# Using Purigen and have foggy water.



## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Can you clarity what you've done, or been doing - were the 2 small purigen bags in the filter for a while, and how long did they take to get 'dirty' ?
Was your tank water cloudy during all that time ?
You indicated you 'rinsed' the bags and 'replaced' - did you actually replace them with brand new purigen bags, or the same bags ? What you said is not clear. if you rinsed the old bags for replacement, did you not regenerate them with the bleach/water solution recommended ?


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## ebrammer252 (Jun 4, 2015)

I had the same problem when I tried Purigen. People on here suggested it might have been a small hole in the bag, but I got annoyed with it and tossed it. Never ran clear, no matter how much I rinsed it.


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## fishbone11 (Sep 11, 2014)

I first ran a large bag squeezed over the partition of the Fluval basket. 
Then used small bags.
This latest event was replacing one small bag with a regenerated (as per Seachem), and a new one.
In the first two cases the bags were in service about 6 to 8 weeks.
Results were the same; floating particles at the beginning and less than clear water.
This latest adventure is about 4 days in service.
I would maybe expect to see some improvement in water clarity when a slow degrading. What I am seeing is no effect.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

fishbone11 said:


> I first ran a large bag squeezed over the partition of the Fluval basket.
> Then used small bags.
> This latest event was replacing one small bag with a regenerated (as per Seachem), and a new one.
> In the first two cases the bags were in service about 6 to 8 weeks.
> ...



This seems to be a bit of a mystery.
You said the bags were 'squeezed' over a partition in the canister basket.


It could be the case that there is little or no water flow through the purigen beads in the bad, and the purigen would therefore be completely ineffective. You need to place the bag (or bags) in an area and in a position where the water can & will freely flow through the purigen beads.
Give that a try, and also use a fine mesh pre-filter over your filter intake tube to pick up all those floating particles.
I believe that would be a good start to solving your problem.


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## fishbone11 (Sep 11, 2014)

The large bag draped over the partition was the first attempt.
The second and third attempts used two small bags, one on each side of the partition.
That pretty much covers the water flow up through the filter basket.
I agree, it is a bit of a mystery. I would not think placement would be all that critical without warnings and detailed instructions.


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## wlevine09 (Apr 7, 2014)

Another thing you could do to get rid of the fine particulate would be to get filter floss. I use pillow stuffing. It cost ~$5 at walmart for a 5 lb bag (which is absolutely gigantic). If you go this route just make sure you get the filter floss that has no chemicals like fire retardants added. something like this


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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

My of my tanks had foggy water for weeks after a rescape. I was thinking I stirred up some bacteria. I added a uv filter and the water cleared with in days.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

fishbone11 said:


> The large bag draped over the partition was the first attempt.
> The second and third attempts used two small bags, one on each side of the partition.
> That pretty much covers the water flow up through the filter basket.
> I agree, it is a bit of a mystery. I would not think placement would be all that critical without warnings and detailed instructions.



Your comment about the 2 small bags being on each side of the compartment partition suggests to me that the Purigen bags are in a vertical position in the filter.
If that's the case, I would expect they would be pretty much ineffective in that position.
they need to be in a flat, horizontal position, and loosely placed within a compartment (not jammed between 2 other types of media) so that the most water flow possible can run through the beads in the bag.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

And I got the impression you tried to put bulk Purigen into standard media bags. 

I don't have the micron size handy, and just don't recall, but it's pretty fine material.

That's most likely why you saw lots of white particulate floating around.

I agree 110% with discupaul's suggestions concerning proper positioning of Purigen, either in Seachem bags or purchased media bags.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

What came first? Cloudiness or purigen?


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## fishbone11 (Sep 11, 2014)

lksdrinker said:


> What came first? Cloudiness or purigen?


Good question. Cloudiness.
The small purigen bags are laying flat, wall to wall in each side by side compartment.
The first attempt was with loose purigen in THEIR bag.

At this point I think Purigen does not work on whatever type cloudiness I have.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

fishbone11 said:


> Good question. Cloudiness.
> The small purigen bags are laying flat, wall to wall in each side by side compartment.
> The first attempt was with loose purigen in THEIR bag.
> 
> At this point I think Purigen does not work on whatever type cloudiness I have.


Well its certainly not caused by the purigen then! Any photos of the setup? How about some more information. How long has this been up and running? What kind of substrate? Anything else you've done different in the recent past?


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## fishbone11 (Sep 11, 2014)

This is a heavy planted Walstad setup running for a year.
I never thought Purigen caused the cloudiness, but was to understand it would clear up water and "polish" it.
The particles that get sprayed into the tank when Purigen is first installed and is a separate problem that is temporary.


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