[Menace]

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.

Last week I noticed my filter trickling and when I cleaned it out I decided to recharge the Purigen. I researched it on the Seachem website and followed their instructions + precautions by leaving the Purigen in Dechlorinator for a little longer and of course rinsing extremely well.

So this weeks maintenance I decided to add the recharged purigen back into the tank and then went about my business until I walked by the tank and saw my female guppy acting strange... and then I saw my male guppy getting devoured by shrimp. I did another WC (about 85%) and removed the dead guppies. I did leave the fry in there for the shrimp to eat, and I only saw a few bodies so the rest must be dead inside the driftwood or something.

I'm not sure if the shrimp will survive but this is really disappointing. Tank has been up and running since January and this is my first attempt at a real planted tank where everything was going really smooth up until now. Has anyone experienced problems recharging Purigen? I rechecked the recharging instructions and I did everything it said... so I'm really lost. I won't be buying purigen again though.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

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?

 

[Menace]

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.

 

[discuspaul]

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.

 

[Menace]

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.

 

[discuspaul]

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 ?

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.

 

[Menace]

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.

 

[discuspaul]

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.

 

[Sergeant Dude]

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.

 

[steveo]

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.

 

[Menace]

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?

 

[lauraleellbp]

I also think there's a different explanation.

 

[HUNTER]

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.

 

[DefStatic]

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

 

[Menace]

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.

 

[Tihsho]

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.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

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.

 

[Down_Shift]

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.

 

[DefStatic]

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.

 

[lauraleellbp]

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.