Has anyone tried this?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

4D3

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 21, 2013
967
42
61
United Kingdom
Recently I have been battling an algea problem, turns out it was a combination of things.... First was my Fluval FX UVC had exploded!!

no i am not joking, I contacted fluval when I noticed there was no glow, so they very kindly sent a replacement bulb as the unit was less than a month old, when I went to replace the bulb it literally looked like someone had attacked the inside of the unit with a blow torch, so the entire unit was replaced.

Second issue was that because all of the hair algea were consuming all the phosphate in my water the test results showed zero, then someone here reminded me that a phosphate test would be zero as its the food source.

This brings me to my "Has anyone tried this" question.

I decided that because things like Phosguard and Purigen work better on slow flow rate, and since most/a lot of people have canisters which far exceed the recommended flow rate, I thought I would just hang the bag in my tank...... To be fair it doesn't look bad or out of place.

I currently have 250ml Phosguard hanging in the main water column, and once recharged I will have 500ml of Purigen hanging also.

So far my results have been great, zero algea, and that's without my replacement UVC, that's waiting to be delivered.

Looks interesting, and also, it makes maintenance so much easier, you can just pull it out the tank and replace, and for thinks like purigen you can actually see the colour change so you know when to recharge it, rather than just waiting for canister maintenance.

(for me I clean my canisters once every 6 months, but i do heavily use RD. RD. Probiotics advice so that's just me, and i hate opening my canister every month to see if I need to recharge the purigen)

I cannot think of any down sides.... But I searched this forum and saw nothing about it so I thought I would post the question?

Is this OK to do with these products?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RyanScanner
Sounds like it’s working. People throw them in sumps, overflows, hobs, etc. As long as it has some flow, should be fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey
Just a quick update...... This works amazing!

You can actually see the usage in the bags!

This is perfect.

Anyone with no sump should do this. If you pur these procudts into your canister they get covered in gunk from the canister.

Using this way, there is nice slow flow, no gunk - it's at the top of the water column... No detritus!

And the best thing is, you can literally see the Purigen getting consumed.

I will post pics in another week when my cameras can detect the colour change!

This is brilliant!
 
Can you see the lines in the purigen! This is amazing!

And loot at my fish! Wtf happened to his head!
 

Attachments

  • 1000019780.jpg
    1000019780.jpg
    690.6 KB · Views: 13
  • 1000019766.jpg
    1000019766.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 12
  • 1000019764.jpg
    1000019764.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 10
  • Like
Reactions: RyanScanner
Such a beautiful flowerhorn!
Ok I’ve got to try it, I had purigen in the tank earlier as I have 30kg of driftwood in there but I stopped using it. For me it’s hair algae clogging up my moss.

I think my bio load is too high but every test I do is zero everything except 1-1.5ppm phosphate, but if I have phosphate then that’s not the problem?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7680.jpeg
    IMG_7680.jpeg
    3.2 MB · Views: 7
  • IMG_7681.jpeg
    IMG_7681.jpeg
    4.1 MB · Views: 6
  • IMG_7691.jpeg
    IMG_7691.jpeg
    1.3 MB · Views: 8
  • IMG_7735.jpeg
    IMG_7735.jpeg
    2.3 MB · Views: 8
Such a beautiful flowerhorn!
Ok I’ve got to try it, I had purigen in the tank earlier as I have 30kg of driftwood in there but I stopped using it. For me it’s hair algae clogging up my moss.

I think my bio load is too high but every test I do is zero everything except 1-1.5ppm phosphate, but if I have phosphate then that’s not the problem?
So 7 weeks after doing this, I have performed zero water changes, I have added zero prime/safe or equivalent.

So my water test is absolutely perfect, purigen is removing nitrate, 7 weeks with only 5ppm. I spoke to a friend of mine that works at SeaChem Australia, and he said that this way is absolutely the best for running a canister as the flow is too fast for nitrate removal.

Also in the second pic you can see the purigen degreding, so it is a perfect indicator for a recharge, and you can see the top is discoloured and the bottom is still cream colour. (Also the water flow does actually mix the purigen around SLOWLY so I does get turned/mixed about

Last pic.... Look at that water clarity, it's like glass! I have never got it so clear even with scrubbers! The bubbles are from my surface skimmer.

This thread needs pinned..... This is the proper way to use Pruigen and Phosguard! This actually works so well.

I am running 500ml Pruigen hanging in a bag and it works 10 times better than the 1000ml I had sat in my canister. Now I have halfed the amount I use, and i have 2 bags, one in tank, one recharged ready to go!

This is so much of a money saver.

Also my friend told me that the life of Phosguard, hung in the tank will triple the life span as when it is in the canister it still has loads of detritus clogging the small pores......

SeaChem users, start hanging your bags in tank.

NOTE: THIS IS ONLY FOR CANISTER/HIGH FLOW USERS. IF YOU HAVE A SUMP THIS IS IRRELEVANT AND PLEASE IGNORE, IF YOU HAVE A CANISTER, YOU NEED TO DO THIS ASAP.

YOU SAVE MONEY, TIME AND EFFORT!

I HOPE THIS HELPS

1000020302.jpg

1000020303.jpg

1000020304.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr exum
Such a beautiful flowerhorn!
Ok I’ve got to try it, I had purigen in the tank earlier as I have 30kg of driftwood in there but I stopped using it. For me it’s hair algae clogging up my moss.

I think my bio load is too high but every test I do is zero everything except 1-1.5ppm phosphate, but if I have phosphate then that’s not the problem?
Also to answer your question... The Phosguard is to combat hair algea.

This is a double edge sword, if your phosphate tests zero and you have hair algea, that means there is enough hair algea to consume the phosphate.

Do not get tricked by the tests..... When talking about algea they tend to balance the amount with the available food, so if you are still testing positive for phosphate you should expect more growth.

I posted a thread with this exact issue a few months ago but it got deletes as people started fighting for some reason.

I will tell you the info I found was, my hair algea was consuming all phosphate so when I tested I got zero reading and I was super confused, then someone here told me to drop in phosguard for a week and to test the phosphate direct from the tap, turns out Glasgow tap water is loaded with phosphate and i had unknowingly created the perfect environment for them to grow!

Do a massive water change 80-90%, while the tank is draining scrub everything, bleach is good Al long as you dechlotinate everything, or hydrogen peroxide scrub. Also, you can add peroxide to your tank depending on your fish, but that's a complicated thing to do, so if you know math, do the water change and scrub down, and add peroxide to the tank.

The calc for adding peroxide, FOR A 3% peroxide, is:

(Volume in litres/3.8) x 1.7 = number of ml of 3% peroxide (warning for this, do not use on shrimp, or scale less fish like loaches etc)

After that add Phosguard.

Hence the 2 bags in my tank, the one closest to the outlet is Phosguard, the one in the corner is Purigen.

Hope that helps
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RyanScanner
MonsterFishKeepers.com