I was looking at running two 100ml bags one in each can.
According to Seachem directly, I only need a single 100ml bag.
I like to double everything in this hobby.
Yeah the 100ml bags are what you want, remember not to ever let them dry out and they will last for years. To recharge you soak in a bleach/water solution (a day or two with occasional agitation), then soak/agitate in a prime solution, then put right back in the canister.
Carbon is only effective for around 3 days of water flowing through it and is only needed to remove meds or chemical spills.
Save your money and start changing out half the water in the tank every week, no slacking!
Water changes done properly, will take the place of carbon (chemical) medium, because by flushing a lot of pure, treated tap water through the tank, weekly, there's not time for toxins to build up to a harmful level before it's time to remove and replace the water again.
I'll take the frequent water change subject a bit further and say you don't need to go to the expense of overfiltering your tank if you can commit to changing out large amounts of tank water weekly. If you do, then your filter's just filtering water that's already pure.
Swapping 50% of water every week can be harmful if it's not necessary. Not in all cases, but it's definitely risky and can be confusing for those new to the hobby. Especially with those who keep sensitive shrimp.
Water changes actually can't take the place of a resign like Purigen. Not on the polishing front and not even when it comes to removing tannins from water.
Stick to what you're doing, OP, as you have the right idea and won't regret it. Crystal clear water.
Ordered two bags of 100ml Purigen for my Eheim 2217 filters. I also decided to pickup some Seachem matrix to throw in the top of my Eheim filters as well. I have a bunch of room left in the cans that I want to fill up.
It bothers me that folks rely on additional chemicals to maintain a healthy planted tank. There's no reason to use chemical filtration in a healthy planted tank - ever ! That's anathema to the goal of a planted tank with is to bring a bit of nature indoors. My suggestion for you is to do some remedial reading on the processes taking place in planted aquarium. Remember you don't have a fish tank, you have a planted tank.
With all due respect, I would assume that Amano knows what he is talking
about when it comes to planted tanks. he recommends the use of carbon on the initial stages of the life of the tank, 1 to 3 months, and on some of his tanks he runs carbon perpetually. And I personally have shrimp tanks that are planted. It comes down to preference, I love purigen and will continue to use it, if its just biological filtration, or no filtration that works for you that is great, but no remedial reading is needed by one here, it's just a different school of throught.
I use Purigen in nanos, nothing in tanks larger than 10 gallons. My only reason for that is Purigen doesn't last very long in my larger canisters before it's "saturated" and I don't clean accordingly, making it kind of useless.
I have also used a UV over the years. I rarely keep it on. It's great to plug in for a day for super clear water when you are having people over. I likely wouldn't buy another.
At this point, I could care less about chemical filtration, I just use it because I already have it.
I concur that 50% WC, especially with ferts, is nothing drastic so as long as we're talking about fish here. That being said, WC are not necessary unless you're ferting regularly.
I can't speak to purigen but I do know that may people opted for a cheaper solution in Polyfill - the non-chemically treated pillow stuffing...stuff. I've had it in my Eheim 2215 for two years now.
Not only does it saturate first, its easy to throw out and refill and very cheap.
Polyfill keeps my tank crystal clear. I'm also not big on chemical filtration for a planted tank.
Anybody care to clarify these statements for me....
1. Purigen removes organics from the water.
2. The breakdown of organics cause the toxins
3. Therefore purigen is not a chemical filter but a really good mechanical filter.
4. It works so well because it is sticky (like a really well aged sponge filter gets when it has lots of bio bacteria in it). It is just a lot stickier than even a good aged sponge type filter)
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