Purigen in planted tank

[TeeJay]

Is purigen useful in a planted tank?. I have not had any problems with ammonia spikes but was wondering if the purigen is a good idea. I know the pants utilize the ammonia. 

[eatyourpeas]

I would not use unless you are doing an emergency removal of ammonia or meds.

[Patrick_G]

I think it’ll remove unwanted tannins too? 

[Mmiller2001]

Good stuff, keeps the tank crystal clear.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 4/19/2022 at 3:23 PM, Uttjrt3 said:

Is purigen useful in a planted tank?. I have not had any problems with ammonia spikes but was wondering if the purigen is a good idea. I know the pants utilize the ammonia. 

Hi @Uttjrt3

I have used Seachem Purigen for years in my planted tanks.  Not always but very regularly.  Purigen removes dissolved 'organics' from the water like the tannins from driftwood mentioned previously. 

I use it continuously in my Red Eye Red Spot Green Discus (Symphysodon aequifasciatus) tank because they generate a lot of 'organics' (i.e. dissolved poop and pee) and even with 50% weekly water changes they can build up.  I can tell if I have been lazy about replacing / recharging my Purigen because black brush algae (BBA) outbreaks seem to occur.  Some folks may worry that it will remove the nitrates from the fertilizer we are adding....it does not.  Hope this helps! -Roy
 

Quote

Although the organic precursors of nitrogenous compounds are absorbed, Purigen does not remove nitrate, urea and phosphate, so your aquarium plants still have sufficient amounts of the macro-nutrients they need.