[christinamac910]

Based on the product descriptions for Seachem Flourish Nitrogen and Seachem Purigen, it would seem that Purigen would remove up to at least half of the nitrogen found in the Flourish Nitrogen product. Is this true? If Purigen is so effective at removing nitrogen, would it remove the nitrogen found in other nitrogen fertilizers such KNO3?

I sent an email to Seachem asking about this and their initial response was:

"Thank you for your email. Since Purigen has an affinity for nitrogenous waste, it will have little to no impact on supplementation. In addition, our Flourish line of supplements are formulated to be in forms most preferred by plants, so they are taken in quickly by the plants and used internally, thus reducing the likelihood of removal by any chemical filtration."

Since this didn't really answer my question, I replied with the following email to Seachem but they have not responded yet. It explains my logic. What do you think?

"Purigen has an affinity for nitrogenous waste: "Purigen® controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste."

Nitrogenous waste is "any metabolic waste product that contains nitrogen. Urea and uric acid are the most common nitrogenous waste products in terrestrial animals; freshwater fish excrete ammonia." Nitrogenous waste includes ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

The description on Seachem's website for the Flourish Nitrogen product states that it "provides nitrogen in both the nitrate form and the plant-preferred ammonium form."

So if Purigen removes nitrate and ammonia, and Flourish Nitrogen contains nitrate and ammonium, then it follows that Purigen would remove the nitrate and ammonium in the Flourish Nitrogen product.

The Seachem website also states: "Because one-half of the nitrogen in Flourish Nitrogen is from nitrate you can get a reasonable estimate of nitrogen levels by doubling a nitrate reading."

So it stands to reason that if half of Flourish Nitrogen is nitrate, then at least half of the Flourish Nitrogen product will be removed by Purigen. If this is correct, should I double my Flourish Nitrogen doses to get my desired nitrogen ppm? Should I remove the Purigen from my filter on days when I dose Flourish Nitrogen?

It is true that the nitrate and ammonium found in Flourish Nitrogen is easily taken up by plants. Plant nutrient uptake rates are highly variable. In setups without CO2 and slow-growing plants, uptake rates are probably slower. I am concerned that Purigen will remove the nitrate and ammonium provided by Flourish Nitrogen faster than my plants can take up these nutrients.

I know that many people are successful keeping planted, fertilized tanks with Purigen. I am just trying to figure out dose amounts and a dosing schedule for Flourish Nitrogen that takes into account that Purigen will likely remove up to half of the Flourish Nitrogen product in a relatively short amount of time. Please correct me if the logic I have presented about Purigen removing Flourish Nitrogen is incorrect.

Thank you for taking the time to explain how these two products can work together."

 

[Yo-han]

No, purigen will not remove small inorganic molecules like ammonia or nitrate. It removes large proteins which otherwise will become ammonia no2/3. I always use purigen, double the normal amount, and add urea, ammonia and nitrate without problems!

 

[christinamac910]

Thank you for your response Yo-han. Seachem's response is consistent with what you stated. I will post their response below for other people's reference. I'm glad to know that Purigen won't remove the fertilizers I add for my plants.

"Purigen does not have the capability to directly remove compounds such as ammonia, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, etc. It only removes the dissolved organics that would otherwise break down into these compounds if they continue to break down in the system.

There is no need to dose more than the recommended amount of Flourish Nitrogen or to alter the recommended dosages when using Purigen in your filter since the Purigen does not have the ability to impact this supplement in any way. As stated in the previous email, Purigen will have no real impact on any of the supplements in the Flourish line."