Is Chemi-clean the devil

[jeffvt1999]

So, decided I’d done all I could do on my cyano through filter changes, reduced nutrients, and general tank cleaning and got rid of lots of it but then found some chemi clean in my closet (from last tank purchase) and reviewed it and decided to use. Then Crash!  Ammonia spike, likely from dead bacteria?  Bristle Star first to go painfully, some birds nest, pocci, almost anything SPS, small monti, etc...  euphylia probably dead.  Moved worst corals to qt.  Anybody used this stuff and had better luck?  I followed the instructions very closely, actually only used like 2/3 recommended amount.  If anywhere in their literature it said (2% chance you’ll lose half your stuff) I never would have tried it.  Luckily most just getting into SPS, and most of my LPS and SPS wasn’t expensive.  So far my anemones, zoas, leather, gsp, Xenia, and even a couple acro look fine.

 

I seem to have stabilized the crash and the carbon, skimmer, filter cleaning, and water changes are doing the job, but What?

Edited February 24, 2020 by jeffvt1999

[bk_market]

I also dosed chemi clean to get rid of cyano on my anemone tank. It crashed the next day and I lost all corals and 15+ anemone.  One of the anemone did released its foot and got crushed by the powerhead so that probably added to it.

[jeffvt1999]

I read a little bit about it first, but I guess I should have asked Wamas.  Does anybody know of any miracle cures to anything?  Because patience and hard work are boring!

[lynn.reef.nerd]

I have used chemi-clean 3 times already. Kept the skimmer going to keep O2 in the tank. Did a large water change as recommended.  Never had an issue.  Skimmer will stay crazy for a couple of days but nothing died from them.

[treesprite]

I used it once many years ago, had no problem at all. Did you account for displacement when figuring your water volume?

[Origami]

On 2/24/2020 at 7:53 PM, lynn.reef.nerd said:

I have used chemi-clean 3 times already. Kept the skimmer going to keep O2 in the tank. Did a large water change as recommended.  Never had an issue.  Skimmer will stay crazy for a couple of days but nothing died from them.

+1. You have to keep the water heavily oxygenated. One way to do this is to run the skimmer without the cup. If you don't oxygenate the water, stuff starts to die and then decay, leading to the ammonia spike. (This, by the way, is instruction #1 on the Chemiclean package.)

[AlanM]

I've done the same as others on this thread.  Just took off the skimmer cup and let it overflow after dosing chemiclean.  Nothing died.

[Sharkey18]

I just used it 2 weeks ago. Skimmer went nuts for at least 5 days. Same procedure as above. Left skimmer cup off and let the bubbles just flow into the sump. Did a water change on day 3 and just waited for the skimmer to come back to normal. Took longer than I thought it would. 

 

Jeffvt, what skimmer are you using and how did it handle the chemiclean? 

 

 

[Matt LeBaron]

Not a fan, used this like 10 years ago when I was relatively new to the hobby and had a pair of seahorses in my 55G. Ended up having to take one of my seahorses to the vet to get a prescription of Diamox to treat gas bubble disease from using it along with killing off a bunch of brittle stars I had in the tank at the time which caused a minor crash. Luckily I didn't have any corals back then so water changes kept things survivable for my fish and seahorses but I won't touch the stuff any more.

[ReefAddict]

I’ve used it several times over the years. Never had any issues with corals or inverts.  I also let my slimmer run without the cup.  On a tank with no skimmer just ran a bubbler. As other mentioned  I think oxygenation is the key to success with Chemiclean.

[BtmDweller]

I use it about once a year if I get cyano outbreaks. It does wonder in my tank. I have a large system though. I shut off my skimmer with no additional aeration. However I have a dual sump and attached system external skimmer. So five areas where water is splashing into the tank, perhaps aerating. Never issues with corals or fish.

[jason the filter freak]

I dosed Chemi Clean in a 2 year old 40 gallon AIO. No I'll effects, followed the instructions except I did two 25% water changes.