Algae Problem - Please Help

I did some research on this Purigen stuff and it says that you have to soak it in more than just bleach.
soak for 4 hours with a solution containing 1 tablespoon of buffer per cup of water (Discus Buffer™, Neutral Regulator™, or Acid Buffer™).
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Purigen.html
Is that really necessary? And do you ever need to replace this stuff?
 
The buffer is to nuetralize the NaOH that bleach has. This can cause your tank's pH to jump to 11 or so and kill all your fish (in very soft water). I contacted them about using vinegar to lower the pH of the purigen before I add it to my tank. I don't use any acid buffers and would not want to go out and spend an extra $7 just to be able to recharge this thing. I will post their response here for everyone to see.
 
Last edited:
Subject Re: WWW form submission
This is acceptable. just rinse it until the smell is gone.

Best Regards,
Seachem Tech Support~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seachem Laboratories, Inc. www.seachem.com 888-SEACHEM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ch


>Below is the result of your feedback form.
>It was submitted by rrkss on: Friday, December,
>16, 2005 at 12:16:29
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>comments: For freshwater would soaking the purigen in a distilled
>vinegar solution be an effective and less costly way bring the pH
>down after bleach treating it?
 
They say its fine as posted above. My only concern is that vinegar is an organic acid. It might bind to the media but if it stays white then I guess it would still work as expected.
 
Sounds great! I think I will get this for my tanks! How often do you need to replace it?
 
Last edited:
Recharge it once every SIX MONTHS. OH YEAH!!! :dance:
I use a combination of prime and discus buffer (or just neutral buffer alone because it alone gets rid of chlorine) to recharge it. You should never have to replace this stuff, short of it bursting into flames. Probably the best filtration media out there.
 
themadblimper said:
Probably the best filtration media out there.

Well if it does everything it says than I would agree!I intend to pick some up the next time I go to the pet store!
 
Before adding chemicals (or additional, possibly unneccessary chemical filtration), have you checked your nitrate and nitrite? You also said you didn't get a water change done for 3 weeks, right? This could fuel and algal bloom. I would consider doing more water changes for algae control first. The more things you put in your tank (IMO), you increase your chances of having problems.


Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but bala sharks grow to 12'', sometimes more and should be in a considerably larger tank; something along the lines of a 6ft tank for 5 of them.
 
Marala said:
Well if it does everything it says than I would agree!I intend to pick some up the next time I go to the pet store!

If it doesn't do everything I have said, I will eat some and post me eating it on the web. :joke:

Seriously, this stuff really works. It cleans my water better than carbon. I used this stuff when I owned discus and they absolutely loved their water quality. I still use the stuff. It has yet to let me down.
 
Lol! Does it get rid of brown tinted water from driftwood? If it can do that than it can do anything!
 
AquariaCentral.com