# Purigen maintenance time?



## Crazyfish88 (Apr 28, 2010)

Hello everyone. When is it time to maintenance Purigen? My bags are turning light brown after 5 days but not all the beads are brown yet. Do i wait til it's dark brown to recharge it? Also my understanding from Seachem's website it says to use 1:1 bleach? So if I'm running 1L of purigen means I need 1L of bleach to recharge? Sorry the directions by Seachem are kind of confusing me.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

1:1 means 1 part bleach to one part water for your cleaning solution.... ex: 8oz bleach to 8oz water is a 1:1 ratio, hope that helps


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## Crazyfish88 (Apr 28, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> 1:1 means 1 part bleach to one part water for your cleaning solution.... ex: 8oz bleach to 8oz water is a 1:1 ratio, hope that helps


So to clean 1L of purigen how much bleach would I need?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The maintenance time is dependent on your usage efficiency, your bioload, if you're using anything that leaches into the water (wood, leaves), etc.

When I ran bagged Purigen, my bags lasted maybe a month before everything was brown. I am now running a reactor and everything is brown in 7 days. But I've also started using a lot more almond leaves....

As for the bleach, I actually use almost 100% without diluting with water. Just need to make sure you rinse and dechlorinate properly. I can get in clean in 10 minutes when the media is loose (since I'm using a reactor).


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## Crazyfish88 (Apr 28, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> The maintenance time is dependent on your usage efficiency, your bioload, if you're using anything that leaches into the water (wood, leaves), etc.
> 
> When I ran bagged Purigen, my bags lasted maybe a month before everything was brown. I am now running a reactor and everything is brown in 7 days. But I've also started using a lot more almond leaves....
> 
> As for the bleach, I actually use almost 100% without diluting with water. Just need to make sure you rinse and dechlorinate properly. I can get in clean in 10 minutes when the media is loose (since I'm using a reactor).


Thanks for the advice but how much amount of bleach do I use exactly for 1L purigen? 250ml. 500ml etc?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Whatever amount of bleach is require to soak the material. So that depends on container shape. You cannot clean the Purigen if it's sitting out of the water. So if you use less bleach, you'll have to move the bag around and around to get all of the material in the bleach. Sorry, I thought it was implicit that you have to use enough bleach to cover the Purigen.

You're running 1 L of Purigen? That's 10 bags....


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## Crazyfish88 (Apr 28, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Whatever amount of bleach is require to soak the material. So that depends on container shape. You cannot clean the Purigen if it's sitting out of the water. So if you use less bleach, you'll have to move the bag around and around to get all of the material in the bleach. Sorry, I thought it was implicit that you have to use enough bleach to cover the Purigen.
> 
> You're running 1 L of Purigen? That's 10 bags....


Yes running 1L of Purigen in my 450 but it's not 10 bags. 2 Seachem "the bag" each filled with 500grams of purigen.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Ah...I see. In your case then I can see why only some of it is brown. I only put 200 mL per bag and even then I think it's a bit too full. Not enough water percolates through it. If I were you, I would consider reducing the amount used, or even getting a reactor. I think you'll see a huger improvement in performance, since 450 gallon is a huge volume.


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## Crazyfish88 (Apr 28, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Ah...I see. In your case then I can see why only some of it is brown. I only put 200 mL per bag and even then I think it's a bit too full. Not enough water percolates through it. If I were you, I would consider reducing the amount used, or even getting a reactor. I think you'll see a huger improvement in performance, since 450 gallon is a huge volume.


K I'll get another bag and split the purigen into 3 and give it a try. Thanks for the advice.


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

I take a square, glass baking dish about 3" deep. It's big enough to hold 4 Purigen packs. I cover the packs completely with 100% bleach and set the dish aside for one full day. If you want to see something neat, stick your finger into the dish after about 30 minutes. The reaction cases the bleach to get stinkin' hot 

After the day, I empty the bleach and run water over the packs in the dish for about five minutes. I fill the dish with fresh water and about a cup of Prime. Let it sit for another day. Rinse, repeat. On the fourth day, I run the packs through running water again and then put them on the dish drying rack.

One thing I have noticed is the Purigen doesn't last as long between reactivation the more you do it. At least that's what I've found.


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

One bit of advice if you're re-generating with 100% bleach rather than 1:1 ratio with water (which incidentally works quicker and cleanses the fine particulate better imo), don't overdo the soaking in bleach. Remember that 24 hours is plenty - if you let it soak for say 48 hours or longer, the particulate begins to dissolve, and all of it can in fact disappear completely if left in the bleach long enough!. (It's happened to me).
This is apparently why Seachem recommends the 1:1 water/bleach ratio, as they claim 100% bleaching results in more rapidly reduced effectiveness of the Purigen, requiring earlier replenishment with new product.


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

emile said:


> One bit of advice if you're re-generating with 100% bleach rather than 1:1 ratio with water (which incidentally works quicker and cleanses the fine particulate better imo), don't overdo the soaking in bleach. Remember that 24 hours is plenty - if you let it soak for say 48 hours or longer, the particulate begins to dissolve, and all of it can in fact disappear completely if left in the bleach long enough!. (It's happened to me).
> This is apparently why Seachem recommends the 1:1 water/bleach ratio, as they claim 100% bleaching results in more rapidly reduced effectiveness of the Purigen, requiring earlier replenishment with new product.


Thanks, Paul - I didn't realize that. Good to know and it sure does explain why it seems to work less and less each time after I bleach it. Also explains why the bleach gets so hot when it's working


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The bleach gets hot because the removal of the organics is by oxidation and the process is exothermic.

Keeping it in the bag requires a lot of bleach. Now that I run a reactor, I only use a half cup of bleach to do 200 m, rather than a whole cup, and my Purigen is recharged in an hour, after which I rinse everything clean (which also is easier incidentally). The reason it's more effective and easier to recharge is because you are increasing the contact area.


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## Crazyfish88 (Apr 28, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> The bleach gets hot because the removal of the organics is by oxidation and the process is exothermic.
> 
> Keeping it in the bag requires a lot of bleach. Now that I run a reactor, I only use a half cup of bleach to do 200 m, rather than a whole cup, and my Purigen is recharged in an hour, after which I rinse everything clean (which also is easier incidentally). The reason it's more effective and easier to recharge is because you are increasing the contact area.


Then it's best to bleach the purigen out of the bag. Do u need to bleach the bag seperately too?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

It is way more efficient to bleach it out of the bag, but the particles are a bit of a pain if you're using the bag. Since I run a reactor, I just dump it all back in the reactor since the opening is large, but no reason you can't do the same with the bag. The bag does not need to be bleached since it is inert.


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