# Purigen woes



## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Menace,



> Purigen in Dechlorinator


 Did you use the recommended dechlorinator - Seachem Prime? If not, did you read the warnings about using dechlorinators that contain amines and verify the one you used was safe?


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi Menace,
> 
> Did you use the recommended dechlorinator - Seachem Prime? If not, did you read the warnings about using dechlorinators that contain amines and verify the one you used was safe?


Yes I used prime as my dechlorinator.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi Menace,
> 
> Did you use the recommended dechlorinator - Seachem Prime? If not, did you read the warnings about using dechlorinators that contain amines and verify the one you used was safe?


 
If you didn't use Prime to de-chlorinate, but some other lesser known water conditioner, this was likely the cause of your problem as pointed out above.
If you did use Prime and followed all the Seachem directions, then it wasn't the Purigen that affected your livestock, but some other cause.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

discuspaul said:


> If you didn't use Prime to de-chlorinate, but some other lesser known water conditioner, this was likely the cause of your problem as pointed out above.
> If you did use Prime and followed all the Seachem directions, then it wasn't the Purigen that affected your livestock, but some other cause.


Well, that is the problem because as far as I can tell (I used Prime, just a reminder) I did everything the instructions said to do + extra precautions.

I soaked the purigen in 50/50 clorox/water for 24hrs. I rinsed under water for about 5 minutes. I then put the purigen in a new container with 8 ounces of water and 2 tablespoons of Prime and let sit for 24hrs. I then rinsed it well again before storing it in a small ziplock bag with some prime-treated water to keep it moist for 5 days; and then readded the purigen to the tank today since I do my maintenance on Saturdays. 

Really disappointing as again this is my first attempt at a legit aquarium and to have my guppies and shrimp give birth to babies it really gave me the impression I was doing everything right. The fry were I wanna say about 1 month old. The dad was blue and the mom was bland but the light made her look like she had hints of purple. I really wanted to see how they'd turn out but I guess it's back to the drawing board.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

It certainly appears you did all the right things, so I feel quite certain it wasn't the Purigen.

I've used Purigen in my discus tanks 24/7 for at least 4 years straight, and have never had a fish loss due to it, to the best of my knowledge.

Did you test for ammonia & nitrites ? Could you possibly have had a large pH swing due to the differential in tap pH to tank pH on doing a wc, or perhaps if you're using pressurized CO2 ?






Menace said:


> Well, that is the problem because as far as I can tell (I used Prime, just a reminder) I did everything the instructions said to do + extra precautions.
> 
> I soaked the purigen in 50/50 clorox/water for 24hrs. I rinsed under water for about 5 minutes. I then put the purigen in a new container with 8 ounces of water and 2 tablespoons of Prime and let sit for 24hrs. I then rinsed it well again before storing it in a small ziplock bag with some prime-treated water to keep it moist for 5 days; and then readded the purigen to the tank today since I do my maintenance on Saturdays.
> 
> Really disappointing as again this is my first attempt at a legit aquarium and to have my guppies and shrimp give birth to babies it really gave me the impression I was doing everything right. The fry were I wanna say about 1 month old. The dad was blue and the mom was bland but the light made her look like she had hints of purple. I really wanted to see how they'd turn out but I guess it's back to the drawing board.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

I do the same routine every week without fail or problem. The only thing new to the routine is the Purigen which is why I'm singling it out as the killer. I don't use Co2.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Yes, but do you occasionally test for ammonia & nitrites, and did you in this instance ?
If you don't have a test kit, then I suggest you should get one - anytime something goes wrong & you lose fish, the first thing to do is check for ammonia or nitrites. A spike in these toxic elements can occur under a variety of circumstances, and particularly when doing tank maintenance.
Purigen does not kill fish - mishandling of it may do so.


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## Sergeant Dude (Mar 7, 2014)

When I recharge my purigen, I always dose the tank with prime after I add the purigen back. While unlikely, its possible you had a small amount of bleach on your hand or there was a small pocket in the bag that wasn't rinsed completely.


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## steveo (May 25, 2012)

If you regenerated the Purigen as directed- than it is not the problem. It has a proven track record and is a great product. Good luck with your tank though.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your comments. It's a product I'll personally avoid despite the success others have had. I still use other seachem products with much success but Purigen was definitely disappointing. So far the only thing that cost me was my Guppies and fry dying, which sucks but least it wasn't all the inhabitants of the tank.

I did check the water prior to doing my water change as usual and everything was good (pH a little low around 6.6) but nothing abnormal. 

The purigen took its bleach bath _last_ saturday and has spent the week in its seachem prime bath, multiple rinses, stored and then rinsed more prior to being added back to the tank so I don't know what went wrong. After I found the fish dead I did a large water change and added prime to the tank so hopefully that will save the Shrimp which appear to be doing fine.

It's pretty weird the shrimp survived and all the fish and fry died ... though maybe chlorine has a stronger effect on fish?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I also think there's a different explanation.


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

I've learned my lesson regarding regenerating purigen. It happened in my saltwater tank, after regen all my corals, especially the sorties laid down in a matter of minutes. I waited for few hours without change, and once I removed the purigen and of course did water change, they instantly opened up. What I do now, I have two purigen, one in service and the other, once soaked in bleach, I laid it outside in the sun for couple of days. I don't even use prime or other dechlorinator, bleach dissipates quickly if left out in the open, but I rinse it well before using it next time around.


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## DefStatic (Feb 19, 2013)

This scares the crap out of me as I am getting ready to use purigen :-\


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

I think somehow the prime didn't penetrate the purigen completely when it was soaking. Seachem only requires an 8hr soak in the dechlorinator and I did 24hrs just to be "safe"

Few shrimp casualties so far as well. It kind of sucks but that's why I went with pretty inexpensive inhabitants being this is my first time. Still though up until this point everything was going well.


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

My general rule of thumb with Purigen is to have multiple bags. I swap them out and have a cycle process with them to soak in bleach (24 hours, maybe a little longer), soak in Prime (24 hours), rinse well, let air dry for 4 days (since chlorine does evaporate), and rinse well a couple hours before use.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Menace,

After I regenerate the Purigen with bleach I rinse with tap water, then put the bag in a container with a very heavy dose of Prime and soak for several days. During the soaking period I will squeeze the bag a couple times a day to help insure that neutralizing solution is reaching all of the areas in the bag. Lastly I rinse the bag again in tap water and give it the 'sniff test'.....if I smell chlorine bleach I obviously did not neutralize it thoroughly and I re-treat with Prime. Sorry that you had problems.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

th is the reason why i just throw out the purigen and get a new bag. It's about 9 bucks a bag of 250ml. It's cheap enough not to risk my stock.


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## DefStatic (Feb 19, 2013)

Down_Shift said:


> th is the reason why i just throw out the purigen and get a new bag. It's about 9 bucks a bag of 250ml. It's cheap enough not to risk my stock.


Besides "The Bag", do you have any suggestions for making your own sized purigen bags?

I am going to be using them in my 10 gal and 30 gal, so I think I will be fine with their premade bags. But I was interested in using purigen in my 3 gallons as well. One of them will take a premade bag easily. But the other would not.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Pantyhose would work well if you're not going to regnerate it. Pantyhose probably wouldn't hold up well to bleaching, though.

I still think if the OP's issue were coming from the Purigen their shrimp would have died as well. I think there was an issue with the fish.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Down_Shift said:


> th is the reason why i just throw out the purigen and get a new bag. It's about 9 bucks a bag of 250ml. It's cheap enough not to risk my stock.


+1. It is not that expensive. I have been just using new stuff each time. I just recharged some for the first time. It does not look like the new stuff I have in the jar. Use new stuff, throw the old out.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You guys are nuts! lol Or maybe you don't have to recharge as often as I do... I usually recharge my bags every other month. When I was running 4 tanks, that would have added up quick... :confused1:


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

DefStatic said:


> Besides "The Bag", do you have any suggestions for making your own sized purigen bags?
> 
> 
> 
> I am going to be using them in my 10 gal and 30 gal, so I think I will be fine with their premade bags. But I was interested in using purigen in my 3 gallons as well. One of them will take a premade bag easily. But the other would not.



Look for fine mesh filter bags. They come in varied sizes. I bought a 10 pack of large bags for my canister to bag the media.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

lauraleellbp said:


> You guys are nuts! lol Or maybe you don't have to recharge as often as I do... I usually recharge my bags every other month. When I was running 4 tanks, that would have added up quick... :confused1:


It also depends on how much you use each time.


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## Axelrod12 (Jun 28, 2013)

was it pure bleach or did it have any other ingredients, fragrance, etc. I've been warned against using bleach with fragrance for cleaning fish related products. I'm not sure if the rinsing would get everything off or not.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

lauraleellbp said:


> You guys are nuts! lol Or maybe you don't have to recharge as often as I do... I usually recharge my bags every other month. When I was running 4 tanks, that would have added up quick... :confused1:


 
I agree that you guys who use Purigen only once, and chuck it out to replace with new each time, are nuts. What a waste of money !

I've used Purigen 24/7 for 4-5 years in at least 2 tanks, and never had a problem. Crystal clear water 100% of the time, and that's with re-generating each bag about every 3 weeks or so, up to 12 times or more. I always have 4 bags on the go, I in each of the 2 filters, and 2 others resting in fresh conditioned water after re-charging, ready to replace the others.
A 250 ml. jar of Purigen lasts me a year.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Why are you regenerating so often? Mine goes months before changing colors. I swap mine out every 3-4 months. A 250 ml jar lasts me 3 years at least.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I usually have high tannins in my tanks, between lots of driftwood, well water, and MGOPS.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Couesfanatic said:


> Why are you regenerating so often? Mine goes months before changing colors. I swap mine out every 3-4 months. A 250 ml jar lasts me 3 years at least.


 
It all depends on how much impurities your Purigen is picking up, and how quickly, and how effective you want it, or expect it to be.
Many people will not re-charge until the Purigen beads get dark brown, almost black. In my view, by that point the beads have already lost of lot of their adsorption capability. I re-charge mine when the beads get light brownish, which is approx. after 3 weeks or so.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Menace said:


> Hey Everyone,
> 
> I haven't been on the forums in a while since I started my journal and such. I've just been doing my weekly maintenance and watching the tank progress. My guppies had fry, which up to 15 survived surprisingly... My blue velvets gave birth as well and everything was going really good.
> 
> ...


 If direction's for regenerating the Purigen were followed ,it was not the Purigen.
Would be more inclined to suspect beneficial bacteria may have been
destroyed after the filter was cleaned,maybe forgot to dechlorinate the water used during water change,sudden change in temp or pH.
Too many folk's (myself also) have used the purigen with zero issues.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

roadmaster said:


> If direction's for regenerating the Purigen were followed ,it was not the Purigen.
> Would be more inclined to suspect beneficial bacteria may have been
> destroyed after the filter was cleaned,maybe forgot to dechlorinate the water used during water change,sudden change in temp or pH.
> Too many folk's (myself also) have used the purigen with zero issues.


 
Fully agree.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

roadmaster said:


> If direction's for regenerating the Purigen were followed ,it was not the Purigen.
> Would be more inclined to suspect beneficial bacteria may have been
> destroyed after the filter was cleaned,maybe forgot to dechlorinate the water used during water change,sudden change in temp or pH.
> Too many folk's (myself also) have used the purigen with zero issues.


I cannot stress the point that the tank was 100% fine before adding the recharged purigen back. I followed the instructions and went 500x beyond what was recommended for rinsing. The only thing I did NOT do, was squeeze the bag mid-soak in the Prime (as others have suggested) because no where on Seachems website does it say that was needed. I didn't look here when I was researching how to recharge it because I trusted the source.

I'll stick with Charcoal from here on out and I just purchased a bunch of bags along with some new filters.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi Menace,
> 
> After I regenerate the Purigen with bleach I rinse with tap water, then put the bag in a container with a very heavy dose of Prime and soak for several days. During the soaking period I will squeeze the bag a couple times a day to help insure that neutralizing solution is reaching all of the areas in the bag. Lastly I rinse the bag again in tap water and give it the 'sniff test'.....if I smell chlorine bleach I obviously did not neutralize it thoroughly and I re-treat with Prime. Sorry that you had problems.


I did smell it before I added it back to the tank, again being cautious, and it didn't have any chemical smell. I also soaked it for a lot longer than it's supposed to be. Only thing I didn't do was squeeze the bag. Since it wasn't part of the instructions I figured the water would penetrate and the prime would do its job.


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## algae.assasin (Apr 27, 2014)

This really scares me since I will be regenerating for the first time very soon. I have 2 100ml bags in a ac110 hob. They are both brownish after months of use. If they lose some effectiveness if allowed to heavily soil, I'm thinking I should replace them. I'm sorry to hear you lost your mollies. My girls would freak if we lost ours. The only thing I would recommend is to test the rinse water before adding the purigen back into your filter. It's the only way to be sure you've leached all the chlorine out. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Cap10Squirty (Feb 2, 2014)

Menace said:


> I cannot stress the point that the tank was 100% fine before adding the recharged purigen back. I followed the instructions and went 500x beyond what was recommended for rinsing. The only thing I did NOT do, was squeeze the bag mid-soak in the Prime (as others have suggested) because no where on Seachems website does it say that was needed. I didn't look here when I was researching how to recharge it because I trusted the source.
> 
> I'll stick with Charcoal from here on out and I just purchased a bunch of bags along with some new filters.


If you had of gone 500x what was required, there is no way possible that bleach could have been left behind. If the issue really was the purigen bag not being properly cleaned, not due to your error but a product design flaw, then there would have been some remnant of your system in the purigen that caused the fish deaths. Either you didn't clean the purigen properly, or your system was not 100% fine. The trickling of your filter could have been a guppy fry that got sucked up into the filter causing a spike in ammonia resulting in the other fish acting weird and dying. Could have been anything, but if you recharged the purigen as directed it had to of been something else.


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## GoodOldDays (Mar 24, 2014)

I use Purigen in the Bag in all my 2217s. I use quite a bit, probably close to the sum of four of the little bags or 400 ml. I do this because I change the filter very 4-6 weeks and by then the color is brown to dark brown. What I have noticed in the bleach/water dip cycle is that if I don't "squish" the bag around the center stays brown or dirty. I would imagine that on the water/Prime dip that if I did not "squish", some bleach could possibly remain. I also cycle my bags so that they are in the air for a cycle while the others are in the filters.


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## Forumsnow (Feb 22, 2012)

I have used purigen for the past 2 years in my shrimp tanks, regenerating many times. I have yet to have an issue with it and i keep taiwan bees and royal blue tigers,some of the most sensitive aquarium inhabitants you can keep.
For the guppies to die and only a few shrimp i would think something other than purigen as the shrimp should have gone before the guppies.
The only reason why i am commenting is because it seems this has made many people wary of using purigen. Purigen is a great product and i have not found anything else that gives you crystal clear water like it. As long as it is used properly it will cause no harm to even the most sensitive of aquarium inhabitants.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Forumsnow said:


> I have used purigen for the past 2 years in my shrimp tanks, regenerating many times. I have yet to have an issue with it and i keep taiwan bees and royal blue tigers,some of the most sensitive aquarium inhabitants you can keep.
> For the guppies to die and only a few shrimp i would think something other than purigen as the shrimp should have gone before the guppies.
> The only reason why i am commenting is because it seems this has made many people wary of using purigen. Purigen is a great product and i have not found anything else that gives you crystal clear water like it. As long as it is used properly it will cause no harm to even the most sensitive of aquarium inhabitants.


I completely understand and it's something that has confused me, and I also contacted Seachem to make sure I did everything right. Seachem only requires a 24hr soak in 1:1 Solution of Non-scented Bleach, and then an 8hr soak in Seachem Prime 2 teaspoons per 1 cup of water. I did all of that, and then some. The only thing I didn't do was squeeze the bag mid-soak, as others have suggested, and that's because the Seachem instructions do not say to squeeze the bag.

When testing the water all parameters were fine. I'm 100% positive that the cause was the purigen. I suspect the prime didnt penetrate the purigen completely, even though it soaked for much much longer than instructed. Nearly all my shrimp died off except for the stubborn ugly ones. 

I understand many people on these forums use Purigen with much success, and are very happy. I never saw the benefit over charcoal to be honest. I did everything by the book according to Seachem, but just got unlucky. I won't be giving purigen a try again.

Recharge your purigen at your own risk. I thought I was taking extra precautions by adding a little more prime than was called for, and letting it soak for days instead of 8hrs.


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## Cap10Squirty (Feb 2, 2014)

So you mean it was the bleach in the purigen then.....not actually purigen that killed your shrimp.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Cap10Squirty said:


> So you mean it was the bleach in the purigen then.....not actually purigen that killed your shrimp.


That's my best guess. Though the bleach is essential in recharging the purigen. Instructions say to use bleach, and to use prime as a dechlorinator. If I hadn't added the purigen back to the tank the inhabitants would be alive, so yes it was the purigens fault essentially.

You can say it was my fault, but again... I followed the instructions and did everything I thought could be done to ensure it was correct. I got unlucky.


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## ltb420 (Mar 20, 2012)

The bleach would have been neutralized if the purigen had been allowed to air dry after the regen. I used to clean my filter socks with a bleach soak, quick rinse and then air dried and never had any issues either.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You're not supposed to let Purigen dry out, it can crack and de-nature the resin.


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## ltb420 (Mar 20, 2012)

When you first get the purigen it is dry. I don't let it dry to the point it is shriveling up and cracking. Chlorine actually evaporates that's why airing it out for a bit after rinsing works. It doesn't hurt to add some prime to the tank before adding the purigen back into your system.


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## andakin (May 7, 2014)

I thought a mild dose of bleach is fine for the aquarium? I have seen people use it in their tank to treat algae and their fish do just fine.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

ltb420 said:


> When you first get the purigen it is dry. I don't let it dry to the point it is shriveling up and cracking. Chlorine actually evaporates that's why airing it out for a bit after rinsing works. It doesn't hurt to add some prime to the tank before adding the purigen back into your system.


No, actually, it's packaged inside an airtight container that keeps it from drying out.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

andakin said:


> I thought a mild dose of bleach is fine for the aquarium? I have seen people use it in their tank to treat algae and their fish do just fine.


BAD idea. Anything treated with bleach (chlorine) should be removed from the aquarium first. Chlorine is HIGHLY toxic to all life.

Maybe you're mixing up bleach with hydrogen peroxide? Hydrogen peroxide can kill algae but in water breaks down really quickly into just water and oxygen, so can be safe to add in small doses directly to a tank.


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

Menace said:


> When testing the water all parameters were fine. I'm 100% positive that the cause was the purigen. I suspect the prime didnt penetrate the purigen completely, even though it soaked for much much longer than instructed. Nearly all my shrimp died off except for the stubborn ugly ones.


Correct me if I am wrong, but I never actually saw you post your parameters. Temp, pH, gh, kh, tds, nitrates, etc.

Also, how often do you test your tap water? Parameters in municipal tap water can change. Maybe the local water agency flushed the main lines before your water change, kicking up heavy metals, excessive nitrites or what not.

Seeing as so many people, myself included, use regenerated purigen with sensitive inhabitants like bees, oebts, discus, etc., I too agree it was likely something else, and not the regenerated purigen that caused the issue.

Your hypothesis is that purigen caused the issue, but you have one instance to reference, which is hardly definitive proof. Further, this hypothesis can be easily disproven through further tests, for example, by those of us using regenerated purigen.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

wheatiesl337 said:


> Also, how often do you test your tap water? Parameters in municipal tap water can change. Maybe the local water agency flushed the main lines before your water change, kicking up heavy metals, excessive nitrites or what not.


You know, that's a really good point. This time of year (when water starts warming up) is the time of year that many municipal water treatment plants take measures to clean/flush out their systems. And they aren't required to notify public when they do this. It's actually really common for them to "shock" the system with an increase in chloramines, etc... and a lot of aquarium hobbyists end up with dead fish after a normal water change.


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## GoodOldDays (Mar 24, 2014)

lauraleellbp said:


> You're not supposed to let Purigen dry out, it can crack and de-nature the resin.


@lauraleellbp
A BIG - uh,oh!!:icon_idea I thought I was doing great by buying twice the amount of Purigen and switching the 2 bags for 1 tank back and forth. It gave the dirty one time to soak and time to clean out the bleach. Then I stored it in a Baggie until a month and half later when I again cleaned the filter. Then Lauralee wrote the above. I read it and it didn't sink in until I just opened a 2217 and there are little pieces of Purigen all over. The bag is still full but it looks like a teaspoonful is spread about. 
Bottom line is that L was correct! but where did I miss reading this or is it a closely guarded secret?
PS: I hate the auto correct feature on this IPad. One of these days something embarrassing is going to show up.i


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Jan 16, 2013)

@ menace, I feel personally after reading through the thread I believe you did everything correct. You wouldn't be the first one who used it in general even as new, and something happened. My internal theory is at times the product strips so much out of the water for some people it literally biologically shocks the fish/shrimp or whatever the case is to the point it dies. 

Good luck, and go with your own instincts.


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

Menace still has not posted parameters of either the tank water or tap water going into the tank. Possibility of bad municipal tap water not ruled out. There is simply not enough information provided to eliminate any number of potential issues with this tank. For example, I have caused an ammonia spike and crashed a crs colony simply from cleaning sponges in my sump too heavily. I believe a filter cleaning was involved here.

I still have not seen a single thread *proving* purigen killed fish or shrimp. I have only seen unconfirmed suspicious and people immediately blaming the purigen, probably because it is the easiest thing at the moment to blame. And this is how unfounded rumors and misinformation gets spread. Now some people following this thread are wary of using or regenerating purigen. Expensive stuff to be throwing out every few weeks, and superior to charcoal in my opinion, which generally remains active for only a week or two.

Another idea, is there a chance Menace used Clorox 2 instead of plain bleach?


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Jan 16, 2013)

Someone having a feeling, suspicion or an experience isn't starting rumors. He's sharing what happened, and part of what I can see as his added frustration is people immediately point to human error to opposed to entertaining the thought stuff does happen no matter how many good experiences exist. 

Secondly everyone wants proof at moments like this when a product is suspected, but who all has the means to prove something like this. Maybe someone can assist in that? 

I agree on water parameters, but then again I'm i guess a little more open minded to other things as well even of its against the grains of tpt.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I agree, pointing fingers doesn't really accomplish anything. No reason for a poster to get attacked for posting something that another person disagrees with. Just disagree and don't make it personal.

I don't personally agree with the OP's conclusion about the cause of his fish and shrimp losses, but if I were in his shoes I'd certainly be upset and entertain his same suspicions.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I wouldn't recommend it but I have bleached my Purigen more than a few times and didn't not use any dechlorinator, just let it soak in fresh water, rinse, new water, rinse, new water, until it did not smell like bleach. 

I don't want to claim the process of recharging Purigen if fool proof but if it doesn't smell like bleach, it probably wasn't your issue.


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

Menace said:


> That's my best guess. Though the bleach is essential in recharging the purigen. Instructions say to use bleach, and to use prime as a dechlorinator. If I hadn't added the purigen back to the tank the inhabitants would be alive, so yes it was the purigens fault essentially.
> 
> You can say it was my fault, but again... I followed the instructions and did everything I thought could be done to ensure it was correct. I got unlucky.


Menace - I had the same issue happen when I recharged my purigen for the first time too. I followed the directions to a T and even let it sit in the dechlorinated water and solution for two days with a change in the middle. But even after all of that I had every one of my shrimp die in 24hrs, the fish lived, but the shrimp all died. Plus suddenly my tank went through a mini cycle from whatever happened. 

However this time I bought 2 new 100ml pack of Purigen so I could clean one and then leave the other out to ensure the bleach really is gone. Plus as I have a hot tub (thus having the test equipment), I'm going to test the water for bleach/chlorine to make sure it's 100% gone!!! As that's the only thing I could think of what the problem was.

SO I feel for and how you felt like you did something but in reality something about the process just didn't work as expected for either of us. Next time I'm going to follow the process, except double dose the dechlor and then sit it in a gallon of water for a week with a powerhead in it to make sure the dechlor really get all over and then take it out of service for the next time the other pack needs cleaning.


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## ChadKruger (Mar 27, 2013)

The purigen website states this. Which makes me think perhaps he's using a after water change additive. 

Q: On some of the Purigen® documentation I have read it says that some slime coat products can contaminate Purigen® and render it toxic. Can you identify these products ?

A: 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.™


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

HUNTER said:


> What I do now, I have two purigen, one in service and the other, once soaked in bleach, I laid it outside in the sun for couple of days


excellent idea


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

dzega said:


> excellent idea


Except your not suppose to let it dry out. They recommend you store it wet.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

jrill said:


> Except your not suppose to let it dry out. They recommend you store it wet.


I just skimmed through this thread, and just have a few thoughts to add to the discussion:

Purigen should NEVER be allowed to dry completely. Even a brand new batch from the store needs to stay damp. The beads will pulverize into dust with little effort, very quickly. So the lid needs to stay on the container all the time and tight. I can't say what this will do to it's ability to absorb pollutants. In theory it shouldn't have any effect, but the darn stuff is fine enough already without it getting smaller and scattering further.

Not much has been mentioned about the type of bleach used. Not the brand, or scented or unscented. Some bleaches are "splash-proof". Meaning that they have added surfactants to make it a little thicker and a little less prone to splashing while adding to your laundry. There was a non-Purigen thread not long about this and the person actually called the manufacturer and found out the added ingredients weren't even listed.The last time I bought a gallon of bleach at the supermarket, I got a headache trying to sort through all the choices, and I'm honestly looking into mixing my own using pool chlorine.

Go to the Seachem website. I don't use any things like that, but there are some precautions on interactions with other additives like slime coat protectors, etc.

On a semi-related note, I try every so often to give different things a look. I decided to give Brightwell's OrganitR a shot. For me, the attraction was the recharge in salt water instead of bleach. Seems simpler and eliminates the need to mess around with bleach and Prime, etc. etc. But when it arrived I saw the one huge "con" to the product. The resin beads are brown. You have to test for phosphates to determine if it's exhausted. I run 24 tanks and rely on a water change rotation that gets all of them to 50% every 4 days. Doing phosphate tests just isn't in the cards. So the experiment will simply take a little longer in that I'm just going to try and change the OrganitR monthly and see where it takes me on a few tanks.


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