The Planted Tank Forum banner

Purigen... Anyone know how to properly regenerate?

8K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  discuspaul 
#1 ·
So I bought some Purigen and within two days it needed to be Regenerated. I left it in the filter anyway for a few days more and now it is time to clean it up. I bought some bleach and some prime and some ph buffer. the two are seachem products.

Says soak for 24 hours in bleach, then 8 in prime, then 4 more in buffer. Is that what anyone else does or is there a better way to do it?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
I'd just follow the regeneration instructions from Seachem, as follows,

Regeneration: 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.
Original color and full activity should now be restored and Purigen® is ready for reuse.
 
#3 ·
Do I need to soak it in the final step for freshwater use as it says to put it in ph regulator for 4 hours? that was where I wasn't sure to use prime or to do the other thing or both.
 
#4 ·
According to the discussion forum on Seachem's website, they are no longer recommending using the pH regulator or buffer solution when recharging Purigen.

Here is a Link to the discussion.
 
#6 ·
Soak it in a 50/50 bleach-water solution for 24 hours, or as long as it takes to return the Purigen particles to their original white coloration.
Then rinse with fresh water several times, and let it sit in fresh 'conditioned' water until you're ready to use it again - no need for the buffer or any other steps.
 
#7 ·
The instructions provided or the suggestions above will work just fine. I keep it in my son's lo-tech 20L inside an Aquaclear 50 all the time. Plants do just fine, fish are happy, ZERO ALGAE and water is like glass. Have to regenerate maybe once every six months once all the beads get dark brown/black.

Great stuff.
 
#9 ·
Sorry that it worked out that way for you. Don't know why or how.
I've kept discus for many years in planted tank environments, and have been using Purigen 24/7 in my discus tanks for several years straight.
Have re-charged Purigen up to 15 times with no ill effects, or no real loss of clarification & purification effectiveness.
Once the particles have returned to their normal white coloration after 24 hours in a 50/50 water/bleach solution, you simply have to rinse it well and let it sit in de-chlorinated tap water until you're ready to use it again - no problem.
Please do try it again.
 
#12 ·
It should be absolutely no problem, Mitch.
If you've rinsed it for days, and you still smell bleach - then you have a superbly sensitive sense of smell - however, there should be no problem whatsoever.
The Seachem directions are certainly reliable. Don't worry about it.
 
#18 ·
On the phone with Seachem technical support today. After regenerating the Purigen you are not supposed to ever let it dry out or it can crack. Using it then could leave a precipitate type dust in your tank. I'm believe this is what happened with my tank. Used Seachem Clarrity and hung a Marineland Hot Magnum with a micron filter on my tank and it cleared up.

Discus Paul posted earlier that after regenerating it let it soak in de-chlorinated water until you are ready to use it again. It would be a good idea if Seachem noted the need to keep wet after regenerating on the product label.
 
#17 ·
I soak in a glass 1 gal jar ( 1 - 1 mix ) and place an open airline into the bottom to keep the purogen suspended, takes an hour or two and its back to being white, I then rinse with fresh water 4 or 5 times and on the last two rinses add prime maybe 2 teaspoons. I then re rinse and put it straight back in the tank, so far the discus and cherry shrimp have had no problems.
 
#19 ·
#22 ·
I generally give it a 2 months period. Like most of our planted tanks, the bio load is huge. You can do 3 months. After that, I don't even bother to regenerate anymore. I just use a new portion. A 250ml bottle can last me over 6 months with my 40g high tech tank. Why would I want to go through the hassles and the "dangers" to regenerate them...:)
 
#21 ·
Yes, but don't leave it till it gets very dark brown/blackish. It will then have already begun to lose it's effectiveness to adsorb undesirable material if you do, it will take longer to fully re-generate properly, and I expect it would have a shorter useful lifespan overall.
Re-charge after it gets light/medium brown. Depending on the size of tank and the water conditions & quality, that could be anywhere from approx. 3 to 6 weeks as an average.
I re-charge mine after 2-3 weeks.
 
#24 ·
Nice thread that answered many of my questions (just bought some purigen a week ago) thanks!

I have a couple more questions:

Is there an average amount of time to wait between recharges (other than its color, something like once a month rule for carbon?)

What is the life span of purigen? Does it ever reach a state where it is no longer rechargeable?
 
#25 ·
ime using purigen 24/7 over several years, to me color is still the best indicator of when to re-charge. Do it before it turns very dark brown, whether that takes 3 weeks or 4 weeks, or 6 weeks or more, in your particular tank.

As I mentioned earlier, I re-charge mine about every 3 weeks, and have re-charged many bags up to as many as 12 to 15 times before I get the sense that is has outlived its useful, effective life, then replacing with new.
So a 250 ml jar can & does do me for 4-6 months, using the full jar of beads spread among 4 bags, 2 of which are in use in both of my AC filters, while the other 2 are being re-charged, and then allowed to sit in conditioned water awaiting their next usage.

The evidence of the efficacy of that routine, is that my tank water remains crystal clear all the time.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top