How To Recharge Purigen? (8 Steps To Regenerate It)
Purigen is one of the widely used filter media in fish tanks. It absorbs organic compounds and reduces the pollution in water. But it needs to be cleaned after it gets exhausted. Let us go to the complete guide to recharge the purigen.
What Is Meant By The Regeneration Of Purigen?
Purigen gets exhausted over time. To get exhausted means reaching the maximum limit of its cleaning capacity beyond which it can no longer function.
You do not need to change or replace it once it gets exhausted. Instead, you can regenerate this filter medium in a few simple steps to make it reusable again. This regeneration process is also known as purigen recharging.
When To Recharge The Purigen?
It depends on the absorbing capacity of the purigen. Purigen absorbs the organic compound.
The capacity of absorbance can be lowered after a while, and the purigen becomes brownish. This brownish appearance of purigen is the time when you need to recharge it.
How To Recharge Purigen?
Recharging the Purigen is one of the main questions asked by many users. One of the beneficial things about this is that we can still use this after it gets exhausted.
We can recharge it and use purigen for another time. The complete process of recharging it is given below.
The ingredients required for recharging the purigen are bulleted below.
- Common bleach is used for cleaning household appliances.
- A container for the placement of purigen, and make sure to use a non-metallic one.
- Seachem Prime (dechlorinator) .
- Water (Tap water would be adequate).
- Buffer for neutralization.
- The purigen to be recharged.
Now that all the materials required have been assembled. A 7 step process gives clean and recharged purigen in the end. All the steps are given below and follow all the steps carefully.
8 Steps To Recharge Purigen
Step 1: Keep all the ingredients and complete the setup in one place for performing the task to rejuvenate the purigen.
Step 2: The first thing is that you have to make a bleaching solution using tap water. The bleach ratio to the water is a half cup of bleach to a half cup of water.
It is not necessarily half cup to half cup ratio. You can use the water accordingly with the amount of bleach. But both should be in equal parts.
Step 3: Abstract the worn-out purigen from the filter and dip (submerge) in the mixture/solution you just made.
Step 4: Now, leave this container with a submerged bag of purigen for 24 hours in a ventilated area away from the reach of children and pets.
Be sure not to forget to flip or overturn the purigen now so that all the purigen in the bag is well exposed to the bleach.
Step 5: After 24 hours have expired, you can remove the container’s purigen bag to rinse it under the running water.
Step 6: Now get back to the container containing bleach solution, drain all the solution into the sink, and rinse out the container. Wipe it with a clean towel and fill it with a cup of water.
Add four tablespoons of seachem prime in this water and place the purigen for about 8 hours.
Step 7: Please take out the purigen from the container and wash it properly under running water to wash away all the accumulated residual chlorine.
Step 8: If the purigen is going to be used in a freshwater tank, it needs to go through another soak-in process for another 4 hours. Make the solution of the buffer in water. 2 tablespoons of buffer for one cup of water.
Purigen Before And After
The above photos show the fascinating difference in the appearance of purigen. The first picture shows the purigen in brown color before recharging it, and the second picture shows the clean and clear condition of purigen after regeneration.
Is It Safe To Recharge Purigen?
The regeneration of the purigen is a cheap way not to spend money on changing it and make many people think it is not safe.
But it is a thing that many experts and aquarists have experimentally proved. However, sometimes the person’s mistakes during the process of recharge may lead to adverse results.
How Many Times Can Purigen Be Recharged?
A purigen can be recharged maximally 10 times before it is the time to say Goodbye. But it may also depend on what type of condition you have in your tank.
Whenever your purigen is reached its capacity and does not work properly, you need to regenerate it. According to the seachem, every time you recharge the purigen, it loses its 10% purity it means you can recharge it 10 times but it is not recommended to go for more than 6 to 7 times.
What Bleach To Use For Purigen?
There is a lot of types of bleach available in the market. But to choose the suitable bleach for regenerating the purigen is not a difficult thing.
The bleach we normally use in our households having a property of 8.25 hypochlorite will be suitable for rejuvenation.
Make sure that bleach does not have any scent properties, dyes, etc. Do not go for any strong bleach that can affect the fish tank’s condition and result in the death of fish.
How To Recharge Purigen Without Bleach?
Many people think that the presence of ammonia or its smell remains after recharging the purigen. The instructions are also given on the web page of seachem regarding the type of bleaching during the process of purigen recharge.
After rejuvenating the purigen, the fear of ammonia keeps fearing many fish keepers, who love their fishes and do not wanna lose them just because of the purigen. But the trusted way to recharge the purigen without bleaching is not yes found.
If you have a problem using bleach to rejuvenate it and don’t want to risk your fish, you should purchase a new purigen and throw the used one.
How To Recharge Purigen Without Prime?
There are a lot of queries regarding the recharge of purigen without prime. The use of Seachem prime is needed to maintain the pH of purigen. Seachem always recommends using prime for maintaining the pH.
But the truth is that you need any de-chlorinator and not only the seachem prime. They always recommend their product prime because they know a lot about their about, and it may be a marketing strategy.
But you can use any dechlorinator which does not have any slime coat additive or Aloe vera.
You can search any dechlorinator with the properties same as mentioned above, and I can also recommend the product that I use mostly. Marine master water ager is one of the dechlorinator that I mostly use.
Can You Reuse Purigen?
You can safely reuse the purigen when it gets exhausted, and it is not only time reusable but also 4 to 6 times without any fear of adverse effects. The only you have to do carefully is the procedure to recharge it.
Summary
Recharging purigen is a self-made decision and not to buy for at least 2 to 4 times. However, you can purchase a new purigen, and that decision would be preferred over regenerating the old one again and again.
The idea of regenerating the purigen is not bad, but purchasing a new one would be preferred because regenerated purigen can affect the normal behavior of some fishes or maybe more than the behavior.
