Resin
Contents
What is it?[edit]
A resin is a material, either artificial or natural that has the ability to absorb one or more chemicals from water. It may do this via ion-exchange or via adsorption.
They are typically sold in shops as a powder or pellet. You place the material in a media bag or pouch and water is passed through it.
Can I recharge it?[edit]
Most resins can be recharged once they've absorbed all the chemical they were made for. This of course depends on the supplied instructions but typically water with a high level of sodium chloride is slowly passed through it for an hour or two and the waste salty water contains the chemical. This can not be done indefinitely, typically 5-10 times as other trace chemicals are usually absorbed that are not removed by the salt and so the resin needs to be thrown out.
What chemicals do they remove?[edit]
Typically phosphate, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite or silicate depending on the product.
How much do I use?[edit]
This varies with the product, follow instructions from the manufacturer.
Typical products[edit]
There are a great many resin products available to the customer. Here are a few examples:
- API PhosZorb - A phosphate/silicate removing product
- ROWAUSA sell Rowaphos a phosphate/silicate removing product
- (Hagen) Fluval Lab Series Phosphate/silicates Remover
- Hagen Phos-X (was called Green-X) Phosphate/silicate Remover
- Purigen by Seachem - Absorbs ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste
- PhosGuard by Seachem - absorbs phosphate/silicate (non rechargeable)
- Zeolite often called Ammo-Chips as sold by API is used to remove ammonia
