Chemiclean wipeout corals

[BarIzoN]

That's exactly what I did.

Now my tank seems like "washed". Even the coraline was washed in a way. Now is less purple and quite "bleached". I hope it recovers.

Not sure what type of reaction Chemiclean caused in my tank, but I freaked out when seeing the coral simply peeling off. That hurts. Also, seeing my Favia coral expelling something white from its mouths... Crazy situation.

But indeed, after the water change the response is being positive. I hope the bleached coral - which isn't 100% bleached and some polyps went out today recovers.

I'll not use Chemiclean again in my tank. No matter what.

1: you have to run an air stone to increase oxygenation when you use chemiclean.

2: bubbles won't hurt a thing in a reef tank.

3: chemiclean is just an antibiotic. It kills bacteria indescriminatley, which includes cyano and all beneficial nitrifying bacteria. Usually these kinds of deaths are from an ammonia spike after the colony of bacteria have been destroyed.

I hate this stuff.

 

[BarIzoN]

Hello!

The filter has no media inside, it's literally empty, with the input the cartridge filter and the other side the carbon / chemical cartridge. On the past year, with the filter this way, I had no trace of nitrate whatsoever.

Also, note that I've done a Chemiclean application before, with the same configuration I had. I didn't change anything in my setup in the last year from now.

I think was something else related to chemical burning - or alkalinity - than ammonia. If was ammonia, fish would be dead now. So, no loss, besides the coral peeling off...

Regarding to the parameteres, I'm quite relaxed, you know... Once the tank matured, doing the water changes, and getting into a routine, the ecosystem has its own balance, so I don't do parameters check quite often. I have Red Sea kits for the parameters, but everything is in a normal pace. I'm actually having some salinity spikes and the MG levels were low, I actually dosed MG a few months ago, but other than that, nothing abnormal.

So, in this way, what would a test before would mean to me? I mean, let's say I test, check the parameters and everything was good, or let's say, calcium was low, was this a sign not to use Chemiclean? I didn't get your point.

Thanks!

Yep, exactly. Would imagine that filter had a bunch of nasty in it and the chemiclean unleased it into ammonia and nuked your tank. The chemiclean itself would not do what happened. OP, are you not checking your parameters? Testing for stuff before using a chemical fix is usually the best policy. Best of luck.

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[BarIzoN]

I'm also not a bubble expert! LOL

Thanks for the consideration. Those pictures were taken during the event. The tank was thriving before. I'll post some pre-chemiclean pics...

For flow I have a Maxpect Gyre 130, which generate plenty of flow for the corals, and also I have the filter line output which generates random currents in the tank... Coral seems to like that...

Again, thanks!

I heard bubbles are bad for the fish. Now I am not a bubble expert so maybe I am wrong. But I would agree this tank isn't bad but needs some old fashion water changes and more flow


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[BarIzoN]

I used Chemiclean first time with the same setup, and everything looked good.

Not sure what type of reaction it caused to damage coral tissue. Certainly wasn't ammonia, otherwise fish would be dead, poisoned or behaving strangely. That wasn't the case.

Coral literally was dissolving, Favia was expelling white stuff from the mouths, all LPS were receded. It was ugly. A bad feeling that hurts.

The air stone was there to help on the water oxygenation, temporally, while the chemical is in action.

That's something to consider. Some toxin - maybe from another coral in response to the chemical could be released in the water column. As I removed the carbon, toxins were freely flowing in the tank, causing the coral damage. That's plausible.

I did two 20% water changes since the incident and the corals were happier now. Also changed the carbon with a new batch.

Thanks for the tip.

Chemo-Clean targets certain bacteria, but generally not the ones that consume ammonia. It only affects Gram positive strains, if my memory is correct, but I don't keep track of that.

The airstone might a bit message, but it will help with oxygenation in some cases. I'd discontinue it when the decay has finished.

Although the Chemi-Clean won't affect corals directly, it might have killed bacteria that contained a toxin, and enough of them to cause problems for corals. It's hard to say. I'd do some water changes and run some fresh carbon.

 

[BarIzoN]

It's a lesson learned.

Even though it worked in the first time, adding any chemical in the tank is something I'll think 10, 20, 100, 1000 times!

Yes, the air stone was there just to help with the oxygenation. Skimmer was off due to overflow.

Yes, bad idea. I agree with you!

Chemiclean makes skimmers go bonkers so they need to be shut down during treatment, that's why additional aeration is recommended. Antibiotics in a reef tank= bad idea in my opinion.

 

[BarIzoN]

Some pics before Chemiclean

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[smatter]

I have learned many lessons the hard way in this hobby. I hope all your stuff bounces back for you.

 

[BarIzoN]

Amazing the power of nature, how it recovers...

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[bertoni]

That's looking better!

 

[timnem70]

Same picture as 1 and 5 of your "before" pics. If that really is a before and after shot the "Chemiclean Wiped Out my corals" comment... Not sure what you mean. Looks like everything is exactly the same.
Hope its working out for you

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[JZinCO]

Yeah I can't tell any difference.
It appears as though the 'wipe out' was really just a 'significant annoyance'.
I agree with other posters that it might have been a released toxin (e.g. some sponges harbor toxins, chemiclean can do damage on some sponges, ergo... ). Running GAC seemed to have helped.
Like you, my tank has 9 lives and seems to rebound from my actions as well. I run chemiclean at 1/4 to 1/2 strength usually; enough to do some damage to cyano with notably affecting other tank life.

 

[BarIzoN]

This was during the hell...

Note the coral literally "œpeeling"

This thing "œburned" the inside...


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[Rover88]

This was during the hell...

This thing “burned” the inside...
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Did you ever check your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate?

Tank looks good aside from the upset corals!

I'm fairly new to the hobby as well. Anytime I start to see a 'problem' I test every possible kit that I have. Recently I had a green hair algae issue, which was weird because literally nothing in my husbandry or tank had changed. I tested everything. It was when I was testing the TDS of my RODI water for the ATO that I realized it was 10+, and that led me to realizing I had depleted the filters on my RODI unit. I was able to head it off at the pass before it got to be a tankwide problem.

It looks like things are recovering, but I am curious if its what others suggested; an ammonia/nitrite spike from the chemiclean causing things to die, or if it was a response to the chemiclean itself from the corals.

 

[BarIzoN]

Hey buddy!

I had some leftover water from the incident and then I tested.

Didn't find anything wrong with the water.

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite =0
Nitrate = 1

I have Red Sea reef foundation pro test.

I changed my RO/DI filters and membrane in December 2017.

My mixing station has brute cans, the gray ones.

Again, Idon't have enough real estate below my tank for a sump, then I put a filter without media.

This filter basically filters the particles and has a chamber for chemical stuff, which I'm using for carbon.

The nitrate is in normal and there's no "œnitrate factory" as everyone says.


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[ClownNut]

the brain coral just put out its filaments, nothing to worry.
your pavona just stn a little, as you can see the only a little white skeleton, the green part of the skeleton most likely to be there for a while.
also post water parameters. include the alk/PO4/NO3/ca/mg.

 

[Rover88]

Hey buddy!

I had some leftover water from the incident and then I tested.

Didn't find anything wrong with the water.

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite =0
Nitrate = 1

I have Red Sea reef foundation pro test.

I changed my RO/DI filters and membrane in December 2017.

My mixing station has brute cans, the gray ones.

Again, Idon't have enough real estate below my tank for a sump, then I put a filter without media.

This filter basically filters the particles and has a chamber for chemical stuff, which I'm using for carbon.

The nitrate is in normal and there's no "œnitrate factory" as everyone says.


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Yeah, you are running a lot better then I am Well, depending on what you like for nitrates. I'm testing under 5 ppm, but I'm on the API kit. Never know what it truly is. It definitely wasn't an ammonia/nitrite spread then.

I used to run a canister filter. I stopped namely because I got freaked out by the fittings; One of them popped out one day when my girlfriend nudged the cannister, and started to **** water all over my floor. I didn't ever really trust them after that. I know they get a rap as nitrate factories because you don't have a cleanup crew that lives inside of them, so anything that gets sucked into there just stays and rots. But good husbandry or a prefilter can fix that.

 

[BarIzoN]

Nope, no ammonia spread. I think it was some sort of chemical reaction by the product...

I actually have a heather attached to the canister and it works like a charm.

This Fluval G3 filter is quite awesome, and has a seal when you take the filter cartridge for cleanup as well as the chemical cartridge.

It's super easy to clean and serves as my carbon comparment too, so the water is polished to cristal clear. I'm quite happy with this filter.

Just google it and you'll see... Fluval G3. Now, if you have space for sump, go for it! [emoji3][emoji3]






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