Tank dying after chemiclean

[Doglips56]

We have a standard 125 with a 45 gallon sump. Our tank was doing beautifully (was about 9 months running at the time) with the exception of a very bad outbreak of red cyano that was starting to cover and kill corals. I went into the hospital on December 14th and came home January 28th to a cyano free tank but corals that were doing very poorly. While I was in the hospital my husband used chemi clean on the cyano. He followed the directions precisely and we’ve done many large water changes since. All my parameters are very stable. Every time I test pH, dKH, salinity, and electrolytes are all tight (meaning very little if any variation in results). Temp is kept at 78, NO3 2-5 and PO4 .05. Almost all my SOS died overnight, my zoas look pathetic and my once out of control plays are almost all gone. Even my once out of co from green hairy mushrooms are looking sad. I have sold the tank and it will be torn down and go to its new owners in May 1 but I want to know what happened. I am planning on moving one very large rock that has a beautiful RBTA to a 40 breeder and getting a few more nems and some clowns (Can no longer handle the big mixed reef due to my serious medical issues) but worried about the rock being bad somehow. I really have no idea what happened. I did change from Noopsyche lights to T5’s with an LED strip but these problems s started long before the lighting changes. Any insight would be appreciated. The 40 breeder is getting all new arag alive sand, fresh water and several rocks from my 125.
Thanks!

 

[prdubois]

Did you do a water change after you used it?

 

[Doglips56]

Did you do a water change after you used it?

Yes, several plus carbon

 

[vetteguy53081]

Chemiclean is hit and miss and one thing that may have made a difference was with the 125g, there is likely rock and other decor consuming volume in the tank and you may have 100-105 USEABLE gallons and therefore overdosed the product. A lot will depend on available oxygen, type of filtration and amount of water movement.

 

[Mike from TN]

Chemiclean is hit and miss and one thing that may have made a difference was with the 125g, there is likely rock and other decor consuming volume in the tank and you may have 100-105 USEABLE gallons and therefore overdosed the product. A lot will depend on available oxygen, type of filtration and amount of water movement.

That is a very valid point. I’d bet many people don’t take into consideration the amount of displacement their rock, sand and even corals take up. Even worse in a smaller system such as a Nano. My 13.5 gal has approximately 8 gallons of actual water in it. I have to do a lot of calculations before I can dose anything.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Do you have a skimmer?

 

[Doglips56]

He only treated for 90 gallons. Used a calculator tool that accounts for sand, rock, and equipment in the sump so definitely no overdose. Yes we have a skimmer. I’m so baffled. I’ve tried adding bottled bacteria but it did t make a difference at all. Do you think it’s safe to move a few rocks to the 40? The chemiclean was done in January and here it is April and we’re still struggling with it

 

[Tamberav]

Toxins from dying cyanobacteria perhaps.

Anything like this is never 100% reef safe as everyone's tank is different. It is an antibiotic after all.

If the toxin from dying cyano or the chemicals in the chemi-clean effected a soft coral or such... they can even release their own chemical warfare... and you end up with a soup of not such great stuff.

 

[vetteguy53081]

He only treated for 90 gallons. Used a calculator tool that accounts for sand, rock, and equipment in the sump so definitely no overdose. Yes we have a skimmer. I’m so baffled. I’ve tried adding bottled bacteria but it did t make a difference at all. Do you think it’s safe to move a few rocks to the 40? The chemiclean was done in January and here it is April and we’re still struggling with it

yes and agitate in a separate container with tank water to disburse any detritus and loose matter before placing it in the 40g

 

[LRT]

I just ran my system through a treatment 2 weeks ago. What I noticed is it didn't really do much besides slime up a little with a cpl airtime.
I ended up turning my skimmers on full blast without cups on, airstones in each sump and frag tables. Once it got going I could literally watch it melt before my eye.
Proper aeration is totally key with this stuff I think that may be where people are having issues. I though I had enough air. X that by 20 and try it again.

Also a side effect of using chemiclean and completely nuking the cyano was a huge immediate spike of Nitrates in my system. Pretty sure that was cyano dying and releasing back into system.
I ended up doing reccomended water change and then another 30% a few days later.
Ran carbon.

How much air did you run when you used it?
When I say alot of aeration I mean I could see mist over my sumps.
Think this is most likely why people run into issues with this stuff honestly.

 

[ZoWhat]

Erythromycin kills many forms of bacteria and depletes the tank of oxygen to potential critical levels

You probably got caught up in killing important bacteria spectrums that your personal reef chemistry needed to sustain your corals. Possibly o2 depletion as well.

Erythromycin is very hit or miss depending on how much you used,, if your aerated the tank and ran the skimmer full blast allowing all foam to dump from skimmer right back into the tank

I've used erythromycin before but at 25% dose and ran my skimmer full bore, foaming like crazy right back into my sump. Which was easy since I have an internal skimmer in my 100g sump.

 

[Doglips56]

I just ran my system through a treatment 2 weeks ago. What I noticed is it didn't really do much besides slime up a little with a cpl airtime.
I ended up turning my skimmers on full blast without cups on, airstones in each sump and frag tables. Once it got going I could literally watch it melt before my eye.
Proper aeration is totally key with this stuff I think that may be where people are having issues. I though I had enough air. X that by 20 and try it again.

Also a side effect of using chemiclean and completely nuking the cyano was a huge immediate spike of Nitrates in my system. Pretty sure that was cyano dying and releasing back into system.
I ended up doing reccomended water change and then another 30% a few days later.
Ran carbon.

How much air did you run when you used it?
When I say alot of aeration I mean I could see mist over my sumps.
Think this is most likely why people run into issues with this stuff honestly.

I was in the hospital when he did it and I think I can confidently say he didn’t add any extra aeration and most likely never checked nitrates. I way in the hospital probably another 2-3 weeks after he had done the treatment so I’m certain he didn’t do anything the instructions didn’t specify.

 

[Doglips56]

Erythromycin kills many forms of bacteria and depletes the tank of oxygen to potential critical levels

You probably got caught up in killing important bacteria spectrums that your personal reef chemistry needed to sustain your corals. Possibly o2 depletion as well.

Erythromycin is very hit or miss depending on how much you used,, if your aerated the tank and ran the skimmer full blast allowing all foam to dump from skimmer right back into the tank

I've used erythromycin before but at 25% dose and ran my skimmer full bore, foaming like crazy right back into my sump. Which was easy since I have an internal skimmer in my 100g sump.

I was hospitalized when he did the treatment. I wish he would get on these message boards and ask questions BEFORE doing things. Would’ve saved us A LOT of grief had we known all this beforehand. Thank you.

 

[brandon429]

hey you should post a full tank shot if possible.

we have some work thread that are dedicated to fixing your cyano without meds, and it'll clean up what the meds have caused now nicely anyway which is new accumulations. post pics if poss for best reef fix Ill counter post a matching tank like it we've already turned around, from our work thread.

 

[rhostam]

Erythromycin kills many forms of bacteria and depletes the tank of oxygen to potential critical levels

You probably got caught up in killing important bacteria spectrums that your personal reef chemistry needed to sustain your corals. Possibly o2 depletion as well.

Erythromycin is very hit or miss depending on how much you used,, if your aerated the tank and ran the skimmer full blast allowing all foam to dump from skimmer right back into the tank

I've used erythromycin before but at 25% dose and ran my skimmer full bore, foaming like crazy right back into my sump. Which was easy since I have an internal skimmer in my 100g sump.

^Aeration is the first step for ChemiClean instructions.