Purigen and chemi pure blue together?

[Thomas E. Higgins]

Is it advisable to put Chemi Pure blue and Purigen in the same filter rack. I have a 20 gal Innovative marine tank. I have changed one of the sock filters for a three section filter rack. I have a nitrate problem of 40 ppm. I plan on starting weekly water changes.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I have been running this combination on my 40G for the last 1.5 years and the combo works really well. I run two of the 11oz Blue pouches with two 100g Purigen bags in my 306 canister that I swap out monthly for new blue pouches and freshly regenerated Purigen. Just be sure to rinse the Blue media very well before using it.

I also run a product called Bio-Home Ultimate in the bottom two trays. It's a cindered glass media that creates a perfect environment for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that is much needed in our tanks. This is especially true on nano reefs that have very limited quantities of live rock in them.

The weekly water changes will do a lot towards the nutrient levels as well.

Other things to look at for the high nitrates is what type of food you use and how much/often you feed your fish. Also how heavily stocked the tank is plays into nutrient levels.

 

[Thomas E. Higgins]

I have been running this combination on my 40G for the last 1.5 years and the combo works really well. I run two of the 11oz Blue pouches with two 100g Purigen bags in my 306 canister that I swap out monthly for new blue pouches and freshly regenerated Purigen. Just be sure to rinse the Blue media very well before using it.

I also run a product called Bio-Home Ultimate in the bottom two trays. It's a cindered glass media that creates a perfect environment for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that is much needed in our tanks. This is especially true on nano reefs that have very limited quantities of live rock in them.

The weekly water changes will do a lot towards the nutrient levels as well.

Other things to look at for the high nitrates is what type of food you use and how much/often you feed your fish. Also how heavily stocked the tank is plays into nutrient levels.

Thank you for your help. I wanted to try the two together and now I'm going to try it

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Sure thing glad to help. I found that before you rinse the Blue media, it performs better if you mix it up first to get everything well distributed. Be sure to wear gloves as its some messy stuff at first.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, it’s fine to use both, but neither is a particularly good way to reduce nitrate. Neither bind it directly. The only benefit is binding of organics before they degrade, but that’s likely a small part of the source of nitrate.

 

[CalebWBrink2000]

It is to my understanding that Chemipure blue includes purigen already mixed in. I found in my nano that running the original chemipure forumla with another bag of purigen above it works best.

 

[scottsweet]

It is to my understanding that Chemipure blue includes purigen already mixed in. I found in my nano that running the original chemipure forumla with another bag of purigen above it works best.

To bring this thread alive a bit...this isn't actually true according to Chemi-pure...here is their direct response to a question:

Hi Scott,

The Blue formula has extruded pelleted carbon, an Organics scavenging resin, not purigen, ours isn’t rechargeable. As well as a strong phosphate removal resin. And that’s it.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
Best regards,
Sean

 

[Adamantium]

It does sound similar, though. Just a different compound that is not rechargeable. From what I understand, purigen is also an organic scavenging resin. Therefor, it can’t reduce nitrates, but it can keep them low by binding to organic compounds before they totally decay into nitrates.