help with a new product (to me)

I would email seachem directly and ask them. They have been quite responsive to my questions in the past.

But I do not use the product myself and have no plans for doing so.

Highly unusual for the reps at Big Al's to be pushing products. They must be on commission now. I've never had that happen to me and hope it isn't a sign of things to come.
Len

If this product performs as advertised (haven't used it, don't know), I would avoid using it in a planted tank.

Otherwise, I would try it out, and confirm performance with testing. One caution--as with all products that remove ammonia/nitrites--this means you will be stunting the bacterial population. I think that as the media becomes depleted, the bacteria beds would begin expanding, and then die off when the media was regenerated/replaced. I would worry that this would result in an instable tank--constantly shifting from chemical to biological filtration.

If you are hear anything from SeaChem, please post to let us know.

Originally posted by audio77
...it claims to remove amonia, nitrite, nitrate, help keep your water Clear.

Click to expand...

In a cycled tank amonia and nitrites should never be a problem. The BEST way to get rid of nitrates is through regular water changes. Plants can also significantly reduce the nitrates.

Sounds to me it is something you don't need, unless it is good for removing meds from the water.

I've used it, rarely. (I would have found this thread more easily if ithad had-- say "Purigen"-- in the heading.)

The point about gel "conditioners" fouling the Purigen beads has more to say about the cocktail "conditioners" than about Purigen. "Toxicity" is an interpolated fantasy.

Purigen doesn't affect trace elements, but since it adsorbs nitrogenous compounds that plants use, it's not sensible for planted tanks.

Very sensible in a freshly set up Quarantine, however. Read and follow directions, if you use this product.

Hmmm....seems like a unnesseasary product to me, if you are keeping up with water changes, ect. Also it seems VERY wierd for ANYONE at Big Al's either at the head office(big al's online) or in thier stores to push any product(especially un neeeded ones)!!! As far as I know, there is no one employee there on any kind of commission.... The Owner, Big Al himself as well as the other "big guys" on the totem pole sort a speak, does not in any way think highly of any type of commision/bounus structure for thier employees!!!does not in any way So the possibility of the rep you talked to getting commision is HIGHLY UNLIKEL!!! I would call up Big Al's(the one 800# you called in on to talk to the rep) and ask to speak either with the online supervisor or the director of Big Al's Online and poitely (without using the reps name) explian the situation of being "talked into"/pushed into buying a certian product and see what's up with that. Good Luck,
mt_marcy!

Audio77 - I DO use Purigen. I find it to be a very good product and it works well even in planted tanks.

Let me try to address a few of the questions / misconceptions people have posted here - especially those who haven't used it.

First, my guess is the person at Big Als suggested Purigen to you when you inquired about Charcoal. Purigen can be used as a much, much longer lasting Charcoal substitute with none of the downsides.

Second, Purigen is not detrimental to your bio-filter or planted tanks. Just place it in the appropriate stage of your filter (ie at the end). Purigen if used as directed does not remove all the Nitrate in your system. Even using Purigen, and having a moderately planted tank (soon to be heavily planted), I still register between 10 and 20ppm of Nitrate when I test.

Third, before I started using it, I did a search on various message boards and found several happy, satisfied Purigen users. All agreed it helped keep the water sparkling clear (I definitely agree). It also removes chemicals like Phenols and Humic Acid from driftwood and can even be used to remove medication placed in yoru tank.

Fourth, you can easily see when Purigen is no longer effective as it changes color to a dark brown.

Fifth, you can regew / regenrate Purigen easily via the use of bleach - so that little bottle you bought can last many years - unlike Charcoal which is exhausted in about 5 days. Even without regenration, Purigen should be effective 3 to 6 months - so it is far more cost effective in the long run than Charcoal.

Sixth, as far as your worry with various slime products, please note that this is only with certain Amine based slime products, and is mainly in your ability to regenerate the Purigen - not in initially using it in your tank. This is because the Amines bind to Purigen and when they come in contact with Chlorine, they can be chemically converted to Chloramine. Simply doing a water change in your tank and using an amine based conditioner that removes / detoxifys chlorine and chloramine should have no effect on Purigen. its when you go to regenerate Purigen with Chlorine Bleach that the product will become fouled. So if you are using an amine based conditioner, simply don't regenerate Purigen when it is exhausted in 3 to 6 months.

Seventh, I do not know if the product you are using contains Amine. I do know that Ammolock and Amquel do. As far as the many cocktail type conditioners (as Wetman so elloquently put it) go, Seachem will be unable to tell you for sure since they do not make those products. You should ask the company who makes AquaPlus if it contains Amine salts. Or the easiest thing to do is switch and start using Seachem's prime as your water conditioner

So, in summary, you should have no problem using Purigen. I use it constantly in my 72 gallon planted tank and the results are great !! However, I would not regenerate it until you find out if Aquaplus contains Amine. You will be very pleased with your results in terms of water quality / clarity using Purigen based on my own experience and that of others I have read. And I would not hesitate to use it in a planted tank - as long as you use the amounts specified.

Hope this helped