Purigen not working

[Aiptaisia anemone]

Idk how purigen works but ive had it for 2 months and it barely changes colors and i feed alot, is there a chance that my purigen is somehow broken? I heard to not let it dry, when I bought it its dry and not wet.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Idk how purigen works but ive had it for 2 months and it barely changes colors and i feed alot, is there a chance that my purigen is somehow broken? I heard to not let it dry, when I bought it its dry and not wet.

Purigen has polymers and acts as an absorbent. It may be used up but also assure you are not getting false reading results by taking a good water sample to a trusted LFS that does Not use API test kits and see what results they come up with

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

After 2 months in the water, it's time to replace it no matter what it looks like (IMO).

What are you hoping it accomplishes?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Purigen has polymers and acts as an absorbent. It may be used up but also assure you are not getting false reading results by taking a good water sample to a trusted LFS that does Not use API test kits and see what results they come up with

What test evaluates whether Purigen is working?

 

[vetteguy53081]

What test evaluates whether Purigen is working?

Phosphate is only one I know of and does provide IMO enough data to confirm issue is resolved

 

[Aiptaisia anemone]

After 2 months in the water, it's time to replace it no matter what it looks like (IMO).

What are you hoping it accomplishes?

Nothing, i just dont want to overfeed. Im just not sure if it’s working or not…

 

[Aiptaisia anemone]

And alot of people mentioned to change it when its brown

 

[Spare time]

Phosphate is only one I know of and does provide IMO enough data to confirm issue is resolved

Purigen does nothing for phosphate so why would that work?

 

[Spare time]

I used to use purigen. Purigen lasts for a long time, and can take a while to turn brown especially if you use more than recommended. You may want to rinse it off to clean off any microbial residue or gunk on it, but I have seen purigen last a very long time before it turns brown. I stopped using it as I felt it was kinda useless. I will add though that I don't think I rinsed it off (or at least not regularly) and it still became brown (indicating it was still working in some manner).

 

[MaxTremors]

Purigen does nothing for phosphate so why would that work?

Yeah, I was confused by that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Phosphate is only one I know of and does provide IMO enough data to confirm issue is resolved

Purigen does not directly bind phosphate from seawater, so it is a very weak test. It’s only effect on phosphate comes from binding organic matter and preventing a small amount of phosphate that would come from breakdown of those organics.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Purigen does not directly bind phosphate from seawater, so it is a very weak test. It’s only effect on phosphate comes from binding organic matter and preventing a small amount of phosphate that would come from breakdown of those organics.

In my quote above, meant DIES NOT provide enough data to confirm issue resolved

 

[LeftyReefer]

I used to run purigen all the time, but eventually stopped. Didn't seem to do a lot, so the effort didn't seem to be worth it. It always slowly turned brown, so I knew it was working, and I would recharge it after so long, but it became a pain. With very little to show for it. I think a skimmer probably removes much more DOC than a small bag of purigen ever would. it works too slowly to be an effective means of nutrient removal in my opinion.

My tank leans more towards low nutrient issues rather than high nutrient issues, so I stopped using it. I really didn't need it.