# Organics removal reactor



## niko

On YouTube you can find endless videos about the same thing - a Purigen reactor. All that they show is a clear canister of some sort with water shooting water through a tube hitting the bottom of the canister. The resin is heavier than water (just a little bit) and easily gets moving. That's it.

Except that, as we all know, the surface area of a handful of very fine beads the size of the resin beads is huge. The simplicity of the DIY reactor made me want to experiment.

I have a 10" tall water filter housing. All connections are way better than any aquarium reactor can ever be because they are meant to work under pressure. The setup of this reactor requires installing a tube in the middle, a small pump connected to what is normally the outtake of the water filter, and a valve on the discharge hose (which is now connected to the inlet of the water filter). The idea is the water to shoot down through the tube, hit the bottom and exit up. Simple.

The results, only after about 4 hours of operation, were stunning. My tank is about 145 actual gallons (size is 180). The pump that I used to run water through the resin reactor is barely 100 gph. But in 4 hours the water was as clear as if I ran a diatom filter!

Water clarity is cool but I'm really after removing organics. I've been a believer in removing organics for some time now but yesterday I had an interesting phone conversation. One of the people that knows more than pretty much the entire internet about planted tanks and aquascapes. All he kept saying was "biofilter" and "organics". Take a note, I'd say.

So here it is - two videos of the reactor as I rigged it up in a hurry. One hour after setup and 16 hours later. I can't really show the water clarity but here's a good point: My wife walks into the house, takes one look at the tank, and says "Wow! It's so clear!". Keep in mind that in the last 7 days I've changed water and vacuumed and cleaned that tank like a mother... So the resin does its job very, very well. And very, very fast.

The amount of resin I have in that reactor is supposed to be enough for about 300 gallon tank. That recommendation means nothing because, as we all know, aquarium products manufacturers sell whatever makes money and as a norm have little understanding or care of what is true or what actually works. So what I have in that reactor is about 350 cc's of resin. It works on my tank, with my bioload (very light). So much for practical experience/advice 

Here are the videos. I really hope you get interested in DIY-ing something like that. The cost is minimal - about $30 total. And yes, you will end up using Purigen because you can't really find any other resin that easily. I procured a different resin - one that is regenerated with salt instead of bleach (Brightwell's OrganitR). But the main point is to see if reduction of organics actually makes a difference in any way. As the "secret guru" knows it does...

One hour after setup. Resin is still clean white:





16 hours later. Resin is brown now, tank water is absolutely clear - looking from the side through 6' of water I see no water...:





--Nikolay


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## Michael

Interesting! This is set up like the Kaldnes filters, only with the resin beads instead of the little plastic gizmos.

What is the purpose of the valve on the end of the output tube? What will be the maintenance regimen?


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## mooncon

If you are removing the organics what is it doing for your nitrates,i only ask because I feed my discus tank heavy and cant get below about 40ppm on nitrates.I would love to see that number drop to about 10 to 20.


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## Tex Gal

Niko you are one cool dude!


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## niko

*Michael*,

The valve on the exit:
---------------------------
The valve at the end is used to regulate the flow. If the flow is too strong the lightweight beads move too violently instead of smoothly churning. So some of them make it to the top of the reactor and exit into the tank. So the valve on the exit is to reduce the flow.

Now, the canister has a sponge inside. You can't see it but it is blocking the exit pipe (in the lid of the housing). So any beads that make it too far up get tangled in the sponge and can not exit.

But here's what I found - reduced flow is needed only when you start with new beads. After a few hours the beads started to behave differently. As if they were heavier. I was able to gradually open the valve 100%. On the first video the valve is open about 30%. On the second video it is fully open.

Maintenance:
---------------------
The maintenance of this contraption is basically figuring out how often to change the resin beads. Nobody can tell you how often. The beads change color when loaded with organics but I believe that this is a very general indication. Mine changed to that brown color in about 4 hours. ... And at that time the water was super clear. Maybe they are spent already, I do not know. Tomorrow I will make an experiment - remove the browned beads and add brand new ones, snow white in color. The idea is to see if they will get brown slower.

More about maintenance- as far as the contraption plugging up there is no such problem. Nothing in that gizmo has small pores other than the sponge and it is pretty coarse. So it is not filtering anything, not retaining particles.

*Mooncon*,
I do not think this resin will affect the Nitrates. There are nitrate absorbing resins though, you can try them. Yes, the logic is that if you retain the organics then nitrates should not be formed because the material for nitrates is being retained by the beads.

I can tell you that my 30 ppm Nitrate is now 27. Took 3 days and 60 gallons of water change in that period. Maybe my overfeeding with bloodworms is pretty bad but if these beads helped I do believe I'd have seen a larger drop from the combined wc + resin.

*Drinda*,

NOW you know why I always wear a sweater! 

And yes! Tonight the tank looks exceptionally sparkling. Even if this experiment does nothing else the extreme clarity of the water is worth the $30. You can get a clear canister from Home Depot for $15, a pump you have laying around, two pieces of hose, and Purigen for $20 only because it is the easiest resin to find. Remember - my tank is 180 gallons, in a smaller tank the results will be good, guaranteed.


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## digital_gods

I've used the purigen pouches without issue. They last about 5 recharges. I repack them and seal them with a vacuum sealer. Very effective for fresh and saltwater. Poly Filter by http://www.poly-bio-marine.com is very good organic removal media.


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## niko

Poly-filter seems like a good product. The website explains things truly on black and white. That counts a lot in my book.

Unlike other organics removal resins it is suggested that you just trash the Poly-Filter once it turns brownish in color. That may sound like a waste but first of all I don't know how long this resin will last, and second - let's say I spend $20 for this Poly-Filter a month. That is well worth it if it keeps the water super clear AND especially if makes a big difference in algae occurrence. I think all of us will agree.

Also, it is possible, that once a tank is cleared of the initial load of organics it will actually stay pretty clean. Meaning that initially you may use extra resin, but later the usage is way lower. That'd be interesting to verify.

One point that I find important to note is that the Poly-Filter website says that their resin will remove Phosphate. Ok, we are supposed to want some Phosphate in our tanks because the plants need it. Except that that may not exactly be the case because of the following considerations:

1. ADA's standard for PO4 in the water is no more than 0.1 ppm.
So if we indeed believe ADA knows a thing or two we have to also believe that low Phosphate is not a problem. Of course we all know how that works - ADA actually adds PO4 on a daily basis - very small portions. The plants consume it AND the AquaSoil sequesters it. Meaning one thing - that if you use that Poly-Filter and it sucks PO4 very well you will still be able to supplement with PO4. But you have to understand that maintaining PO4>0.1 in the tank is not needed as long as you supply it daily. That approach, I can tell you for sure, goes a long, VERY long way toward controlling algae.

2. One Asian professional aquascaper/shop owner has been showing ultra clean lush tanks publishing a strange thing - usage of "removers" for NH4, N and P. You may say that that makes little sense but I think that it is very clear that the explanation of how this works is the same as above: N and P are supplied but are never left free floating in the water (the resin and the plants clean the water of these major nutrients). Judge for yourself. Read the info on his water parameters under every single picture of his lush aquascapes: "Filter media: Ammonia, Nitrate, and Phosphate removers". And don't miss the crazy amount of light that this 60 gallon tank gets - 320W of T5s (6 x 54W) ! That is NOT a tank that can look the way it looks if Nitrate and Phosphate were low in the water column.

Click on any year you want. He starts to list the Ammonia/Nitrate/Phosphate removers in 2009:
http://bubblesaquarium.com/Aquascape/Aquascape Front PageF1.htm










Look at the Rotala on the last picture. The health of that plant is mind boggling. Go ahead - tell me this looks like a plant that grows in water that is very lean on N and P. But he does list NH4/N/P removers. From what I see about his fertilzers his primary nutrition comes from the substrate. The water column ferts are different sources of traces/Fe.
http://bubblesaquarium.com/Aquascape/Gallery2010/Gallery2010_1_Infinite.htm

Well, as usual, I am feeling that all this info is going somewhere good. Hope it is - for years I have not seen anything new in the way we filter the aquarium water. Especially targeting organics. It seems that there is a way to balance the addition and removal of nutrients coupled with removal of organics which add a big unknown in all the reactions in the tank because they are capable of decaying, holding and releasing other nutrients, and of course feed BBA.

That Rotala... wow!


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## niko

Ok, day 3 since the reactor was started.

The tank water is exceptionally clear. And when looking at the surface ripples it has this special shine that only a properly functioning biological filter can produce. I guess invisible organic particles in the water really make a very big difference in ways we are not really familiar with because in a freshwater tank we can not use a protein skimmer.

Actually you can buy a German made protein skimmer meant for a freshwater tank. But it is huge and it introduces so much air to the water that it is completely impractical for a planted tank. So micron filtration + an organics removal resin is the second best way to using a skimmer. And yes, a UV sterilizer too.

Ok, the above is all fun and pretty. I love how the water looks but here's what is more important:

1. I have had BBA on the bottom of that tank forever. I vacuum it along with the gravel and in about 3 weeks it is at the same level again. Since the other day (when I started the reactor), despite my critical eye, I can say that yes, for sure, the BBA on the entire bottom has diminished. Not too fast to make conclusions so we will see.

2. The resin beads are now moving in a different way. They are much browner than on the second video above and they must be heavier, loaded with waste. Now they churn only in the bottom 1/3 of the reactor. And some don't even move but have settled on the bottom of the reactor. 
This settling of the resin may be a good indicator of how loaded the beads are and indicate the need for a change.

Last night I shut off the CO2 for the duration of the night. That is an old trick to allow the biofilter to function better at least half of the day. With less CO2 the biofilter is less suppressed. As we all know, (thanks to my ultra informative posts some years ago! haha) the biofilter really functions most effectively at pH= 8 - 8.5. At pH-7 it is barely functioning compared to what it can be. In addition to that we inject CO2 to our tanks which does not reduce the amount of Oxygen but probably occupies at least some of the space that Oxygen could occupy. Meaning that aeration at night, when the plants actually consume O2, is indeed a big deal - it gives the biofilter a needed break AND it helps the plants.

So, as you see, so far I'm trying to do everything I know that is right:

- Strong light
- Great flow
- Biofiltration with lava rocks (can be improved from what I understand)
- Targeting the Ca:Mg ratio that we consider appropriate (4:1)
- Changing a little water every day to combat organics and to reduce the N and P which were way high (30 and 1.6)
- Micron filtration with a dedicated filter
- Organics removal through a resin fluidized bed reactor
- Hiding the nutrients (root tabs) under the AquaSoil (the best aquarium substrate if you want a jump start, no matter how we look at it)
- Keeping cories which constantly make the fine dirt on the bottom waterborne so it can be sucked by the micron filter. (The first few days after introducing these fish the tank stayed permanently murky - the fish were stirring a lot of fine stuff that was just laying on the bottom. Not any more - animals that disturb the fine waste laying on the surface of the gravel should be considered mandatory. At least in a high tech tank.)

And yes - since the day I started the tank about 10 days ago algae growth has been minimal, if any at all. I have not had to clean the front glass in that period. That may have to do with the fact that the DIY LEDs shoot light in such a way that the tank glass actually receives very little light while the rest of the tank is brightly lit (PAR 110 on the bottom, could be a bit higher now with that super clear water).

So far I'm sold on the resin reactor one way or another.


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## niko

The end of day 3: The resin has settled even more!

Compare the day before:





With today:





I have not removed any of the resin. And this means that the settlement indeed can be used as an indicator of the need for a resin change.


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## niko

Here's a video showing the clarity of the water. You are looking through 6 ft. of water. The haze that you notice is from the window light coming from the opposite direction and from the extremely fine CO2 bubbles that form a curtain right in front of the camera (looks like smoke starting about 00:05 in the top left of the frame).

The bottom has spilled AquaSoil and some BBA. The BBA is way less than the other day!

Play the video on 1080 resolution:


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## ObiQuiet

This is very timely for me. Starting to notice some BBA tufts in my 110. I've put Purigen in a filter, while I figure out how to best assemble a reactor like yours.


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## Bert H

Good thread, and observations, Niko. Tank in video is very thinly planted, do you have a heavily planted one you could do the same in? Just curious.


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## Aquaticz

Thx u Niko - subscribed


Regards,
Aquaticz


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## niko

Well, this is just a test and so far things have gone very well. But in this hobby there is a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of empty claims. I don't want to be that way and it is important to try to figure out what makes that tank stay clean and the plants growing but algae, so far, not at all.

The first thing to know is that this tank has been setup for 7 years now. Such an old tank is a completely different beast from newer tanks or brand new setups. The microorganism populations have had time to establish. In fact I do not think I know of a tank that has been setup for 3+ years that still has issues. The "secret" is to leave the tank be, to go through changes, whatever they be. After some point you end up with a very stable and very clean tank. But most people do not want or care to keep a tank looking ugly that long and try to force everything. Impatience and constant tinkering with the tank is the root of 99% of the problems that this hobby sees.

The second thing to know is that organics removal resins are not all the same. Some can remove organics only to a certain level. others - to even lower level. And yes - some clog faster, some clog slower. The effectiveness is based on the flow rate (it diminishes if it the flow through the reactor is too high). The efficiency of all resins is 50 to 70% max .- meaning that certain resin will remove no more than 70% of the present organics. 

The way the resin is regenerated has a profound impact on how efficient is the resin after regeneration. It affects both the performance and the longevity of the resin.

The effectiveness of the resin can not be predicted in any way. Meaning that if it works wonders in my tank it may not work wonders in yours. That is a common situation in this hobby - someone claims a magical product or a "method" but practice shows that not everybody gets the same results. The aquarium is much more than a sum of a few parameters and a few pieces of equipment.

As usual - no aquarium product manufacturer will give you too much detail of exactly what they are selling. In the case of organics removal resins I don't even know if the suggested regeneration is the best or not. So I have started to look into industrial suppliers or resins. That is where I get all the above information.

The bottom line of all this is that in this hobby we must do something about the organics in the water. They are molecules that introduce a huge unknown to the tank - they can hold nutrients or release them into the water depending on physicochemical conditions. That means that we should strive for consistency in the treatment (not removal) of organics. "Treatment" meaning the way organics are converted, removed, kept in a certain state. The best way to do that is the biofilter. As we all know that is not a trendy topic. But it is what makes a tank run clean or have problems. Using resins, UV sterilizers, water changes, micron filters - all of these ways to remove organics are trying to compensate for an imperfect biofilter. Plus overstocked tanks, overfertilization, general instability in the tank caused by frequent interventions. But the main point is the biofilter.

BertH,

I intentionally wanted to see how the tank will do with a few plants. It is understocked for once (6 cories + 2 pearl gouramies) but it can still get algae as any other internet planted tank. My goal is to see if with the ways I run that tank now I can actually have a few plants, feed the fish as much as they can eat (bloodworms, some of the dirtiest fish food you can find) and still have the tank run clean. So far so good, really. I am impressed with the clarity, the plant growth and lack of algae.


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## ObiQuiet

Is there any external bio-filtration on this tank?


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## niko

Yes there is. One of the old style bucket Eheim filters. I estimate the volume of the biomedia to be about 4 gallons. The media is 1/2" to 3/4" lava rock. 

Tank is about 150 gallons actual volume of water. Flow rate is about 1100 gph. The flow pattern is circular. All plants gently wave in the current. Sounds good.

What does not sound good is that nobody knows what kind of biofiltration is optimal. Apparently sumps with lots of oxygen and lots of biomedia are the best. If you are an Amano fan then you probably know that according to him sumps are the best filtration setup, beyond anything else. But in a canister filter we have little clue what is best. Everybody does their own thing and we assume we have good biofiltration. That is usually a gross assumption.

One type of biofiltration that is pretty much consistently overlooked is fluidized bed sand filters. Their only downside is that the microorganisms in these filters quickly die if the electricity goes out and the flow through the filter stops. The sand is fine and compacts very well. That leaves the bacteria without oxygen and they die. In a canister filter that occurs in about 2 days without flow. Apparently in a fluidized bed filter it is much faster. 

But the efficiency of a fluidized bed filter is far beyond any canister. It's like using Purigen in a bag placed in the flow or using one of the fluidized bed reactors like the one we are discussing here. We will all agree that the latter set up has way, way, way more surface area as long as the media is moving. And the conditions are consistent throughout the media. Which can not be said for a stationary media filters. On a German site, full of extremely useful aquarium filtration information, you can read how your filter can both remove and make the waste it removes. All that it takes is a reduction of flow. And an increase of flow also adversely affects the filter. And there are other facts too. From all that unsavory information I got one thing - most likely most canister filters are a box in which both filtration and pollution take place in unpredictable ways. Mainly because of clogging and flow fluctuation. Then we add the usual tinkering with the tank's parameters, water changes, etc...

Well, update on my fluidized bed resin reactor:
Today I changed the resin. I put brand new resin, snow white. 
What I found was that the "settling" of the resin as it got darker in color was not from the resin adsorbing waste and getting heavier. What was happening was that random individual grains of resin were getting stuck in the sponge that blocks the outtake. That sponge is meant to not let grains end up in the tank. Over time the minute number of grains that makes it to the sponge becomes large enough to where it starts to clog it. I opened the reactor and sqeezed the sponge in a bucket of clean water. Lots of resin grains flew everywhere. So the prevention of resin ending up in the tank is something that must be improved. Otherwise we are going to have a situation of fluctuating flow through the reactor - fast at first and gradually diminishing. That's a pretty important point.


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## Aquaticz

Do you think a shrimp type screen, like those used on filter intakes would work?


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## ObiQuiet

The pump might have to be stopped periodically to allow the grains to fall off the barrier, assuming the barrier wasn't too sticky. Maybe the purigen bag material?

Since the grains are so small, it might even require a backwash mechanism with a reverse flow.


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## niko

The grains are too small for a shrimp tank screen. The screen needs to be smaller size of the opening.

Yes, I got the Purigen overpriced bags. To install a piece of that mesh in the reactor in the most reasonable way I need to use the Purigen mesh+ a regular filter sponge cut in a circular shape. The idea is for the sponge to hold the Purigen mesh in place. I will probably do this today because I too started to think about backwashing. Fine mesh like the Purigen will also get clogged fast and will probably need to be rinsed every two days - meaning opening the reactor every two days.

Backwashing makes the device complicated but if you don't have to open the reactor that is great. Blowing water in reverse means that beads will end up leaving the reactor though.


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## ObiQuiet

It might not take more than a 1-2s reverse pulse to disloge the grains. Maybe even a syringe, eye-dropper or turkey baster stuck into the outlet tube? That might be controllable enough to prevent grains going too far up the intake tube.


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## niko

I got to try that, yes, thank you. Beats opening the entire thing or adding another pump or something.

The Purigen material is pretty fine but it is not a micron sized mesh. I have a micron filter setup in that tank and initially it was getting plugged up every day. Now it plugs up every 4 days. Meaning that if you employ fine filtration the Purigen material maybe fine long enough so you can rinse it when you change the resin (every few days from what I see now). And if you can pulse-clean it then I think this will work well. Thank you!


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## niko

Update on using he reactor.

I researched organic scavenging resins and it I all pretty simple when it comes to buying one - you have to buy a $300 bag. But if you are going to buy resins sold by some aquarium supply company please assume that organics removal resins sold in the aquarium trade will cost you more like $900-1000 for the same amount in the $300 bag. And if you spend the $300 you will know exactly what you are buying and how to regenerate it. These resins are made by major chemical manufacturers so you will be getting a real industrial spec sheet.

I am assuming that aquarium supply manufacturers do nothing else but repackage the existing organic removal resins and mark them up. Unless they have developed their own custom made resin which is a story we all believe in every time of course.

Long story short - the resins that I have used so far (IonitR and Organit-Whatever by Brightwell) work very well but need to be changed every 3 days in my 180 gallon tank housing 6 cories and 2 pearl gouramies. The need for change is obvious by the brown color that the resin develops. I let one batch work 5 days and I *think* I saw increase of the few BBA I have in that tank. But that may have coincided with me increasing the light period from 5.5 hrs. to 8 hrs. and the plants kicking into high gear and starting to shed the older smaller leaves. 

Either way - it looks like the rule is "change the resin often". The "change" is actually a change with a "regenerated" resin which is nothing else but used resin soaked in salt water. This regeneration is inferior to regenerating with Caustic Soda but the caustic is not only dangerous to handle but will also raise the pH of the tank water by adding an OH ion. The manufacturers suggest salt regeneration when the treated water must maintain certain pH but ALSO they suggest using caustic every so often for deeper regeneration and extending the use time of the resin (salt does not regenerate the resin as well as caustic and the re-use cycles are less if you use only salt.)

One VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember when using resins is to RINSE THEM WITH CLEAN WATER before use. The resins come moist and they are kept stored in a Chloride environment. Basically you need to rinse the Chloride. From what I saw 3 fill ups of the reactor and then dumping the water worked fine. Today I did not rinse the new batch at all and now all my fish are stressed - definitely because I skipped the rinsing.

I am pretty confident that the average planted tank enthusiast will not run out and shell $300 for some kind of resin that seems to do one thing - make the tank water super clear. But after 30+ years in this hobby I have learned that when playing with aquariums just like everything else in life - we pay for our stupidity in the long run - either money or endless frustrations. Unfortunately the state of this hobby is following trends that are rather ridiculous and organics removal has never been a hip topic like LED lights, fancy CO2 regulators, and of course our favorite - spoons of chemicals added to the tank. So that's that - as usual - great information that will get forgotten


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## Michael

Niko, in this thread and others you have said that we can't use skimmers in fresh water aquaria. Perhaps I have misunderstood, but why not? I use simple Eheim skimmers in 2 of my tanks to remove surface scum. And while I don't own one, isn't surface skimming one of the functions of a lily pipe?


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## niko

Michael,

The Eheim skimmer is a "surface skimmer" it only keeps the surface of the water clean. The Lily pipe can do the same thing by incorporating the organic film on the surface into the water column where the canister filter can process it.

Both of the above are not skimmers that remove dissolved organics. Yes, they will remove organics that are stuck to the surface of the water (organics tend to "stick" to the boundary of water and air) but that is a small fraction of the organics in the tank. The skimmers used in saltwater tanks use lots of fine air bubbles that make the organics "stick" to them and as a result foam is formed. That foam is rich in organics and is collected and discarded.

Here is a skimmer that is used in saltwater tanks:









And here are the organics that it removes:









Unfortunately for us, freshwater aquarists, that kind of skimmer does not work very well in fresh water. You need huge amounts of air bubbles and large size of the skimmer. In salt water the physics of the process provides for the organics relatively easily "sticking" to the air bubbles. That does not happen as easy in fresh water.

The only way that organics are processed in a planted tank is through the biofilter. As we well know that is not a hip topic to discuss. Ask any saltwater aquarist how practical it is to run a tank without a protein skimmer. They may think you are not very knowledgeable. Yet, in our planted tank hobby, organics removal is seldom even mentioned in passing.

Here, this is a picture of my organics removal resin after 3 days of use. Taken 5 minutes ago. The resin starts as snow white beads. My tank is 180 gallons and has 6 cories and 2 pearl gouramies - super light fish load. You decide if the picture below looks like the collection chamber full of waste shown above. And keep in mind that I change 20 gallons of water every other day + have a micron filter + I change the organics removal resin every 3 days. The average planted tank is not nearly as clean to say the least but I still get this much organics stuck to the resin. Maybe that will make the readers of this thread more interested in making and using an organics removal reactor:










The real question here is *"Why do I need to be concerned with organics?"*. And the answer that I can give is very general but it makes a lot of common sense: Organics are active molecules that can grab, hold, or release other molecules depending on different factors. That means that in your tank you have "something" that can hold or release nutrients in an extremely unpredictable way. It is a huge unknown - it's like someone secretly tinkering with the conditions of your tank. Maybe absorbing the traces you add every day. Maybe holding them in a labile state which allows for a catastrophic release of the traces being held when something changes in the tank. Funny thing - all of us at some point have had issues with our tanks that just didn't make any sense. Maybe that was due to the organics acting in a certain way due to change in pH or Hardness or saturation with certain type of chemical element. Not to mention that by reducing organics you can get rid of BBA every single time, guaranteed.


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## Michael

Thanks for the explanation. So unless we can remove organic compounds with some type of filtration, it is back to water changes?


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## Bert H

Michael said:


> Thanks for the explanation. So unless we can remove organic compounds with some type of filtration, it is back to water changes?


Niko says he changes 20% of his water every other day. From that info and with how quickly his resin needs re-charging, I would say water changes won't do it. A 150 gallon tank, lightly planted, with a very light fish load and yet the reactor shows lots of organics floating around. Imagine now most of our tanks have with a heavily planted, long established tank (lots of mulm), with a decent fish population.
Interesting stuff!


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## niko

Yes, you can reduce organics to nothing through water changes. I've done it in the past at least 3 times in that same 180 gallon tank while there where 80-100 fish in it. But it takes lots of time and many water changes every 2-3 days. I'm paranoid about hurting or even killing the biofilter so I never change more than 20 gallons at a time. So imagine how many weeks it takes. Also the clean state seemed to last for no more than a week. But it is very interesting to see how thick mats of BBA disappear in 2-3 days. The die off is not gradual - on day 1 after the water is sufficiently clean BBA dies. The next 1-2 days is just falling apart and disintegrating into nothingness. There is no prolonged period of gradual die off.

Now, these experiences have convinced me that organics must be handled in some way. The correct way is to establish a proper biofilter. All of .us have had tanks in which everything is perfect with minimal equipment and effort. That is all due to the biofilter. And according to some German hobbyists it is all about what they call "biofilm" which is in the tank itself, not on the canister filter. They have general guidelines on how to establish that biofilm, but the process is long and it calls for a setup that is not what we are used to. For example the gravel should be very thin - to allow for the microorganisms to colonize out evenly, without stratification. As we understand - this topic and the associated te-arrangements of tank and mind are not something that the average US hobbyist would embrace eagerly.

Back to organics removal - I've heard that ADG, from Houston, approaches existing dirty problematic tanks with a rigorous water change procedure. They rig up filtered water supply to the tank and flush it until it gets pristinely clean. That's awfully reasonable in my book, but I have no clue how they keep the biofilter alive. Maybe they add bacteria - like ADA does after each water change.

The bottom line of all this is that we MUST REMOVE organics. Approaching that by using a resin is only second best to biofiltration. But it is extremely straightforward - you can literally see the waste being removed. To me that approach really goes a long way in helping an imperfect biofilter. In my tank I have exactly that - an imperfect biofilter because I know that if I remove the organics reactor BBA will return. So far, 23 days since starting the tank I've seen the BBA stop spreading after I started to run the reactor. And as I said already - the one time I left the beads unchanged for 5 days I did see a tiny increase in BBA.

To me the organics removal is one of the basics that we should have worked out a long time ago. It is pretty puzzling to see that more than 15 years after Amano made this hobby so popular we, here in the US, have not worked out the basics. That may sound too bold but we will all agree that we can not give solid, guaranteed advice about how to start a planted tank with minimal issues. And I'm not convinced that Asian planted tank people actually know what they are doing beyond following an established procedure which is apparently a big deal in their culture. Since these are two different worlds - despite the parallels in things like trusting "gurus", followers, and lots of copy-cat activity - it looks like the US hobby should be positioned better as far as knowledge and advance is concerned. But for us the situation is more or less ridiculous - we are active on all kinds of forums but the basics are as unclear as 15 years ago. It is not just annoying, it is outright bizarre to see the next newbie coming here and asking about fertilizers as Question #1. With Question #2 being a predictable "And now that I did all that how do I fight these algae?".


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## kyle2088

Niko

Are you discarding the Organic Removing Media or doing the Caustic Recharge method when its used up?

How much Organic Removing Media do you get for $300 and how long do you figure it will last on your tank?

Thanks


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## niko

Kyle,

So far I have been using batches measuring about 300 ml. I have collected the dirty batches and replaced them with brand new. I have not regenerated a single batch yet but I have to do it because I do not have any more brand new media.

Here is the calculation:

So one bag (1 cubic foot) of resin is $300 (300-360). That's 41 lbs. If we compare the volume/weight/price to a 2 liter Purigen we come up with:

http://www.amazon.com/Purigen-2-L-67-6-oz/dp/B0006JLVUS

2 Liters (122 cubic inches) of Purigen are 2.6 lbs and cost $85.
--> So 300 ml of Purigen is $13.00

28 Liters (1 cubic foot = 1730 cubic inches) of industrial resin are $300.
-- So 300 ml of industrial resin is $3.30.

So the price is 25% of the Purigen cost compared BUT you have to pay $300 at once. What you get is a product that is fully specified - what it is, what it does, how well, conditions, limitations, and so on.

What really got me interested in alternatives to Purigen is the regeneration with Bleach that Puriges requires. I do not feel comfortable with using Bleach, rinsing the Purigen, and using it in my tank again. So I looked for resins that regenerate with salt. Turns out that yes, you can find them but you have to buy a $300 bag, and the Salt regeneration (common table salt) is not the best.

I have a suspicion that Purigen maybe regener-able with Salt too but I'm not sure. All organics removal resins that I've found regenerate with Chloride (Cl) from Salt (NaCl) or with OH (from Caustic, NaOH), or with both. I have not found one that says to regenerate with Cl from Bleach. So Purigen maybe fine being regenerated with Salt.

The regeneration cycles are plenty - 200+ times. But apparently nobody can tell if a resin will last longer or shorter. It all depends on the organics loading, the regeneration (best being with NaOH) etc.

And after the first browning of the snow white resin you never get the original white color. So the indication of the resin being used up is more or less gone. I guess a good practice would be to change the resin every 3 days, regardless.

The regeneration itself is not involved. The resin just needs to get in contact with salt. Basically 4 cups of salt to a gallon of water, pour the dirty resin in, stir, let sit a few yours. Rinse well before using again. The Cl ions have pushed away the organics. And OH ions apparently push the organics even better. So that is that.


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## ObiQuiet

niko said:


> The resin just needs to get in contact with salt. Basically 4 cups of salt to a gallon of water, pour the dirty resin in, stir, let sit a few yours. Rinse well before using again. The Cl ions have pushed away the organics. And OH ions apparently push the organics even better. So that is that.


I have no idea about this question, though I know that ions and O3 are different. But, would bubbling ozone through the resin regenerate it better than a salt solution? I have one of these.


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## niko

I have no idea if Ozone will help the resin regeneration. I have not seen anything like that mentioned in the industrial documents. I guess the answer is in the conditions that Ozone creates - will they make the exchange of Chloride or Hydroxyl easier/faster. At the end of the day we still have the problem of not being able to measure the degree of resin regeneration.


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## comp666

Niko, are you still doing this experiment? Has it continued to have good effects on your BBA? Thanks!


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## Yo-han

I'm curious too. The only downside of using saltwater is that when you use the resin again, the saltwater will slowly leach into your tank. Something not very benificial for your plants in the long run. Off course this depends on the amount of salt and how much water you change, but still...


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## niko

The resin worked very, very well. But I was adding MicrobeLift to the tank. This products is apparently well respected by German aquarists which says a lot. So my tank went through a 2.5 month period of green water mixed with something murky - a bacterial outbreak. I could not see anything that was more than 1/2 behind the tank. 

I let the bacterial outbreak run its course. When the tank cleared up I was amazed to see that all plants had grow immensely. I don't know how they did that considering that I lowered the light to maybe 10-15 PAR on the bottom AND I had this green/brown water that blocked all light. Now with only about 20 PAR on the bottom and very little CO2 I get a fully developed 16" long sword leaf on each one of the 5 swords every 5-6 days. If you read that carefully you may think it's some kind of magic. But this is what a properly established tank does - it does not need any extra resources. In fact it needs below the bare minimum that we all think a tank must have. Including maintenance 

Long story short - the organics reactor is not everything. You need the proper microorganism populations in the tank. Which I do now. No BBA. And I'm not sure that such a properly established tank will actually need an organics reactor. But I will continue using it - this time with real industrial organic removal resins. The aquarium companies that market these resins as Purigen or Ionit are making a killing and you really do not know what you are getting. 

The regeneration of resins is a big question apparently. It looks like the Chloride ions used to regenerate the resin will not affect the aquarium IF you follow strict schedule of cleaning the resin AND water changes. The regeneration, as you can read above, is not a clear cut decision. 

Here's something stupid: Ok, the accumulation of Cl ion from resin regeneration in the aquarium could be a problem. But the obvious question is "Why is everybody dumping grams or spoons of what not fertilizers in their tank rendering it toxic with excessive Cl (from CaCl2 for example), K (from K2HPO4, KNO3 for example), S (MgSO4 for example) and other extra elements but using 5 ounces of regenerated resin is seen as a problem?" In the last few months there have been some people that have started home experiments as well as professional experiments to try to figure out what exactly happens with all the extra stuff that we all add to our tanks because Tom Barr said so or because everybody else does it. The interest in accumulation of extra elements is very logical because water changes do not reset all fertilizers in the tank as the average enthusiast has been told.


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## JustLikeAPill

Would it be worth while to get the type of reactor you are using (with the center tube) or should I just load up one of my existing canisters with Purigen?

This. I am already running two of these full of Carbon. Running one with Purigen after a first one full of Carbon might make the Purigen last a little longer and serve as a visible reminder when to change the carbon.


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## niko

Problem with all these resins (I used 3 kinds - Purigen, and two kinds of Blackwhatever this company is called where Phil used to work) is that the beads get easily waterborne when still clean. This means that you will need a sponge on top of the reactor to block them from flowing out into the tank. And also I had an Eheim valve on the intake to regulate the inflow from the small powerhead I was using to run the reactor. That way you can adjust the flow at any time so the beads move like a fluidized bed filter when new or when dirty.

As the beads turn brown they will get heavier or stickier. Then you can gradually increase the flow and they will not leave the reactor.

So yes, I do believe you have to use a reactor like mine with a center tube. The water goes down the center tube and makes the beads churn all over the reactor. Problem is that even if you dump quite a few ounces of beads a lot of them will never get involved in the movement. Meaning that this size clear housing has an optimal amount of resin you can use in it. It is still a good amount if you believe Seachem's directions on hos much Purigen you should use for X size tank.

Keep in mind my experience - as soon as my water got super clean (the beads would turn brown very slowly) my tank crashed. That may have been a coincidence but it was strange to basically "clean the tank really well" and end up with a green water + bacteria bloom. That lasted 2 months and the tank is now apparently very stable. So organics maybe a way bigger deal than we all think if they could be the reason that the microorganisms in my tank decided to organize a communist revolution 

Yes, I'd definitely clean the incoming water as much as possible. The darn resin beads are too expensive. Anything to keep them clean and lasting longer is good. From what I read in industrial literature keeping the beads longevity is more or less a nightmare and anything goes even in industrial settings - large volumes, reduntant containers... So yes, use mechanical and charcoal filtration before the organics reactor if you can. Mine did not so maybe that's why I had such fast browning of the media.

A side note: About keeping the tank as clean as you can. Happy, who has been experimenting with making sure he does not add anything extra to his tank in terms of chemical elements/groups has been using Potassium Carbonate as a source of K. Meaning that he avoids adding SO4 along with the K. I got K2CO3 today from ebay. See if the whole idea of keeping the tank from accumulating things you don't think it should accumulate makes sense. I also got a K test kit capable of measuring low K levels (0-15). It was $40 from the UK on ebay. Brand is JBL.


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