An expert aquarist would definitely know about the significance of filtration. A good filter media is quintessential in a sustainable aquarium setup. It’ll absorb various harmful chemicals and help maintain the nitrogen cycle. All of this is important to have good water quality in your aquarium.

There are lots of good filter media in the market nowadays but the one I’ll be talking about today is exceptional. The star of today’s show is the Seachem Purigen, an organic resin filtration media. Let’s get to the seachem purigen review!

Introducing The Seachem Purigen

Seachem Purigen is a premium quality synthetic adsorbent that delivers groundbreaking results when it comes to removing harmful compounds from your aquarium.

It removes impurities from water at 500% the rate of all competing products, not by removing them one at a time, but through its macroporous quality to remove nitrates and ammonia in addition to insoluble matter such as dirt and debris.

Seachem Purigen Organic Filtration Resin

Purigen will last 2-3 times longer than any ion exchanger or adsorbent on the market because it can’t be clogged or saturated with particles, like Vespene Gas for Starcraft fans out there when Builders’ Barracks need more time building!

Seachem Purigen is available in 250ml, 500ml, 1 liter, 2 liters , and 4 liters that come in bottles. Fine mesh bags are sold separately. Also, 100ml of Purigen treats 400 liters (100 gallons) of water.

Below, I’ll be covering different aspects of this unique filter media including key features,  benefits, a few things to keep in mind before buying it or while using it, and more.

seachem purigen Review: Special features

Seachem Purigen has a lot of perks, way ahead of any contemporary competition. If you’re curious to find out what does Purigen offer, you can have a look below:

  1. It is an organic filtration resin that keeps your water tank clean from all the waste and nitrogenous compounds that your fish and other aquarium inhabitants create.
  2. It is a unique macro-porous synthetic polymer that helps in removing both soluble and insoluble impurities from water.
  3. Being it is both spherical and macroreticular, Its usable surface is far more reaching than of an only spherical resin.
  4. With the help of bleach and water, you can remove the substance it gathered from the tank and regenerate it. But to make sure that it will still work, you should test for residual chlorine with a chlorine test kit.
  5. It lasts 2-3 times longer than ion exchange or absorbent resins.
  6. It has a 500% faster completion rate than its competitors.
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Seachem Purigen Review

Benefits of using Seachem Purigen

The reason seachem purigen is so popular is because it provides the user with excellent features and perks for an exceptionally reasonable price. I’ll talk about in detail below:

1. Clearer water

Purigen certainly helps in making your aquarium water clearer. If the water gets discolored due to tannin or other such substances, use of Seachem Purigen can help you in clearing that up. It removes microscopic particles from the water to make it look much more clearer.

You can use the purigen in both freshwater and saltwater tanks. As you already might know, in the case of a freshwater tank, if you put driftwood in your tank, it often leaks the humic substance it contains into your tank water and they tend to discolor your water. Yes, purigen can solve this problem for you by clearing up your water and keeping it that way. You’ll see satisfying results in 24 hours!

And in the case of saltwater tanks, it is similarly effective. It removes the toxins released by the corals and anemones among other substances. This keeps your water clear and creates a healthy environment for its inhabitants.

2. Removes organic wastes

Purigen helps in controlling the amount of ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites in your water tank by removing nitrogenous organic wastes such as fish wastes, remaining fish foods, decaying plants, etc. These wastes could turn into toxic compounds if they are left unchecked. But purigen takes care of them efficiently.

But what’s best about purigen is that these nitrogenous compounds are removed even before they can form ammonia, nitrates, and such other elements. Isn’t that amazing?

3. Works in a greater capacity

Most resins in the market are spherical-shaped. This is where purigen is majorly different. It’s both spherical and macroreticular.

The macro-porous and sphere-shaped structure of purigen allow it to have more tiny pores. Having so many pores makes it more functional in removing wastes and gives it a higher capacity than other filtration media.

4. Least effect on beneficial trace elements

Beneficial trace elements are important if you’ve got a planted aquarium or have corals in your tank. These trace elements include Iodine, Phosphorus, Molybdenum, Nickel, Copper, Manganese, Iron, Chromium, Selenium, Zinc, etc.

Compared to some other products purigen does not remove the beneficial trace elements and micronutrients rather it has very little effect on them.

This actually helps you because dosage management is important in such tanks.

5. Can work side by side with other medications

You might need to use some sort of medication if you’re having fish in your aquarium. But there are many filter media that negate or subside the medication effects to a certain extent. Purigen is not one of those.

If you need to medicate your tank, you do not have to remove purigen as it does not impact the efficiency of the medication.

6. Does not leach chemicals

Seachem purigen doesn’t hog simple elements like other ion-based resins. While most ion exchange resins are focused on metals, purigen is solely a nitrogenous scavenging monster. It ignores leeching elements that it doesn’t need to and solely focuses on devouring nitrogenous compounds that could be more problematic for the tank.

7. Seachem Purigen Is renewable

Purigen will keep absorbing waste. After prolonged use, it will start losing its effectiveness and turn darker in color. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw it away. You can actually regenerate it! And the method to regenerate Seachem purigen isn’t hard at all. I’ll include the method below.

Apparently, you can regenerate it on an average of 10 times. If you revive it every 4 months, it means you can keep your aquarium clean for more than 2 years. That’s a heck of a deal. I have also included the regeneration process at the later part of the article.

How To Use Seachem Purigen

Before putting it in the tank, you have to give it a rinse. Then place it in a fine filter mesh bag and leave it to work on its own. You can put purigen in a canister filter, internal power filter or, inside a HOB filter! You should see some progress in 24 hours. With 1L purigen, you can treat 1000 gallons of water.

Seachem Purigen Dosing Table

Now, all you gotta do is watch whether or not the color of the media changes or not. Over time, purigen will turn brown, or even black.

How to regenerate seachem purigen?

I’m sure you’ve been curious after hearing that purigen is renewable. Well, I am not gonna leave you unsatisfied. Here’s the process of regenerating seachem purigen:

  1. Take the filter media out of the water
  2. You have to soak the purigen with bleach and water in a 1:1 mixture. It’s better if you use 8.25% hypochlorite household bleach that has no scent or dye.
  3. After soaking, let it be for 24 hours in a non-metallic container. After that time period if it becomes white again, take it out of the container. If not, then repeat process #2 until it’s white.
  4. Later, give it a rinse and soak with 4 tbs of dechlorinator for 8 hours or 2 tbs of buffer for 4 hours [for freshwater].
  5. Finally, it’s ready. Now you can place it back in the tank.

A few things to keep in mind

  • While regenerating make sure to use a bleach that doesn’t have an additional scent or dye. And also make sure that it turns white before putting it into reuse.
  • With the 100 ml package, you will get the mesh bag attached with it but with larger ones, you will have to buy mesh bags separately.
  • For making it a perfect condition for your aquarium, you can have activated carbon with your purigen. As when you’ll need to remove medication traces from your water tank, activated carbon will do the job best for you. And besides, it is cheap as well. So it shouldn’t be that much of a problem.

Frequently asked questions

How long does seachem Purigen take to work?

If you add Seachem purigen in the recommended amount of water, it should start working after a few hours of placing. However, it won’t take more than 24 hours to show its magic.  .

Is Purigen better than Activated carbon?

While purigen doesn’t directly replace activated carbon, it does everything activated carbon can do but much quicker. And, it’s more affordable. So, I’d say yes.

How many times can Purigen be recharged or regenerated?

Thankfully, you can regenerate the Seachem purigen 10 times which also makes it a very cost-effective option.

Does Purigen affect pH?

As purigen won’t produce or release any acid or buffering agent, It is not going to change the pH of the tank. It doesn’t disturb the kH and GH properties too.

Does seachem Purigen remove fertilizer?

Relax! It won’t remove fertilizer from your tank. It clears the water column by absorbing the organic waste.

Can I use carbon and Purigen together?

Yes, of course. You can use both purigen and carbon at the same time. Also, using them combinedly won’t have any negative impact on your fish and plants too.

To Summarize

Seachem purigen is a synthetic filter media that helps in removing wastes that are naturally produced in an aquarium in various ways. It gives your aquarium water a much clearer look compared to other filters .

Its macro-porous design makes it function more effectively and faster. It is also reasonable in price and moreover you can regenerate it multiple times for reuse which only increases its value for money.

So it’s the one that can be easily recommended, you can certainly give it a try.

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