• How effective is Purigen?

  • Courtney

I'm trying to use Purigen to reduce nitrates and phosphates. The description of the adsorbent states that it effectively removes organic matter from the water, which I've already noticed by the skimmer that stops producing foam after adding this media. But if there were already nitrates and phosphates in the water, Purigen won't remove them, right? Or if I wait 1-2 months, will the bacteria gradually process the nitrates and phosphates? Plus, there's also vodka to consider... Am I understanding this correctly?

Sydney

I don't know much about marine aquariums and how filtration works. But Purigen not only removes organic matter, it absorbs it and turns black. When it turns black, it needs to be either soaked in bleach or thrown away and replaced with a new one, otherwise it will start releasing the absorbed substances back. So, it's unlikely that it can be left in the filter for more than 2 months. I just called an aquarium center when I was ordering, and that's what they told me.

Monique1236

Why don't you want to use the same Sichema products that contain nitrates and phosphates, which are specifically for reducing nitrates and phosphates?

Christine864

de-nitrate is just a filler. The same goes for seachem rix, by the way, I have that one too. To remove nitrates, you need to make an anaerobic filter out of it, which is a hassle in a marine aquarium and can ruin the system. By the way, I remove phosphates with phosquard, but I ran out of it. So now I'm experimenting with Purigen... Today, the skimmer started producing foam, and the skimmate is almost transparent! Nitrates and phosphates are still at the same level.

Chad

I have been using vodka for 2 months now. Nitrate has dropped to 1 mg/l, and phosphate is also around zero. Nitrate started to decrease only when the vodka dose increased to 8 ml per day (for my 140 liters). A little cyanobacteria appeared in the corner on a rock, and it disappeared after 2 weeks. Also, the sand that previously had a brown coating is now clean. I am currently dosing 2 ml per day, and everything seems to be fine.

Mariah

What dosage did you start with?

Alexander

I started with 0.5 ml. I also noticed that when I added 4 ml of vodka, the water in the aquarium began to cloud, but after a couple of hours, it became clear again. Then I decided to split the dose into morning and evening...

Ryan

a small outbreak of bacterial growth, by the way, quite beneficial for some SPS, note that during "turbidity" the seoriatropores "bloom"