Perigen WOW

[mikechelsie]

Wow that stuff is amazing I was wondering if anyone else thought this stuff was as good as I thought it is. It cleared my water like crazy in my 72 gallon planted discus tank

[The Guy]

Yep! It's the best amazing stuff isn't it! A bit pricey but worth it. Have you just started using it? I like it because it can be regenerated & cleaned with bleach & water mixture until it goes a very dark brown color before you have to get new stuff. Bonsai Dave got me started using it, he figures it lasts about a year before you have replace it.
Cheers Laurie

[CRS Fan]

I haven't checked mine lately. How often do you Purigen 'users' recharge yours? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Best regards,

Stuart

[discuspaul]

Yes, works like magic ! I've been using it more or less continuously, and for a long time, in my discus tank - my water is almost always crystal clear.
I have 2 packs of it ready to go at all times, the second one is then handy to replace the previous one when you need to regenerate.
I re-charge with full strength bleach long before it gets black - when it's dark brown. I remove it to recharge - about every 2-3 weeks. I find you can re-charge it about 5 or 6 times before it begins to lose a lot of effectiveness.
After re-charging for 24 hours, rinse well in fresh conditioned water, & let sit overnite, for at least 2, if not 3 days, to ensure all the bleach is removed. (3 daily water changes)

[The Guy]

Does the full strenght bleach bring it back to pure white condition? I know after I've had it in water/bleach mixture to regenerate I rinse it well and put it in primed fresh water with an air stone for 2-3 days with new water each day to ensure it bleach free, but it does not get it totally white. It is a light browny/white color. By using the bleach full strenght do you think it shortens it's life span?

[szavi]

Yes it will. I've spent alot of time on Seachem's site and they say to follow the instuctions exactly. The bleaching can wear on stuctural shape of the beads eventually shortening its life. I bleached it mixed and it came back totally white, but then after priming I buffered it (according to the instructions) and then it became more milky/beige. Seachem said when used in fresh water tanks I could skip the buffering, and the slight "less then pure white" colour does not effect the performance.
There is also plenty of Q & A on Seachem's site addressing all the above questions. They are amazing for getting back to you with any questions re: their products.

[tony1928]

It is pretty amazing stuff. I thought I would have had to live with brown water from my huge bogwood stump I used to have. Then after a couple of days with a bag of purigen in my FX5, it was crystal clear. It kept my water clear for a good 4 months before I serviced the purigen....it was brownish but I probably didn't quite have to do the recharge at that time because the water was still clear. A little pricey but does wonders. I was only doing it for aesthetics too....I'm sure it helped the water quality too.

[discuspaul]

Yes it will. I've spent alot of time on Seachem's site and they say to follow the instuctions exactly. The bleaching can wear on stuctural shape of the beads eventually shortening its life. I bleached it mixed and it came back totally white, but then after priming I buffered it (according to the instructions) and then it became more milky/beige. Seachem said when used in fresh water tanks I could skip the buffering, and the slight "less then pure white" colour does not effect the performance.
There is also plenty of Q & A on Seachem's site addressing all the above questions. They are amazing for getting back to you with any questions re: their products.

I agree it may well shorten it's useful life. However, the dilution of the bleach generally leaves a slight beige/brown tinge to the particles, which imo is a clear indication that not all the impurities have been removed - therefore making it less effective for it's later uses. Full strength bleach returns the particles to their original white coloration.

[szavi]

6 of 12 right. I highly recomend everyone checking out Seachem's site as my comments were based on their opinion. People have been known to regenerate their bags well over ten times with little or no drop in effectiveness, but each person's situation may be different from another. Again everyone should check out Seachem's site and ask the experts, they know best. There is wealth of great info and articles about all sorts of water chemistry topics.

As for pricy, I think 8$ for a 100ml bag is pretty cheap.

Cheers everyone.

Join VAHS

[punchbuggy]

Yeah after regernation it turns beigey. I found that doing it in "the bag" is less efficient so I dumped it all into a bowl and swirled it in there. I think I used a lot of Prime as the rinsing solution since I was super paranoid about the bleach.

I have stopped using it now. I don't really notice it clearing up my water. The particles seem too small to absorb particulates so I just think it controls nitrogenous wastes. Because of that I only added it to my tanks, when I still used it, when it was fully cycled.