Chemiclean...am I the only one?

outhouse

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. I'm sure it kills off beneficial bacteria.
Not enough to bother a well established tank. Its non sequitur

how that antibiotic affects the microbiome
If it is a antibiotic, and the microbiome, not well enough understood to make a difference.

to many thousands of reefers have had success with this product, to post negative effects, when most coral lost, was due to the water conditions that brought cyano on.
 

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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


I love how afraid people are of "chemicals" and how many prefer the "natural" route. Um, what "natural" product is not made of chemicals. Fish are basically a bunch of chemicals lol. If you constantly get cyano issues, I would raise your nitrate.
 

outhouse

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They state on the box that it is not erythromycin
a german government lab was supposed to have tested it, and came to that conclusion. Im still skeptical because I have used both products and results were different. I have also seen the hazmat sheet and it factually contains different ingredients besides the antibiotic if it actually has such.
 

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Beautiful tank. You should be proud of it.

I love to hear what works for people, and details as to how. Thanks for sharing. I appreciate that you mentioned that it was not a default go-to solution for you; but that you found it works when used in moderation and as directed in your system. I think if it works and makes your tank and you happier and better... that is the goal, right?!!
 

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Not enough to bother a well established tank. Its non sequitur


If it is a antibiotic, and the microbiome, not well enough understood to make a difference.

to many thousands of reefers have had success with this product, to post negative effects, when most coral lost, was due to the water conditions that brought cyano on.
It’s had some negative effects on different tanks, but to prove it was Chemiclean might be a challenge. Most people don’t log enough data to really pin-point problem.

I used it and didn’t have much of a problem. The tank did seem a little off afterwards, but it killed the cyano. I noticed some corals got much darker than normal. Some lost some polyp extension.

If it’s an antibiotic and kills beneficial bacteria, that’s enough for me not to use it. Cyano comes and goes and if you don’t let your NO3 bottom out or have poor flow, it’s not to big of a problem.
 

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That wont work, been there done it. it does not work, it causes it.
Raising nitrate does work a lot of the time. If you’re still having an imbalance, increasing the bacteria population in the tank usually helps.
 

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a german government lab was supposed to have tested it, and came to that conclusion. Im still skeptical because I have used both products and results were different. I have also seen the hazmat sheet and it factually contains different ingredients besides the antibiotic if it actually has such.
Where did you get the Hazmat sheet? What do you suppose would kill a bacteria bloom like Cyano if not an antibiotic?
 
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Lavey29

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I'm in the same boat. Occasionally cyano in perfect water. Usually brought on by the use of carbon. Little chemi clean and it's cleared up with no loss of coral. After 30 years of this, nothing bad to say about the product. It works. Most coral deaths are usually the same water conditions that brought on cyano.
Curious how you concluded carbon brought on your cyano? Do you mean carbon dosing or something like a bag of carbon in the sump?
 

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I love how afraid people are of "chemicals" and how many prefer the "natural" route. Um, what "natural" product is not made of chemicals. Fish are basically a bunch of chemicals lol. If you constantly get cyano issues, I would raise your nitrate.
Everyone has different approaches because sometimes traditional methods don't always work out. I was using chemical media to help balance my parameters but found keeping it simple with a more natural approach worked out much better so far for me. Just a skimmer and a bag of carbon in the sump. I still have chemical media available if needed but would like to see if the natural approach keeps working out. Maybe a refugium next.
 

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If it is an antibiotic (I don’t know, but heard it was) I’d be careful dosing low levels of antibiotics on a monthly basis. You could create resistant organism/s.

I’d be willing to bet that chemiclean is most likely an antibiotic and not some perfectly created drug that just so happens to perform exactly like erythromycin or similar antibiotic.
 

robbyg

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I love how afraid people are of "chemicals" and how many prefer the "natural" route. Um, what "natural" product is not made of chemicals. Fish are basically a bunch of chemicals lol. If you constantly get cyano issues, I would raise your nitrate.
Adding Chemicals to remove Algae growth is something that has been with the Hobby for two decades. The fear is not irrational, it's based on a lot of peoples personal experiences. You can go over to RC and find dozens of long threads that start out with high praise for a particular product and then end with pages of disaster stories.

It's really hard to convince someone that has an algae problem that you can get rid of it by just following good practices and sticking with it for several months. It is hard to convince someone to go down the long hard route versus just throwing in a chemical and seeing results in a week.
The problem is that the chemicals are not removing the underlying problem that caused the outbreak and it may cause other problems later down the road.
 

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Everyone has different approaches because sometimes traditional methods don't always work out. I was using chemical media to help balance my parameters but found keeping it simple with a more natural approach worked out much better so far for me. Just a skimmer and a bag of carbon in the sump. I still have chemical media available if needed but would like to see if the natural approach keeps working out. Maybe a refugium next.
I think natural is always better in most cases. Yes, a lot of things contain unnatural ingredients, but we’re not talking about common additives.

Things like Lanthanum Chloride or antibiotics should really be used as a last resort in our reef tanks.
 

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Adding Chemicals to remove Algae growth is something that has been with the Hobby for two decades. The fear is not irrational, it's based on a lot of peoples personal experiences. You can go over to RC and find dozens of long threads that start out with high praise for a particular product and then end with pages of disaster stories.

It's really hard to convince someone that has an algae problem that you can get rid of it by just following good practices and sticking with it for several months. It is hard to convince someone to go down the long hard route versus just throwing in a chemical and seeing results in a week.
The problem is that the chemicals are not removing the underlying problem that caused the outbreak and it may cause other problems later down the road.
Well put!
 

outhouse

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Curious how you concluded carbon brought on your cyano? Do you mean carbon dosing or something like a bag of carbon in the sump?
when ever I have used carbon, it would bring on cyano, even now mixed with gfo, i get a little now and then
 

outhouse

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It's really hard to convince someone that has an algae problem that you can get rid of it by just following good practices and sticking with it for several months
Its not always that simple. im 30 years in, and after 100% water changes I would get GHA for a few weeks. my incoming water before ro/di is 37ppm, and after RO it is 0 and i still run it through the best DI. I have tested mixing containers, and been using a rubbermaid stock tank for a decade, and still get GHA out of my new water. Taken it to my local reef shops plural, and water comes back 0 nitrates and phos. Now using vibrant and tank has never been cleaner. Im a big fan of fluconazole as well.
 

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To add, to that agree you have to have foundationally good husbandry here and use medication as or products a last resort. You water parameters need to be spot on OR your simply trying to fix cancer with a band air
 

outhouse

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Where did you get the Hazmat sheet? What do you suppose would kill a bacteria bloom like Cyano if not an antibiotic?
did a quick search, I think its here on this site. I have not found anything that kills it so well besides chemiclean
 

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