Purigen for Tannin Removal?

[anderson_p_r]

Curious if anyone uses Purigen in their freshwater planted tanks? I have a piece of driftwood that just keeps staining the water. I would like to do water changes a little less frequently. If you use it, what were your results?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi anderson_p_r,

Absolutely, it works great at removing tannins. I had some Malaysian driftwood that was a real PITA even with weekly water changes. After adding Purigen no more tannins in the water. I just "recharged" the Purigen when it became saturated and the tannins reappeared. After about 6 months the driftwood stopped leeching the tannins, now I just use the Purigen periodically.

30 gallon with two large pieces of Malaysian driftwood

And I will be doing the same with the 75 gallon work in progress.

 

[Anonymous]

I too use Purigen in my 140. Not for tannins but for other micro debris that seem to cloud the tank a bit. I was shooting for that ice clear water & it worked. There is multi packs in the sump and I stagger recharging them. At 1st I had to recharge them every month, now it seems months go by before I notice they are a dark brown color & the water still seems crystal clear.

@ Roy, you never cease to amaze me by your aquascapes. They seem to get better and better. Simple designs, but magnificent.

 

[Will I am]

I will usually soak the wood in a 20g tote for 3 days. I fill it with all hot water and let it soak. Refill to hit water maybe 2-3 times a day. By the 3rd day, the wood has pretty much stop leeching.
If the piece is small enough, or you have a big enough pot, boil that bad boy. Leeching will stop.

 

[jrygel]

I had the same issue - I kept all chemical filtration out of my canister while my 30 gallon planted was cycling. The three pieces of Mopani wood turned the water yellow. Within 24 hours of putting purigen back in the filter, the water is crystal clear. It's been in there for three weeks now and plant growth is still good and steady. I am fertilizing with various Flourish products and using Excel for carbon (no CO2).

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi anderson_p_r,

+1 for jrygel's comment.  What is great about Purigen will not effect plant growth by removing any chemical fertilizers you are adding; it only removes organics.  Per Seachem:

Purigen will specifically remove excess organic waste before it is converted to ammonia. Purigen will not impact your dosing of nitrogen sources. The only effective way of really removing nitrate is through biological means. Purigen's characteristics allow for it to be discriminate in what it will remove on the basis of size and charge of the molecules.

 

[pbmax]

lus1: Great thread!

I just grabbed some online as a stopgap for an ongoing nitrate problem I've had in a couple of my planted tanks.

 

[poffman]

Definitely a great thread, I thought I had to deal with the Tannin's from stuff i'd read elsewhere..! Will give this a shot and report back

 

[jrygel]

I just grabbed some online as a stopgap for an ongoing nitrate problem I've had in a couple of my planted tanks.

Per Seachem (and referenced by Roy above). Purigen will not remove nitrates:

Purigen will specifically remove excess organic waste before it is converted to ammonia. Purigen will not impact your dosing of nitrogen sources. The only effective way of really removing nitrate is through biological means. Purigen's characteristics allow for it to be discriminate in what it will remove on the basis of size and charge of the molecules.

What seems to be working well for me is that I have a group of water wisteria that is growing like crazy - my tank had lower nitrates than my tap water until I started dosing with Flourish Nitrogen.

-Justin

 

[pbmax]

I just grabbed some online as a stopgap for an ongoing nitrate problem I've had in a couple of my planted tanks.

Per Seachem (and referenced by Roy above). Purigen will not remove nitrates:

Purigen will specifically remove excess organic waste before it is converted to ammonia. Purigen will not impact your dosing of nitrogen sources. The only effective way of really removing nitrate is through biological means. Purigen's characteristics allow for it to be discriminate in what it will remove on the basis of size and charge of the molecules.

What seems to be working well for me is that I have a group of water wisteria that is growing like crazy - my tank had lower nitrates than my tap water until I started dosing with Flourish Nitrogen.

-Justin

Sure, but nitrates don't just magically appear in a tank.  They start out life as pre-ammonia organics that are eventually converted into nitrates. Purigen most definitely does remove pre-ammonia organics.  The goal is to reduce excessive nitrates by reducing the amount of organics that eventually get converted.

There's a lot of excess organics in the tank that are difficult to remove due to the plants.

 

[anderson_p_r]

Hmm... That makes me wonder if it could be removing "food" for beneficial bacteria, there by limiting their growth? Could the removal of purigen cause an ammonia spike due to there relatively sudden influx of organics?

I've never really understood how bacteria populations work in an aquarium. Anyone know what kind of bacteria it is? I'm kinda hijacking my own thread here. Might have to start a new one and get my wife involved, she's real smrt on this stuff.

 

[pbmax]

If you add enough purigen I imagine it's possible to starve off some of your BB, but it's going to be really tough to get rid of all of it. That said, it might be one of those things where once you go on it, you really can't easily go off it, depending on how much of the stuff you're using.

I have 2 tanks where nitrates have consistently been 40ppm - 80ppm despite regular large water changes. The best way to fix this problem would be to tear both tanks down, pull the substrate out, and thoroughly clean it before reassembling the tank. That, unfortunately, is just not practical without getting rid of a ton of plants, fish, and inverts. The next best thing is something to sequester some of the organics before they can be processed into nitrates, I think. We'll see

I had a couple of big plant die-offs in this tank so there's a lot of organics that are being continually processed in there.

 

[pbmax]

As it turns out, I don't have a nitrate problem anymore in the tank I was targeting the purgen for.  :cheers:  :suspect:  I guess slightly reduced feedings and cutting back on my nitrogen ferts did the trick. I had a phosphorus issue in that tank too, but that's gone now too.

So I put the stuff in anyway (why not, right?) and I can say that it's resulted in an immediate improvement in water clarity. I'll call it a win.

 

[anderson_p_r]

The purigen did a great job clarifying my water. Literally overnight. I've done some reading on the regeneration and seems as long as you follow the manufacturer's directions it shouldn't affect pH, we'll see.

 

[poffman]

The purigen did a great job clarifying my water.  Literally overnight.  I've done some reading on the regeneration and seems as long as you follow the manufacturer's directions it shouldn't affect pH, we'll see.

Mine too, unbelievable.. Two big pieces of malaysian driftwood and ZERO tannins..

 

[jrygel]

I will say that it looks like it doesn't last as long as they claim when removing tannins. I just changed mine after about 4 weeks because the purigen was all a lovely dark brown color. I'm putting them through their first re-charge cycle, and we will see how it comes out. I have 200 ml of purigen for my 30 gal tank.

-Justin

 

[anderson_p_r]

I'll be curious to hear your experiences with recharging. I've been told to keep a close eye on pH afterwords. Following manufacturer's directions and using recommended products sounds like it should keep it for fluctuating, but like I said, I have no experience with it

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi anderson_p_r,

I have recharged my Purigen many times and have not noticed any effect of PH. I follow the instructions and use Seachem Prime as directed to neutralize the bleach (chlorine) after recharging. I suspect that any effect on PH has more to due with the improved removal of the organics after recharging rather than the recharging process.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I bought the 250ml bottle with nylon stockings to make 2 100ml packs and 50ml pack. We'll see how it removes the tannins of the 125gal and make the dirted planted 36gal clear.

 

[Anonymous]

So I bought the 250ml bottle divided it into two nylon stockings.  One in the 125gal American cichlid tank and one in the 36gal bowfront walstad planted.  Before pictures and after pictures after 2days. Installed on canister filters on Tuesday and after pictures on today Thursday. No changes in lighting or anything else but purigen.

Before purigen in 125gal

After purigen in 125gal

Before purigen in 36gal

After purigen in 36gal

In the 36gal bowfront walstad planted tank.  Thought I needed to add a second t5 10, 000k bulb but it was just dirty water color and the 125gal American cichlid tank was well leeching tannins from the woods. Gonna buy another 100ml to add to another canister of 125gal.