Chemiclean...am I the only one?

Emerson

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Hello...My name is Emerson, and I use Chemiclean... Not only that, I think I might start using it on a six month schedule, just because I want to! There, I said it! Man does that feel good to get that off my chest!

Seriously, am I the only one that reluctantly uses Chemiclean to get rid of some nuisance cyano, dyno, funky whatever sludge, and then I wonder why I don't just make it a "once in a while" part of my Display Tank maintenance? I don't have filth and muck overrunning my tank, but what's there certainly takes away from my enjoyment.

I've kept various reef tanks for over 20 years. My current 90 gal mixed reef DT is coming up on five years old. This has by far been my most difficult build i getting to maturity, in part (I think) because I started with completely dead BRS Pukani dry rock. Now, two years removed from previous battles (hair algae, serious cyano, dinos that almost made me take the tank down), I finally feel like the tank is mature. I actually expect 90-95% of the things I might add to live and thrive and feel confident that if I drop $100 on a coral at my LFS or trade show, I'll still have something to show for it in a year or more. I have reef-nerd level equipment and monitors, dose 2-part BRS/Tropic Marin hybrid solution, and have finally dialed in my LED/T5 Hybrid lights. I have seven fish, two shrimp, a clam, and SPS, LPS, and soft corals. I feed adequately with a mix of pellets and frozen w/ Selcon. My water parameters are just about right where I want them (Temp ~78-79 deg, Ph 8.1-8.3, Alk 8.0-8.5, Ca 440, Mg 1550, NO3 1-3 ppm, PO4 .01-.03 ppm), tested daily/weekly/monthly as appropriate as well as ICP every six to nine months. My Mg runs high, but I never add it. Whatever salt I use must put it back in. My NO3 levels tend to get low, and I sometimes have to add Brightwell NeoNitro to keep it above 1 ppm. Still, every now and then, usually after six, maybe eight months since the last time I dosed Chemiclean, I start to get cyano (red and green) and dino flare ups. I try to wait it out, vacuum it out, wish it out. In the end, nothing works as well as, "ahem"... well,... you know...Chemiclean.

Eventually I ask myself: why am I so reluctant to use Chemiclean once or twice a year? I have no idea what the proprietary blend of oxidizing ingredients is, but it works! Not only that, I have yet to have a mortality with any fish, invert, or coral that I can attribute to the use of Chemiclean. If anything, my corals seem to do better for not being irritated by cyano. Further, it seems to clear out my overflow pipes and plumbing. Why do I think that? Because I have to restrict/close the drain gate valve in my primary overflow pipe (Beananimal) to bring the inflow/outflow for the overflow box back in to balance after every Chemiclean use to keep the water level high enough in the overflow box ans stop it from "slurping" air.

I definitely enjoy my reef tank more when it's cleaner, and I think I'm done beating myself up over the slime algae and sludge I just can't seem to shake. I'm not suggesting that it be the primary method, and I get the logic that treating the symptom doesn't fix the root cause (for the life of my I don't know what that could be, because my tank parameters and husbandry are where the should be). I'm also not recommending reliance on these kind of chemicals (Chemiclean, RedSlime Remover, and others) as a crutch, used willy-nilly by anyone; especially those new to the hobby. Try to figure out what is causing the issue. But...in my experience after using Chemiclean specifically eight maybe even ten times, it works, and it hasn't hurt me one bit. In the end, I think prudent use of these additives can work. I know it's anecdotal, but it has in my case.

I'm going to stop feeling like a bad reef keeper if I use chemicals (gasp!) to help out now and then. I'm going to use it as needed along with all the other chemicals I've used like GFO, Lanthium Chloride, Nitrate additives, Phosphate additives, Carbon, MicroBacter, Vibrant, that don't seem to be so stigmatized. I finished my most recent ~48 hour dose of Chemiclean, used as directed, today. I took my UV Sterilizer and Carbon offline; left the skimmer running. Yes, it will make your skimmer go crazy. Just let it drain or overflow right back into your sump or tank. Once the treatment time is up, I found the best way to get past that is when doing the recommended 20% water change after, use your skimmer drain and/or a tube and allow the skimmer to "wet skim" the first ~1/2 (10% tank volume) of the water change and drain directly into a bucket or drain. This works for me. The last time I dosed Chemiclean was nine months ago. I may just make it part of my six month maintenance plan.

The pictures below are from five minutes ago. Please keep the online beatings bearable, but I'm curious what every one else's thoughts might be, and if there are others out there who, like me, have had good experiences with these types of additives.

"I"m Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!: -Stuart Smalley


20210920_171509.jpg 20210920_171417.jpg
 

MarshallB

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If it works for you then more power to you! For me, every time I've used chemiclean it immediately leads to another problem, usually dinos. Plus the hassle of injecting bubbles and waiting a few days for the skimmer to settle down is just too much for lazy me. Those photos you posted are great! If I got those kinds of results with no side effects I'd use it a lot more often as well.

Personally i think everyone's tank is a little different. Who knows what the bacterial make up of each individual tank. I've been having a lot of success dosing vibrant every so often.
 

Gedxin

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I think chemiclean should put you on their payroll! Great write up.

But in all seriousness, it's nice you've found something effective with little to no side effects. I'm still very much in the 'no chemicals' camp and have been battling cyano for about 3 weeks now. We'll see how things progress as my tank isn't even three months old yet.
 

JumboShrimp

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Your original post convinced me... all tanks are different, but yours seems dialed-in with Chemiclean 2x per year. End of story. Lol. :)
 

Nick Steele

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I’m so reluctant to use it in my aio because I don’t have a skimmer to help with oxygen and an air stone is a no go for me due to noise. I’ve been dealing with cyano for a while now but seem to be gaining some ground so I’m still going to wait it out for at least another month or so.
 

thewedge

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I'm right there with you! For several years, I refused to use it, thinking it must some bad man made poison like Round Up or something. Dr. Tim's Waste Away and ReFresh weird for me a few times but then I hit some sortt of wall and they no longer did. I use the Chemi usually once a year or so when I have an outbreak. The worst it's done is make my skimmer overflow. I use it per the directions and have never had a mortality as a result of it. Even used it in my AIO nano once, though I did put an air stone in the sump section. Like you, I am done feeling guilty.
 

Lavey29

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Worked well for me. Ran heavy carbon after water change and skimmer back online in half a day.
 

Glenner’sreef

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Hey, Do you have a Newsletter? I’m with you all the way. It definitely seems like twice a year I need to hunt down that funky little round jar with absolutely no info on it and dose my tank that has $1000s of dollars in corals, rock and fish in it. It’s crazy but I think God does it in a high flow area, (Niagara Falls I think?) at 3:00 a.m. when no one watching.
fyi…. One thing I’ve found that it kills was a purple plating sponge. They’re hard to find anymore but it turned it completely white. Great post!
 

jhuntstl

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Would be interesting to see a study comparing the effects of Chemiclean on tanks less than a year old, 1-2y, 2-5y, 5-10, etc. Getting the impression from this thread alone that the more mature tanks handle the treatment better.

To those who posted in support. In regards to tank maturity, when or would you not use or recommend Chemiclean?
 

Lavey29

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Would be interesting to see a study comparing the effects of Chemiclean on tanks less than a year old, 1-2y, 2-5y, 5-10, etc. Getting the impression from this thread alone that the more mature tanks handle the treatment better.

To those who posted in support. In regards to tank maturity, when or would you not use or recommend Chemiclean?
My tank is 6 months old. I used it to stop a major brown jelly outbreak. I believe the treatment coupled with heavy carbon use and getting my nitrates and phosphate off 0 helped stabilize my tank with only 6 coral losses. Been over a week now and everything seems healthy again with no sign of brown jelly spreading.
 

CoralB

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Hello...My name is Emerson, and I use Chemiclean... Not only that, I think I might start using it on a six month schedule, just because I want to! There, I said it! Man does that feel good to get that off my chest!

Seriously, am I the only one that reluctantly uses Chemiclean to get rid of some nuisance cyano, dyno, funky whatever sludge, and then I wonder why I don't just make it a "once in a while" part of my Display Tank maintenance? I don't have filth and muck overrunning my tank, but what's there certainly takes away from my enjoyment.

I've kept various reef tanks for over 20 years. My current 90 gal mixed reef DT is coming up on five years old. This has by far been my most difficult build i getting to maturity, in part (I think) because I started with completely dead BRS Pukani dry rock. Now, two years removed from previous battles (hair algae, serious cyano, dinos that almost made me take the tank down), I finally feel like the tank is mature. I actually expect 90-95% of the things I might add to live and thrive and feel confident that if I drop $100 on a coral at my LFS or trade show, I'll still have something to show for it in a year or more. I have reef-nerd level equipment and monitors, dose 2-part BRS/Tropic Marin hybrid solution, and have finally dialed in my LED/T5 Hybrid lights. I have seven fish, two shrimp, a clam, and SPS, LPS, and soft corals. I feed adequately with a mix of pellets and frozen w/ Selcon. My water parameters are just about right where I want them (Temp ~78-79 deg, Ph 8.1-8.3, Alk 8.0-8.5, Ca 440, Mg 1550, NO3 1-3 ppm, PO4 .01-.03 ppm), tested daily/weekly/monthly as appropriate as well as ICP every six to nine months. My Mg runs high, but I never add it. Whatever salt I use must put it back in. My NO3 levels tend to get low, and I sometimes have to add Brightwell NeoNitro to keep it above 1 ppm. Still, every now and then, usually after six, maybe eight months since the last time I dosed Chemiclean, I start to get cyano (red and green) and dino flare ups. I try to wait it out, vacuum it out, wish it out. In the end, nothing works as well as, "ahem"... well,... you know...Chemiclean.

Eventually I ask myself: why am I so reluctant to use Chemiclean once or twice a year? I have no idea what the proprietary blend of oxidizing ingredients is, but it works! Not only that, I have yet to have a mortality with any fish, invert, or coral that I can attribute to the use of Chemiclean. If anything, my corals seem to do better for not being irritated by cyano. Further, it seems to clear out my overflow pipes and plumbing. Why do I think that? Because I have to restrict/close the drain gate valve in my primary overflow pipe (Beananimal) to bring the inflow/outflow for the overflow box back in to balance after every Chemiclean use to keep the water level high enough in the overflow box ans stop it from "slurping" air.

I definitely enjoy my reef tank more when it's cleaner, and I think I'm done beating myself up over the slime algae and sludge I just can't seem to shake. I'm not suggesting that it be the primary method, and I get the logic that treating the symptom doesn't fix the root cause (for the life of my I don't know what that could be, because my tank parameters and husbandry are where the should be). I'm also not recommending reliance on these kind of chemicals (Chemiclean, RedSlime Remover, and others) as a crutch, used willy-nilly by anyone; especially those new to the hobby. Try to figure out what is causing the issue. But...in my experience after using Chemiclean specifically eight maybe even ten times, it works, and it hasn't hurt me one bit. In the end, I think prudent use of these additives can work. I know it's anecdotal, but it has in my case.

I'm going to stop feeling like a bad reef keeper if I use chemicals (gasp!) to help out now and then. I'm going to use it as needed along with all the other chemicals I've used like GFO, Lanthium Chloride, Nitrate additives, Phosphate additives, Carbon, MicroBacter, Vibrant, that don't seem to be so stigmatized. I finished my most recent ~48 hour dose of Chemiclean, used as directed, today. I took my UV Sterilizer and Carbon offline; left the skimmer running. Yes, it will make your skimmer go crazy. Just let it drain or overflow right back into your sump or tank. Once the treatment time is up, I found the best way to get past that is when doing the recommended 20% water change after, use your skimmer drain and/or a tube and allow the skimmer to "wet skim" the first ~1/2 (10% tank volume) of the water change and drain directly into a bucket or drain. This works for me. The last time I dosed Chemiclean was nine months ago. I may just make it part of my six month maintenance plan.

The pictures below are from five minutes ago. Please keep the online beatings bearable, but I'm curious what every one else's thoughts might be, and if there are others out there who, like me, have had good experiences with these types of additives.

"I"m Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!: -Stuart Smalley


20210920_171509.jpg 20210920_171417.jpg
Is there any way you could post the before and after picture with the same lighting ??? It’s really hard to see the difference !!
 

kagisexton

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Worked wonders on my 8 month old tank. Didn’t seem to negatively affect anything at all. The cyano got much worse over the next few days after the photos. I then got desperate and added Chemiclean and will never hesitate to use it again.
 

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CoralB

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Nice pics !! I definitely see the difference . Wondering if anyone lost any torches or mushrooms using chemiclean ??
 

kagisexton

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Nice pics !! I definitely see the difference . Wondering if anyone lost any torches or mushrooms using chemiclean ??
I do not use it in my softy/LPS tank. I have done it before and noticed that my Yumas disintegrate as a result.
 
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