Porkneck

If I were to use purigen in a fluidized bed reactor and pumped CO2 into it so as to diffuse the CO2 with the tumbling effect of the purigen, would the purigen cause any ill effect on the CO2 and vise versa? Sort of a polish(water) and diffuse(CO2) system.

I know the capabilities of purigen as a water polisher as I have been using it for more than 7 years now in my saltwater tank. In fact I managed to totally deplete a small bag of purigen, recharging does not work. I bleached it and it turned back to white but after rinsing and letting it dry out a bit, it turned totally brown again. Also when it was wet, it had a mushy feel to it like slime. I threw it out but saved the bag.

PS: I posted this in the "equipment" section not knowing that Seachem had it's own sub forum.

Thanks

Seachem

Thanks for the post!

I'll be honest with you, Purigen is hard to contain when using it in a reactor. Because the beads are so light, they just get blown around everywhere in the reactor and possibly may even escape through the sponge. When I used it in a reactor, I had to rinse it very well and make sure that only the heaviest of beads were left behind, thus wasting a lot of the product. I do not foresee any issues with diffusing CO2 through the media, however, we have never used it in this manner before.

I'm not sure I understand what happened with the Purigen you tried to regenerate, as this is a very common practice among many hobbyist. Exactly how did you regenerate it? Also, I would not recommend letting the Purigen completely dry our after use. This can cause the beads to crack and slip out of the bag. When not in use, it is best to store in a small amount of freshwater.

I hope this information helps. Let us know if you have additional questions.

Porkneck

Finally got a reply. Been asking but no answers available. Well the thing is I won't be using that much at all. I will use it in a FBR but not the same amount as regularly used when using sand and I don't intend it to work like an FBR. Well it will seem to be like a regular FBR but not exactly since purigen is totally different from silica sand. Just enough to polish the water of my 7 gallon Minibow and aid in diffusing the CO2 by allowing it to be sucked into the FBR and get tossed, squashed, mashed by the purigen. Having said that, if say it's not possible to use purigen, then I will just use silica sand but again in a very small amount. As stated, I have used purigen for so long in my saltwater tanks. Now I am going to try out a planted tank and would like to use purigen again.

I have been following the instructions for regeneration from the seachem website. Have been doing the same procedure for years. In fact a while back I switched from Prime to Aquavitro Alpha. Wonderful products! Though sometimes I still use Prime. Aquavitro-Alpha is a bit hard to find in my area. The closest place that has it is about 20-25 minutes away.

When I said I dried it out, I don't exactly mean dry dry. I mean dry damp. I have not tried placing a soaking wet purigen bag in my sump. Sorry for the confusion. Anyway, while dry damping it, I can feel it being slimy, mushy and get dark brown in patches until almost everything is brown. I believe I have depleted the life of it. Though I'm not complaining. But if you're going to replace it...Lol!

Added info: FBR is 17" tall and 3" in diameter. I will be using the contents of a regular small pouch of purigen. That's how little I will be using. Thats about an inch to 1-1/2" in a 17 inch reactor.

Seachem

I'm not sure why the Purigen reacted that way after the regeneration process. We have regenerated the pouches here many times and have never experienced what you are describing. We have noticed that it gets a very strong amine/fishy odor after regeneration, which is normal. Also, it may not always return to the original white color due to the fact that it removes color bodies from the water and will become stained.

As for the reactor, we would be interested in hearing your feedback on how it worked for you! Keep us posted!

Porkneck

As to what happened to the purigen, I don't really mind it, I probably generated it more than 7 times, and I have a lot of spares. They actually last a long time provided the water flowing through it has been filtered or else it becomes the filter which is not what is meant for so yeah, they last long as long you know where to place it.

As for the FBR, I don't think anything special is going to happen except the fact that it will polish the water just as it's meant to do. My only real concern was mixing it with CO2. But since you mentioned that you were not aware or tried anything like that, I guess I'll have to try it and leave it to the drop checker and see if I am either gaining or loosing CO2. Had there been any known negative opinions/facts in regards to mixing purigen and CO2 this then I wouldn't do it.

Seachem

Ahhhhh, I didn't realize that you were able to regenerate it 7 times before that happened. When it starts to turn brown immediately after regeneration, that is indicative of it being exhausted. I guess you figured that out already.