# purigen



## Nick16 (30 Jan 2010)

im about to set up a 450L tank and i need some purigen. 

what kind of amounts am i going to need? i dont want to go mental and totally overboard. 
do i need 100ml, 250ml, 500ml?


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## samc (30 Jan 2010)

i personally would get between 500ml and a litre. others may disagree


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## Nick16 (30 Jan 2010)

really, hmm. i was thinking 250ml would be enough. its not cheap stuff. 

does it do the same job as zeolite?


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## Ross (30 Jan 2010)

A liter can cope with 4000 liters http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... cts_id=103
I would say 250ml will be fine.


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## Nick16 (31 Jan 2010)

right, thank you. 

what the differance between purigen and zeolite. dont they both do smilar things and can both be recharged?


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## Dave Spencer (31 Jan 2010)

Both can be recharged.

Zeolite will absorb(?) ammonia, which is a very helpful feature in an immature tank. Rather than recharge, I leave mine in as filter media once it is exhausted. Removing it for recharge could result in the removal of a fair proportion of your filter bacteria. People sometimes talk about how Zeolite shouldn`t be used as it starves the bacteria colony. Their argument is the rise in ammonia levels when the Zeolite is removed, but I believe this is just the result of removing a percentage of the bacteria colony that has inhabited the Zeolite. With all that ammonia stored in the Zeolite, why wouldn`t nitrifying bacteria want to move in? It is great stuff because it takes ammonia out of the water column, making it unavailable to algae.

Purigen is another product I use, but it is different to Zeolite. It removes DOC and various organic water discolourants to give gin clear water. When I do a water change, the water I throw away is clearer than the replacement from the tap. I usually have one bag in use, with another one recharged in standby, to reduce the number of times I open up the filter.

Dave.


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## Nick16 (31 Jan 2010)

so if i get say 250ml of purigen and then say 1kg of zeolite i will be sorted. 

cheers for that.


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## Ross (31 Jan 2010)

I think the Zeolite can leach IIRC Ammonia back into the tank when its exhausted so you might be best off with Purigen  I have 250ml of Purigen on my 200 liter tank and it works very well.


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## Dave Spencer (31 Jan 2010)

Ross said:
			
		

> I think the Zeolite can leach IIRC Ammonia back into the tank when its exhausted so you might be best off with Purigen  I have 250ml of Purigen on my 200 liter tank and it works very well.



Definitely not in my experience. As of yet, I haven`t come across any substantiated evidence of ammonia leaching back in to the water column.

Zeolite and Purigen do different jobs, and I always use both in my tanks these days.

Dave.


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