Chemiclean RUINED my tank

[MaxTremors]

I was advised to change the type of saltwater I use since I use some with a lot of nutrients that arent needed for my tank (mostly softies). Do a 5 gallon water change with it, change out my entire filter media since there might still be some chemiclean on it, and add some bottled bacteria.

Im thinking the aquarium just restarted its cycle due to the killing spree and I’m just going to give it time now.

What kind of SW were you using and what were you advised to change to?

 

[CanuckReefer]

What kind of SW were you using and what were you advised to change to?

Any bets on Reef Crystals, lol? That's what I use and really I should change it out eventually. Such high Alk, and mainly softies on my tank.... either that or dump in a few more SPS, see how they do. Wife says 'MORE CORAL???' ....yes dear, gotta lower that Alk or all will die lol...in saying that I stick with RC because I like its Mag numbers....

 

[Paul B]

. Do you feel as I am doing to leave the lights off, as BRS suggests will bypass this so called Ugly phase?

No, I don't think that would help.

Might have to restart the tank on a bigger one since thats what I been aiming on.

Good Idea

I take a different approach and won't ever use anything to eradicate algae.. as the system ages enough it will balance itself out

I agree

 

[roferro]

What kind of SW were you using and what were you advised to change to?

Instant Ocean Reef Crystals, advised to change for Accurasea. Reef crystals keep my mangesium and calcium pretty high up and I need it a little down and thats what I was advised on doing.

 

[MnFish1]

I'm not going to read all the opinions - will just give my own - so I don't predjudice myself. I assume you meant an airstone (was the 'bubbler') - that might not be enough 'oxygenation'. If you had a skimmer - forget that comment.

Second - Once one thing dies - due to oxygen, etc etc etc - bacteria grow - and oxygen is then rapidly depleted - and other things die - leading to a cascade - type effect - which I think could be what you're seeing.

I do not think you can say 'chemiclean' did (or didn't) do anything. It could have been a total coincidence. I.e. the conditions leading to cyano - could be the problem.

Last but not least - its horrible to come home to such a disaster - and I express my sympathies that it happened. It could be that you did too much too fast. I I have cyano in my tank now and again - I just wait - siphon it out - it goes away. I have used chemiclean also - in the past - with no problems. I guess the point - if your tank was 3 months old - and you had significant cyano - everything was 'not fine'. Again - not a criticism - but - more a comment

PS - hopefully your other corals will come through ok

 

[MnFish1]

OK I read all the opinions - and I agree with most - not that I'm the end all be all - you have coral - you cant leave the lights off - right? Second - Your tank will recover - give it 2-3 months - and then SLOWLY restock. Third - Actiated carbon (chemipure or something similar) in good quality - has never caused HLLE in my tank - and it can prevent problems - when coral die - they release toxins - that kill other things. When fish die - they release things causing bacteria.

I would not RUSH to get a bigger tank, a new filter, etc etc - I would suggest (if you don't have one) - a GOOD skimmer. And wait to see how the rest of your stuff does. When I have used chemiclean - I leave the skimmer on (with the cup off) - after 2 days - I put in carbon - activated - and also do a water change. Also siphon all of the crud off the bottom of the tank

PS - I think others are definitely correct - dose chemiclean after siphoning or removing most of it that you can see.

 

[outhouse]

Can't blame chemi clean. It was your inexperience. Been using that for 30 years with not a single loss in that time. When you use medicine it means you have a sick patient, which requires observation. You didn't. Had you noticed a slight decline. You should have done a major water change, which remedies most everything that could go wrong when a tank crashes.

 

[ariellemermaid]

Ugh. I really don’t know what to make of this and the differing opinions. I’ve been fighting a cyano outbreak in a 40g (no sump, no skimmer, 2yo) and I’ve been losing badly for months now. I get as much out as I can but within a week it’s covering the sand and other surfaces again. It’s even spread to my coral QT tank although not nearly as badly despite what I thought were good hygiene practices. I’m retiring the tank to be an observation tank, but in the mean time I need to transfer stuff (and therefore cyano) to a brand new build I definitely don’t want it in.

I finally broke down and bought chemiclean and an airstone, but I’ve been nervous about risking my entire fish collection and so it’s just been sitting on my kitchen table. Now this thread. What do folks on both sides recommend? I’ve tried patience and manual cleaning, and nutrient levels are actually better than they’ve been in the past 2 years (nitrate running around 10). The canister makes decent ripples on the left, the gyre intermittently makes good central agitation across the middle (can up to continuous), the surface skimmer injects air into the canister and burps a spray of bubbles a few times an hour, and I’d add a long airstone with a strong pump. That’s what I have to work with and I feel like I’m at wits end trying non-chemical approaches. But, maybe risking cyano in the new huge tank with a full sized skimmer, dual returns, multiple gyres, etc. might be the safer option for my fish pets?

I’m just not sure now. It’s easy to blame the OP for “other factors” rather than the product used successfully by others, but it certainly seems like chemiclean plus “other factors” resulted in a bacterial bloom depleting oxygen and leading to tragedy despite best efforts and attention to oxygenation. It would be great if we could all predict our other factors but all too often we just end up on here with no great answers when things turn south, just attempting-to-be-helpful conjecture. When the exact same circumstances worked out just fine for 10 other people.

 

[131696]

Get carbon that will take all the chemicals out of tank and clear it up that's a start you need carbon chemiclean really don't need to do water change just get some carbon that will take it out in a few hrs.

 

[Duncan62]

So it all started with my aquarium being COMPLETELY fine, 3 months had passed since I first started it and everything was thriving including my corals. One day I notice I have some red things growing on my rocks and sand so I take it to my local fish store (WWC) and they tell me I most likely have Cyanobacteria. Okay great it’ll be fixed… right? They told me to buy some Chemiclean and that it would completely get rid of the red stuff, AND it would make my water CRYSTAL CLEAR! I did everything right, with air bubbler and everything in the tank so the depletion of oxygen wasn’t a problem. I finished the cycle with the Chemiclean and did what I was told to do. That same night I get back home and all my fish are dead. Water is cloudier than I have ever seen it and the corals don’t seem too happy. What do I find out? Chemiclean killed everything because of the depletion of oxygen. Now, I go back and tell them everything that happened, my pH had dropped from a 8.1 to 7, and I believe all my bacteria had also died.
I was able to recover my fire shrimp as he was dead when I pulled him out of the water, and then I put him on a separate tank where he came back to life.
It has been a total of 4 weeks that this incident happened. Water is still CLOUDY like I can’t even see the back of my tank, my hammer coral has never been this closed before and same with all of my other ones, they told me my parameters were all good except my calcium, alk and magnesium were a tad bit high but not to the point where it’ll ruin it. I have stopped doing water changes because all it does is make my water cloudier. I currently have 2 clownfish in there since they said I could bring it home by my parameters. They don’t seem too happy, and have barely been eating. My shrimp is also in there doing nothing other than eating and sitting on his rock. I will be posting a picture of before and after and also my most recent parameters. I’m not sure if many people have been through this but I can’t stand looking at it like this anymore and am thinking on upgrading to a bigger and better tank and restarting it all.

View attachment 2539304Ok só this isn’t that great of a picture but you guys can clearly see that the hammer is really happy and everything else seems normal, the back of the tank is visible and all fish were happy and alive then.

View attachment 2539305Now here’s a picture taken today, 4 weeks after the incident. As you guys can see my hammer on the left is closed and all his 4 mouths are OPEN and it’s been like that for 3 days now. My organ pipe coral is closed, my Xenia is open but the hands aren’t opening and closing fully, my torch is super small and it usually extends a lot and the rest just looks like it’s there for a science experiment.
Here are my parameters before people start going crazy and asking.

Test from 1/31/22

Salinity: 1.026
pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2ppm
Alk: 11.5dkh
Calcium: 500ppm
Magnesium: 1500ppm
Phosphates: 0.03ppmView attachment 2539322
Here’s the hammer from a closer view, the blue tint is super strong because the water is cloudy but he is NOT happy (it is a branching hammer)

PLEASE HELP I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO IN THIS SITUATION ITS BEEN KILLING ME.

I personally don't use chemicals to treat cyano or dinos. Restore balance and fix the problem. That said, I know lots of folks that love chemiclean. It's a go to fix that works for lots of people. I'd increase flow and surface agitation . Run uv for a couple days.

 

[Duncan62]

Since this is about water clearness I observed an interesting reaction. I recently cleaned my skimmer by running a bleach wash through it for about 2 hours, and rinsed it in tap water for about the same period. I must have had a residual amount left, because my water became crystal clear. I am tempted to add a drop with every water change. Any comments ( about 15 gallons a change )

I'd skip the bleach.

 

[MnFish1]

Ugh. I really don’t know what to make of this and the differing opinions. I’ve been fighting a cyano outbreak in a 40g (no sump, no skimmer, 2yo) and I’ve been losing badly for months now. I get as much out as I can but within a week it’s covering the sand and other surfaces again. It’s even spread to my coral QT tank although not nearly as badly despite what I thought were good hygiene practices. I’m retiring the tank to be an observation tank, but in the mean time I need to transfer stuff (and therefore cyano) to a brand new build I definitely don’t want it in.

I finally broke down and bought chemiclean and an airstone, but I’ve been nervous about risking my entire fish collection and so it’s just been sitting on my kitchen table. Now this thread. What do folks on both sides recommend? I’ve tried patience and manual cleaning, and nutrient levels are actually better than they’ve been in the past 2 years (nitrate running around 10). The canister makes decent ripples on the left, the gyre intermittently makes good central agitation across the middle (can up to continuous), the surface skimmer injects air into the canister and burps a spray of bubbles a few times an hour, and I’d add a long airstone with a strong pump. That’s what I have to work with and I feel like I’m at wits end trying non-chemical approaches. But, maybe risking cyano in the new huge tank with a full sized skimmer, dual returns, multiple gyres, etc. might be the safer option for my fish pets?

I’m just not sure now. It’s easy to blame the OP for “other factors” rather than the product used successfully by others, but it certainly seems like chemiclean plus “other factors” resulted in a bacterial bloom depleting oxygen and leading to tragedy despite best efforts and attention to oxygenation. It would be great if we could all predict our other factors but all too often we just end up on here with no great answers when things turn south, just attempting-to-be-helpful conjecture. When the exact same circumstances worked out just fine for 10 other people.

Since you wanted an opinion, Here it is. It is very possible that Chemiclean caused a low(er) oxygen level if the OP's tank was overstocked to a degree.

My guess would be that most people that use chemiclean have a skimmer - with an open top, and lots of flow (not a little). The product (I believe) recommends continues heavy oxygenation during treatment. I do not see how chemiclean would 'kill' something directly - and since its an antibiotic I'm not sure how it could 'cause' a bacterial bloom. But a dead fish certainly could.

If I were going to use chemiclean in a tank like yours - I would have 2 GOOD air stones - and strong airflow - and I would follow the directions exactly - use a calculator to estimate your actual water volume (as compared to using 40 gallons). I would then follow the instructions carefully as to adding back carbon, doing water changes, etc.

I feel very sorry for the OP - Its always frustrating and difficult. I have had no problems with Chemiclean (have used it 2-3 x in many years). But I have a tank with very high flow, not a lot of cyano (just was somewhat ugly) - and I always took out as much as I could BEFORE dosing Chemiclean. I then tended to dose Chemiclean at the point the lights were at the highest point when I presumed it would try to recover.

You can always not use it - My guess is that higher oxygen in the water in general - and higher flow than normal against the areas where it grows - will take care of it without chemiclean. Good luck

 

[MnFish1]

I know it worked in my freshwater tank. did not take long

I have heard of people doing this - its basically adding Chlorine to the tank. It would be similar to adding H2o2 - I would imagine. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/using-bleach-naclo-in-a-reef-tank.296459/

 

[MichaelReefer]

When you use Chemi-clean you need to put an air stone in the tank.

 

[paulgriffin971]

If I were going to use chemiclean in a tank like yours - I would have 2 GOOD air stones - and strong airflow - and I would follow the directions exactly - use a calculator to estimate your actual water volume (as compared to using 40 gallons). I would then follow the instructions carefully as to adding back carbon, doing water changes, etc.

You bring up an excellent point there: The "ACTUAL" water volume of the system. With a ton of rockscape in a tank, it's actual water volume can be substantially lower. A 40 gallon tank with 25 pounds of live rock can decrease the total system volume to around 30 gallons. And that matters a lot when dosing anything.

 

[WVNed]

I have used Chemiclean many times on this.

I have not had one negative result

 

[Sesty22]

Get a UV and never think about it again!

 

[areefer01]

So it all started with my aquarium being COMPLETELY fine, 3 months had passed since I first started it and everything was thriving including my corals. One day I notice I have some red things growing on my rocks and sand so I take it to my local fish store (WWC) and they tell me I most likely have Cyanobacteria.

I, or we here, do not know display composition or history so technically shouldn't be recommending anything. The opening paragraph is what would concern me the most and that is 3 month old display, fish, corals, and cyanobacteria. Too much, too fast, and more importantly cyanobacteria being part of the various stages of new displays. Over correcting.

Before doing anything else and I'm sure it has already been recommended but do a water change and assess. What has been done is done. Now it is just a matter of understanding what happened, why it happened, and resetting. Above all don't make the same mistake twice.

Nothing happens fast in this hobby. If you are not prepared for the big picture, and it taking a few years to come to fruition, then you are in the wrong hobby.

 

[Freenow54]

I have used Chemiclean many times on this.

I have not had one negative result

I don't know if you are really totally committed, or just should be. Please explain the tub I dont understand the lack of concern over the overflowing skimmer, and I see another below. Need an education

 

[areefer01]

I don't know if you are really totally committed, or just should be. Please explain the tub I dont understand the lack of concern over the overflowing skimmer, and I see another below. Need an education

What are you asking them to clarify? They stated they have used it on their display and provided an image of what it looks like for reference. The directions on Chemiclean are pretty direct:

Aquarium oxygen levels must be increased using heavy aeration or a large air stone.

Turn off any UV sterilizers and ozonizers and remove any Chemi-pure or carbon during treatment.

Continue using a protein skimmer, although skimmer may require adjustment or removal of collection cup to prevent excessive overflow.

Again not understanding what you are asking them to clarify but if you look at the first point in the instructions it says to aerate. The third point says to continue using the protein skimmer. The tub is showing the use of the skimmer but without the collection cup or lid so it overflows back in the display. This is two fold. It meets the oxygen requirement. It then meets the skimmer requirement. The large air stone isn't needed because the skimmer is providing the aeration. Oxygen levels will be maintained because of the skimmer in their case.

Pretty straight forward.