spider wrote:

I'm new to planted tanks and only have my reference to
fish only tanks to fall back on. In the past I was a big believer in Dick
Boyd Chemi-Pure, nothing gave me the water quality that I wanted like
Chemi-pure.
My question is can I use Chemi-Pure on a planted tank?

I'm not a chemist, nor have I ever tried Chemi Pure. But some of what the
vendor says about the product seems to contradict some of what we on the list
believe to be true. For example, most folks here advocate water changes more
frequently than every five years.

And the bit about major surgery on humans without the use of anesthesia? I
thought that was a war crime. I'd really like to see the details on that one!

Here's what the vendor has to say about ChemiPu (from
http://www.boydenterprisesonline.com/chemipure.html):

NO WATER CHANGE NECESSARY - for at least 5 years (length of test only) PERHAPS NEVER!
CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER - Always sparkling blue-white water
NO CLEANING - Necessary for health of fish.
CONSTANT pH - Always within the safe range

Living organic matter, or protoplasm, is able to expand or shrink
when under the influence of negative or positively charged ions.
Expanded protoplasm is usually under the influence of a negative charge-
and is shrunk by a positive charge.

Upsetting this natural negative positive ion balance can have
disastrous effects on living organisms in any body of water.
Fish eggs and plants are especially sensitive to either fresh
or salt water. Fishes tend to be on the verge of shock when
the positive ion outnumbers the negative - they are more irritable,
restless, nervous, finicky eaters, have shorter life spans -
in short, they are not happy fish!

Whereas medical research has termed the positive ion the "suicide"
or "unhappy" ion, they have found the negative ion properly termed
the "happy" ion. The natural balance between both negative and
positive ions are present in air as well as water. In the medical
research mentioned, patients were actually subjected to major surgery -
using no anesthetic except a flood of almost all negatively charged
ions through a regular anesthetic mask. They were completely awake,
yet felt no pain whatsoever! Conversely, volunteers were isolated
in a room which had an excess of positive ion circulated though the
air. These subjects reported extreme melancholia, feelings of depression,
and even a desire to suicide. When the positive was switched to
negative ions, a feeling of elation was experienced, worry and doubt
was cast aside, and everyone in the room felt wide awake and happy
as though the room was flooded with fresh air. And that is exactly
what happened. Have you ever walked outside after a thunder and
rainstorm and noticed the exhilarating feeling - the marvelous odor
of clean fresh air? The air is heavy with the negatively charge ions
produced by the lighting. These ionized oxygen molecules are also
present in water under the right conditions. And, no matter how
hard we try to undo the balance Mother Nature creates, if left
alone long enough, a body of water outdoors, under the influence
of sun and air, will eventually grow enough algaes and natural
micro-organisms to bring back into perfect balance the equilibrium
which nature insists upon - if left alone by man. Now, this
equilibrium is represented by the balance between the negative
and positively charged oxygen molecules or, is brought into balance
by these "magic" ions.

Healthy water is only brought about by the "proper application"
of these artificial means which man has produced to replace the
natural forces from which our aquariums are isolated. Now, all
of these artificial means can be used to great advantage, if
they are used in the right combination to enhance the natural
forces at work even though the aquarium is isolated indoors.
The most important of all these natural forces, indoors or out,
is the negative-positive charged ion. Provided enough time,
a given aquarium will obtain its own natural ionic balance,
with a slight excess of negative ions however, the time required
for this with all our misapplication of modern day filtration
techniques is usually longer than the unfortunate inhabitants
can tolerate.

Over the years, the most commonly used chemical filtration medium
for cleaning water has been plain carbon filtration. Unfortunately,
however if we use activated carbon strong enough to do any good
for any length of time, it will also produce enough positive ions
to throw the tank inhabitants into ion antagonism (shock).