Seachem Purigen resin and peat/active substrate

[daveron]

So I googled about purigen and it's interaction with peat and this puzzled me.

Seachem claims that purigen will absorb tannins, fulvic and humic acids but will not handicap peat's ability to lower the pH... Aren't these acids exactly why peat or active substrates in our tanks have the ability to buffer the pH down? If not then what else is there in peat that allow for ph to drop? 

Edited January 24, 2017 by daveron

[TruShrimp]

Hmm I'm not and expert on this, but i use Purigen with my active substrate which is the Shrimp King Active Soil, I know my pH is still around 6.3, maybe it shortens the life of active substrates? Id love to know now.

[jayc]

Purigen's main role is absorbing organics before it turns into Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Purigen is not the best at absorbing colour bodies or tannin. But it does absorb some of it, activated carbon does a far better job. So it only dampens the pH lowering properties of the peat, but it still removes some of the humic acids and colour.

Trace elements released by peat will not be absorbed by Purigen, as it only targets organic compounds.

This is what one of the Seachem tech support guys said on their forum...

"Using Purigen will not have any impact on the benefits of peat. While Purigen will remove the color bodies, unlike carbon and other chemical filtration medias, it does not remove trace minerals. So, you can use Purigen without loosing the pH buffering ability and the trace elements produced by the peat. However, because it will remove the color bodies, the water would be fairly clear and Purigen would not be the product to use if you were seeking a blackwater look to the tank. "

and 

" Purigen is an organic scavenging resin that remove nitrogenous waste at an unbelievable rate. It does not remove any other elements such as metals, trace elements, or nutrients from the water column. It removes nitrogenous waste before it can convert into ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. It has such great capacity for organics, that it has become known as a "protein skimmer in a bag"! It also does a fantastic job at removing tannins and color bodies from the water. "

 

Just remember this ...

Purigen is not a long term filtration media. It performs a role. Use it only when you need it to perform it's function, then remove it. Purigen should not be used long term in the tank, and left forgotten in the filter or bag.

 

This goes for activated carbon, macropore and most chemical filtration media as well.

Edited January 25, 2017 by jayc

[daveron]

6 hours ago, jayc said:

Just remember this ...

Purigen is not a long term filtration media. It performs a role. Use it only when you need it to perform it's function, then remove it. Purigen should not be used long term in the tank, and left forgotten in the filter or bag.

 

This goes for activated carbon, macropore and most chemical filtration media as well.

Could you please explain why ?

From what I have noticed on the forums the intention of most users is to use it long term - either as a safeguard against unwanted toxins, or toxin spikes or to get their nitrates levels down. Even the description of the products suggests to me that it is indeed a long term filtration media -  put it inside the filter and regenerate when it gets brown, then re-use.

[revolutionhope]

I know that some well respected breeders do use purigen/macropore 24/7 changing it out / cleaning regularly as a nitrate prevention measure.

There's definitely more than one way to maintain a balanced ecosystem in an aquarium for sure. Surely it is better to achieve more natural means as possible.. having said that I'm researching UV filtration at the moment [emoji15] LOL

[emoji173] [emoji111]
Will

[TruShrimp]

Thanks JayZ for your detailed reply, but I am also curious about the second part of your message, stating using it for its purpose then remove it.

I have some in my canister filter, and would prefer it to stay in case of any rises in organic wastes, but then also like the benefits of having tannins,humic and so on in my tank so it would make sense to remove it. Hard to make that work when trying to keep things stable in a shrimp tank.

 

kind regards 

[daveron]

Below is Seachem's response to the original question which I have received:

Thank you for your email. Basically, humic acid is released from Peat after it removes minerals from the water, softening the water. This softening effect is unavoidable. Once the Humic Acid is in the water, it promptly starts donating hydrogens to the water, lowering the KH and pH. If Purigen gets its hands on the Humic Acid molecule, it will remove it from the water, but by then the humic acid has already successfully brought the pH down. If you somehow managed to completely surround the peat with Purigen so that any and all humic acid that is released was immediately adsorbed, then yes, the Purigen will have managed to completely prevent the Peat from having any effect on the pH at all. However, in almost any other situation, there will still be an impact on the pH of the system despite the fact that the Purigen eventually removes the humic acid from the water.

Thank you,

Seachem Support

[revolutionhope]

Sounds a bit like a dodgy answer / marketing if you ask me. Can't have it both ways...

They need to clarify this in their product information pronto.

I've just spent a while searching out details on purigen and its relationship with pH and although Seachem are a highly reputable business they still seem to be side-stepping on this issue for over a decade now from what I can tell.

[emoji173] [emoji111] [emoji444]

Will

[daveron]

I agree, but to be fair most people report that they have not noticed any shifts in pH after adding purigen...