Help with filtration with biocube.

This hobby can get expensive, but small tanks are manageable. Anything special, or proprietary is going to be more expensive. Anything that can be bought anywhere or in bulk is much less.

Your cube has carbon in the filter floss.... but those filters are expensive compared to bulk carbon and floss.... no big deal though, you are covered. I did not know you had carbon in your filter so that is good.

I'm not saying Chemi pure and elite are not good... and I don't have anything against it... just too expensive and another one of those "magic pill" products you will pay more for.

First it has carbon which you are already running. Elite has GFO which removes phosphates... do you have excessive phosphates??? Third it has ion exchange resins which IMHO are unneeded and play in to the "magic potion" thing. Ion exchange resins are the "DI" in RO/DI and is good for cleaning up water to put in your tank, but is unneeded to filter water in the tank. Just my .02

 

Good points. How do you feel about Purigen?

 

what's in it?

 

Purigen
Product Description
Purigen® is a premium synthetic adsorbent that is unlike any other filtration product. It is not a mixture of ion exchangers or adsorbents, but a unique macro-porous synthetic polymer that removes soluble and insoluble impurities from water at a rate and capacity that exceeds all others by over 500%. Purigen® controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds. Purigen’s™ impact on trace elements is minimal. It significantly raises redox. It polishes water to unparalleled clarity. Purigen® darkens progressively as it exhausts, and is easily renewed by treating with bleach. Purigen® is designed for both marine and freshwater use.

Sizes: 100 mL 250 mL, 500 mL, 1 L, 2 L, 4 L, 20 L
Why It's Different
Selectivity: Purigen® is the highest capacity organic filtration resin on the market. No other products can compare to its ability to clear haziness and polish water to unparalleled clarity. Unlike other products on the market which are simple ion-exchange resins, Purigen® is specifically designed to be an organic scavenging resin. When ion-exchange resins are filled to capacity by metals and other contaminants, Purigen® has barely begun to reach its potential. Purigen® generally ignores simple elemental compounds, having an extreme affinity for nitrogenous organics. The primary source of nitrogenous compounds in an aquarium is waste. Fish, corals, even plants produce nitrogenous waste. Purigen® removes that waste faster and more completely than anything else on the market.

Capacity: Purigen’s™ possesses enhanced capacity owing to its vast surface area. All other resins on the market are purely spherical extruded beads. These beads remain smooth even under a microscope. Purigen® is both spherical and macroreticular. It has microscopic pores that increase its usable surface area to many times that of a purely spherical resin.

Regeneration: Purigen® can also be regenerated. As it adsorbs waste products, Purigen® will change color from a pale blonde to a dark brown, almost black. Once it is exhausted, it can be regenerated with a solution of bleach and water. The bleach will literally “burn off” the organics that have been removed from the tank. Watch out for products that claim to be regenerable with a brine solution. That is the regeneration procedure for ion-exchange purposes. A brine solution will not remove organics. While such resins have a limited capacity for organic adsorption, a brine regeneration process only replaces removed ionic compounds. It does not destroy large organic molecules that were removed, which is the primary function of organic adsorption resins.

Source: Seachem. Purigen

 

WHOA I'm sold...

"Each 1 L treats up to 4,000 L (1,000 gallons*) for up to six months."

 

I just read the blurb on seachem... sort of liked Seachem... but once again more expensive than bulk stuff. I used BRS for everything.

I don't know what the purgen stuff is. sounds great, but need to look at info on it.

One thing about this filter media stuff.... these companies did not just come up with this stuff... pretty much everything we have in the hobby came from water purification industries.... drinking water and waste water tech. Algae turf scrubbers are used in that industry.... carbon, ion exchanger, RO units, digesters, even bio pellets... everything comes from that. Heck Beckett nozzles came from waste water treatment. So one of their things is economics... lots of stuff may work, but isn't economical.

As far as purgen, I don't know what the substance is, where to find info, or looked into it. Sounds great according to the manufacturers paper.

 

Why not add some chaeto algae? There is that little window in the back so you can add a fluorescent light or lamp