it back onto the stir plate and stick a capful of prime into the mixture and mix it up for another 15-20 minutes.


could you explain why not the 50:50 water/ bleach solution? and prime + water only for 20 minutes instead of the whole night?

*is it because you only use 20% bleach so you can get away with 20 mins prime water?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

sayurasem said:


> could you explain why not the 50:50 water/ bleach solution? and prime + water only for 20 minutes instead of the whole night?
> 
> *is it because you only use 20% bleach so you can get away with 20 mins prime water?


Because when you put it in a magnetic stirrer, it's much faster and more efficient because each bead of purigen is in contact with the bleach or prime 100% of the time. It speeds the reaction.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

mordalphus said:


> Because when you put it in a magnetic stirrer, it's much faster and more efficient because each bead of purigen is in contact with the bleach or prime 100% of the time. It speeds the reaction.


I totally missed the magnetic stir! I thought you were spinning it with spoon somehow my head is not working right lol

That is pretty cool.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

You can get away with twenty minutes of Prime no matter what method you use. I do it all the time without the fancy magnetic stirring. I also do a 50/50 ratio.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

50/50 ratio of water and bleach. One capful of Prime.


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## Mr. Leg (Feb 2, 2011)

For anyone that used Safe, does it have a funny odor? almost sulfur like?


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Can you gays reach whiteness of like new Purigen after recharging?
Mine is little bit less white and bright kind of creamy white.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I wait until my purigen is dark brown, but I've never been able to get it bright white, just a lot lighter.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Mr. Leg said:


> For anyone that used Safe, does it have a funny odor? almost sulfur like?


Yes, very stinky, just like prime


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

Try just a pure bleach soak. I do it to get it nice and white. Then just rinse under clean water when your done like usual and use lots of prime!

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

plamski said:


> Can you gays reach whiteness of like new Purigen after recharging?
> Mine is little bit less white and bright kind of creamy white.


I don't think my purigen will ever turn white as new again lol.



mordalphus said:


> Yes, very stinky, just like prime


Nick which product do you use? Prime or Safe? Which one do you recommend?


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

jeremyTR said:


> 50/50 ratio of water and bleach. One capful of Prime.


On the seachem forum it says that you should use 1 tbsp of prime per cup or water or something along the lines of that. 

Anyways, the last time I recharged my purigen, after letting it sit in conditioned water with lots of prime overnight I proceeded to rinse it through a net to thoroughly get rid of the bleach. But after rinsing for a good few minutes, there were still bubbles(presumably bleach) in the water through the net w/ purigen(I placed a cup under the net to see if there was any residue left. 

Is this normal to rinse that long and have some bubbles left? Eventually I rinsed for a pretty long time, 10 mins maybe before most of the bubbles were gone. Was I just over thinkin it?


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

There are bubbles even in new purigen if you fill the jar with water.
Only Chlorine test can tell the true.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

jkan0228 said:


> On the seachem forum it says that you should use 1 tbsp of prime per cup or water or something along the lines of that.
> 
> Anyways, the last time I recharged my purigen, after letting it sit in conditioned water with lots of prime overnight I proceeded to rinse it through a net to thoroughly get rid of the bleach. But after rinsing for a good few minutes, there were still bubbles(presumably bleach) in the water through the net w/ purigen(I placed a cup under the net to see if there was any residue left.
> 
> Is this normal to rinse that long and have some bubbles left? Eventually I rinsed for a pretty long time, 10 mins maybe before most of the bubbles were gone. Was I just over thinkin it?


Sounds like they want you to go thru Prime faster. The way I do it works fine, not a single problem. I soaked my Purigen in pure bleach for a couple hours (I also stir and move and squeeze the bags while they're soaking), then I rinse in hot water until it doesn't feel bleachy anymore then I fill my container with fresh water and just enough that it covers the top of the purigen bags and just use a capfull of prime and then squeeze and mix the bags up making sure all the little Purigen beads make contact with Prime. I do this for about 20 minutes (not constantly moving and squeezing the bags though) and I'm good to go. The proof is my shrimp aren't dead today.

Some people are just way too paranoid for their own good.


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## MartyMA (Mar 2, 2012)

I love purigen!! Fantastic at clearing up tea colored water from leeching driftwood. Recharged for the first time the other day. 24hrs soak in bleach/water 1:1, moving it around every few hours during the soak (rinse, rinse, rinse), second soak barely covered in water with a little prime and finally a 48 hour soak in a 5 gallon bucket of aging changing water. Returned to filter in my 20g endler colony tank. Nobody died. Success.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Does anybody actually know the science behind bleach and purigen? I literally had a brown purigen bag right before I went to Happy Hour. I came back to my apt with a friend and she goes: "what's that white thing in the bowl sitting on your counter". Yup, that purigen bag turned perfectly white in about 4 hours. It literally looks snow white in color. I dumped the bleach water and now it's filled up with a de-chlorinator solution.

What actually happens in the process? Does bleach eat away the outer layer of the purigen balls or does it only get rid of the dirt?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Here's a Wikipedia entry on ion-exchange polymers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion-exchange_resin

I believe the bleach is able to clear out the pores of the beads which have been storing nasty ions.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

*Fyi.*



hedge_fund said:


> OK so I might give it a shot and recharge instead of buying a new one again (I'm on my third in the last few months) haha.
> 
> What is the recipe that you guys use in terms of bleach to water ratio? How long do you soak it for in the bleach solution and then the dechlorinate solution?
> 
> thanks


See here for directions.


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## kalawai2000 (Jan 15, 2011)

I"m to chicken^%$# to do the recharge. Yeah, I'm sure it's easy but I really don't want to bother with it. I'll just buy new ones...
I love this product..have it in all my tanks.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

Yay for wasting money right

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G


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## DerekFF (May 24, 2011)

kalawai2000 said:


> I"m to chicken^%$# to do the recharge. Yeah, I'm sure it's easy but I really don't want to bother with it. I'll just buy new ones...
> I love this product..have it in all my tanks.


Buy chemi-pure then

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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Kalawai2000 when you are done with your purigen I will pay for shipping to me and I will ate it and recharge it


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

So I recharged my purigen bag about two weeks ago but I never put it back in the tank. It's still sitting there is a bowl of freshwater. I'm too chicken to throw it back in BUT I have noticed that all of the sudden my moss has taken off like no tomorrow. I think the purigen was literally stripping the water of whatever little nutrients were in there. Needless to say, I have 3 separate filters on my 20 gallon so I do not think that I'll be utilizing the purigen bag for this tank. I like my moss neon green looking. 

I used to have some awesome moss in this tank and then all of the sudden all my Christmas moss started to turn slightly brown. I could never pinpoint the issue but I think it all started when I added the purigen. It actually makes sense.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

My tanks do great at growing moss with purigen in them I just use more ligh than most a develope all them in my pfr tank


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## chiefroastbeef (Feb 14, 2011)

kalawai2000 said:


> I"m to chicken^%$# to do the recharge. Yeah, I'm sure it's easy but I really don't want to bother with it. I'll just buy new ones...
> I love this product..have it in all my tanks.



You need to start a purigen recylying/donation for all the spent purigen you have..


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

hedge_fund said:


> So I recharged my purigen bag about two weeks ago but I never put it back in the tank. It's still sitting there is a bowl of freshwater. I'm too chicken to throw it back in BUT I have noticed that all of the sudden my moss has taken off like no tomorrow. I think the purigen was literally stripping the water of whatever little nutrients were in there. Needless to say, I have 3 separate filters on my 20 gallon so I do not think that I'll be utilizing the purigen bag for this tank. I like my moss neon green looking.
> 
> I used to have some awesome moss in this tank and then all of the sudden all my Christmas moss started to turn slightly brown. I could never pinpoint the issue but I think it all started when I added the purigen. It actually makes sense.


Add the Purigen back and see if the moss changes for the worse. Then remove it again. Just to make sure there is a correlation.


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

How the heck did this thread get so long, with so many views. I don't believe anyone has any reason to not recharge their Purigen. Seachem wouldn't mention it on their website if it wasn't safe to do.

I have a lot of Java Moss in my tank, it's super green and grows really fast. The only nutrients I add are Aqueon Plant Food which appearently isn't a complete fert. But all of my plants are green, I seem to have low light from what I have read, and I have black sand as my substrate.

I've never used Purigen but am curious to try just to see if my water can get clearer even though it's super clean looking as it is. I'm interested to see if Hedge_Funds mosses turn brownish if he puts the Purigen back in.


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## discus fever (Jun 16, 2010)

I recently bought some purigen and in the directions it says that for freshwater use you need to soak it in their discus buffer. I have not seen one mention of this in this thread. Does anyone do it and what is it supposed to do? Maybe preload the purigen with something so it does not strip your water of that compound?


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

discus fever said:


> I recently bought some purigen and in the directions it says that for freshwater use you need to soak it in their discus buffer. I have not seen one mention of this in this thread. Does anyone do it and what is it supposed to do? Maybe preload the purigen with something so it does not strip your water of that compound?


Huh?

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

discus fever said:


> I recently bought some purigen and in the directions it says that for freshwater use you need to soak it in their discus buffer. I have not seen one mention of this in this thread. Does anyone do it and what is it supposed to do? Maybe preload the purigen with something so it does not strip your water of that compound?


Their discus buffer is mixed phosphates, so that's probably something it would otherwise remove. In shrimp tanks we don't want excess phosphates anyway.


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## trapperwolves (Nov 26, 2011)

I called Seachem a few months ago and the rep told me they are discontinuing their recommendation to soak with a buffer. Soaking in bleach and then using a dechlorinator is sufficient.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

trapperwolves said:


> I called Seachem a few months ago and the rep told me they are discontinuing their recommendation to soak with a buffer. Soaking in bleach and then using a dechlorinator is sufficient.


Yes, very true.
I've used Purigen 24/7 for 3 years in my planted discus tank - simply soaking in bleach to re-charge, then rinsing/placing it in conditioned water prior to re-use. And I've found it can be re-charged up to 12-15 times before it begins to significantly lose it's effectiveness.


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## discus fever (Jun 16, 2010)

Thanks for the responses. I really didn't want to spend any money on the buffers if they weren't necessary.


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

Ok so after following this thread, and not having anything in paticular to buy for my tank this week, I bought some Purigen. 
What I wanna know is, how. Quickly does it polish up your water? Obviously this would depend on type of filter, gph etc. 

I have 2 HOB filters on my 20g for a total of 275gph. I'm assuming I should notice a difference rather quickly.

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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Yes, you should. You will likely start noticing a marked improvement in water clarity within 2-3 days or so.


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

I just put about 25ml in each HOB for my 20g. I swear I can already see the water starting to look cleaner after a few hours. My water is gonna be nice and crisp if the Purigen keeps doing its thang. My shrimp even look like there smiling now. 

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