# Recharging Purigen



## Ross (17 Feb 2010)

I have 350 ml of Purigen 250ml in my Eheim 2073 and a 100 ML of it in my JBL external and I was wondering if its safe to recharge it with bleach as recommended?Because the beads are starting to go black and could do with being recharged but obliviously I dont not want to do it if its not safe.I would give a good soak in a strong mix dechlorinator after the 24 hours in bleach and try to make sure that all traces of bleach is removed but I still have that doubt in my mind that there would be a tiny amount of bleach left.


----------



## Dave Spencer (17 Feb 2010)

I have done this several times, now. What I have found is that it takes considerably longer than 24 hours to recharge it.

Dave.


----------



## Ross (21 Feb 2010)

I think I will give it ago to see if it works.


----------



## sWozzAres (22 Feb 2012)

What sort of bleach can be used.

I've just been to Sainsbury's and they only have fancy stuff, scented, thick etc Can anyone recommend a UK brand that is known to work?


----------



## skeletonw00t (22 Feb 2012)

Bleach is bleach. You can use any type


----------



## Alastair (22 Feb 2012)

Tesco do their own super cheap thin bleach for about 60p with no scent to it and so do morrisons and asda if it's the scent your worried about 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## GillesF (22 Feb 2012)

Just put in dechlorinator for 24 hours and rinse well. Don't forget to rub since the inner part may still contain some bleach.

It is possible that the Purigen will smell "fishy" afterwards depending on the dechlorinator used.


----------



## cheekycharly (7 Mar 2013)

ASDA thin bleach 23p 2Litre and it has no additional ingredients.


----------



## jojouk (8 Mar 2013)

Only use thin bleach, the thick stuff ruins the purigen


----------



## Iain Sutherland (8 Mar 2013)

+1 tesco thin bleach, however its never the same. I just use less and replace it.


----------



## Stitch (10 Mar 2013)

cheekycharly said:


> ASDA thin bleach 23p 2Litre and it has no additional ingredients.


 
You could even rub the "S" out and pretend it's from Takashi Amano.


----------



## cheekycharly (10 Mar 2013)

Lol. It would more likely be £23 for 200ml.


----------



## Iain Sutherland (10 Mar 2013)

he doesnt miss a trick
ADA Superge - Buy Aqua Design Amano Nature Aquariums | The Green Machine


----------



## RolyMo (10 Mar 2013)

I just regenerated mine. I used Normal thick bleach but mixed with equal part of water as per the Seachem website. Left for 24hrs and the rinsed before soaking in water with the declorinator. Worked fine.


----------



## NattyAntlers (11 Mar 2013)

Iain Sutherland said:


> he doesnt miss a trick
> ADA Superge - Buy Aqua Design Amano Nature Aquariums | The Green Machine


 
Be nice to know how much you get in a bottle, not that I can afford their products and I see it contains sodium chlorate, that used to be used as a weed killer think its banned for use as such now.
Used to mess around with the stuff many many years ago but that is another story.


----------



## mafoo (12 Mar 2013)

Remember if your using a dechorinator never to use one that has chloro amines in it. It will bind to the purigen and turn it permanently toxic.

Evidently Seachem have changed their advice to say you don't need to wash it in decholonator :S just keep rinsing it until the smell of bleach goes.


----------



## ian_m (13 Mar 2013)

mafoo said:


> Remember if your using a dechorinator never to use one that has chloro amines in it. It will bind to the purigen and turn it permanently toxic.


Wrong.  Chloramines and chlorine are used to "chlorinate" water. It is dechlorinators with slime coat that cannot be used in water with purigen. So Seachem Prime is OK, Tetra AquaSafe is not.


----------



## mafoo (13 Mar 2013)

ian_m said:


> Wrong.  Chloramines and chlorine are used to "chlorinate" water. It is dechlorinators with slime coat that cannot be used in water with purigen. So Seachem Prime is OK, Tetra AquaSafe is not.


 
Sorry, I meant to say water conditioners that are amine based will react with the purigen to create chloroamines.


----------



## RolyMo (31 Mar 2013)

Gents I did watch this thread and then meant to respond but got waylaid with other things.
Questions/Clarifications:-

I got my first Purigen 6 months ago I believe, and have been using Tetra Aquasafe to dechlorinate the water with every water change. Can you confirm that the normal water changes with Aquasafe will have rendered the Purigen useless?
I did my first recharge a month ago and used a Aquasafe/water mix to eliminate any remaining bleach. Has this also rendered the Purigen useless?
 
In summary
Is my first Purigen batch beyond rescue?
Do I need to change my chlorinator?
Do I need to buy new Purigen?

Thanks for any assistance.
Cheers
R


----------



## linkinruss (31 Mar 2013)

ian_m said:


> Wrong.  Chloramines and chlorine are used to "chlorinate" water. It is dechlorinators with slime coat that cannot be used in water with purigen. So Seachem Prime is OK, Tetra AquaSafe is not.


Two posts above. 
I've used prime after bleaching. Washed everyday under water for 5 days and put it back in on my next WC.


----------



## RolyMo (31 Mar 2013)

Thanks Linkinruss. 
I did see the post but just wanted to really make sure. 
Bummer. Thanks for the confirmation. 
R


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## RolyMo (31 Mar 2013)

Actually when you look at the description of Seachem Prime it too says it has stuff that promotes slime coat. But hey ho. I'm sure that Prime is going to be more compatible with Purigen than Tetra Aquasafe?
R


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## mafoo (5 Apr 2013)

RolyMo said:


> Actually when you look at the description of Seachem Prime it too says it has stuff that promotes slime coat. But hey ho. I'm sure that Prime is going to be more compatible with Purigen than Tetra Aquasafe?
> R
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


Definatly don't use AquaSafe - API Tap Water Conditioner is safe tho - and cheap and widely availible. From the support staff over at the seachem forum



> Hello,
> The 100mL bag of Purigen is about 3" wide x 4" in length, and it is about 1" thick. As far as the regeneration process goes, the dechlorination step and the buffer step are two different things. You want to soak it in some type of water conditioner to get rid of any residual chlorine from the bleaching process; then, if it is a freshwater system, you will want to soak it in a buffer that will lower the pH (bleach has an extremely high pH).
> 
> As for the products mentioned in the instructions, ChlorGuard and Prime are both dechlorinators/ water conditioners, while Discus Buffer, Neutral Regulator, and Acid Buffer are all buffers. You still want to soak the resin for 8 hours in dechlorinator, but for freshwater tanks, we recommend the buffering step, as well in order to bring the pH closer to that of your tank. (You only need to soak it in the buffer for 4 hours.) You can use the API Tap Water Conditioner for the dechlorination step, however since this product does not contain any buffers, you will still need to follow-up with the buffering step for a freshwater tank. Hope this information helps, and please let us know if you have further questions.


 Purigen 100ml bag size - Seachem Support Forums


----------

