Which is better - Purigen or Phosban?

[abe77901]

just wondering

[greasemonkey]

My water seems cleaner with Purigen. Thats my favorite.

[adamRS80]

save money and just use seachem phosguard. it's much cheaper. i have phosban and i honestly think the seachem works better. it's less messy and cost much much less.

[mharris7]

If phosphates are your problem then I recommend rowaphos or some other iron based phosphate removers. The aluminum based phosphate sponges (aluminum based products tend to be white in color) can leach phosphates back into the water column and have been known to adversely affect corals.

[Richard]

I don't think you can compare the two. Purigen does not remove phosphate directly and Phosban only removes phosphate directly. I would think your water should "look" cleaner with purigen since it is supposed to remove organics.

[Ram_Puppy]

I can't believe the seachem product is better. Or more ecenomical. I am pretty sure it's aluminum based (white beads) I have used it before and I can tell you there is simply no comparrison in my book, Phosban blows the seachem product out of the water.

My Anecdotal evidence? Hair algae that was growing under treatment by seachem is no longer growing, at ALL in my tank, in fact, it's retreating.

Phosguard can leach phosphates back into the water and is good for a week or two at most, Phosban permenantly binds the phosphates to the media, and will absorb for up to two months.

[adamRS80]

I've tried Rowaphos, Phosban and the Seachem. I've read the article about the aluminum concerns and never had any troubles, and don't know of anybody who has. I wouldn't leave any phosphate sponge in my tank for longer than a week anyways. That's because I have a small tank and just treat when I need to. I do agree that the others can be left in the tank longer, but I still think Seachem is a much better deal, assuming you don't use it constantly, or leave it in your tank and don't do water changes...

Seachem: 1 liter treats 300 gallons costs $9.00
Rowaphos: 1 liter treats 500 gallons costs $65.00

Although Rowaphos probably removes more phosphate per "serving" I don't think anybody's tank has so much that they would need more than 2 liters of phosguard to take care of. If you plan to leave it in for months than thats another story. I've used Rowaphos, Phosban, and Phosguard and the Seachem is the best deal unless you have a 500 gallon tank with a huge phosphate problem, and plan on running it constantly.