Chemiclean
- Thread starter Aurasreef
- Start date
jml1149
New member
Agree. I get people don't like putting stuff in their tanks, but I battled red and green cyano for weeks. No amount of lights out etc. seemed to help.
I followed the instructions on the chemiclean and on day 2 I was able to vaccum out giant mats of the stuff. On day 3 I got the rest with a turkey baster, did a water change and haven't looked back.
Afterwards, my corals perked up and nems looked great. I think the negatives of cyano outweigh the potential risks of chemiclean.
I know as well, need to fix the source, fine, but you also need to get what's there out.
I followed the instructions on the chemiclean and on day 2 I was able to vaccum out giant mats of the stuff. On day 3 I got the rest with a turkey baster, did a water change and haven't looked back.
Afterwards, my corals perked up and nems looked great. I think the negatives of cyano outweigh the potential risks of chemiclean.
I know as well, need to fix the source, fine, but you also need to get what's there out.
rastafarian
New member
I have used it, worked great. My best advice is to perform the water change ~through your skimmer. It will be going nuts anyways, so after 48 hours I ran the skimmer cup drain into a 5g bucket. Did this for a 20% water change and the tank was back to normal.
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
According to Marc Levinson - if you get cyano just use Chemiclean.
It haunts me twice a year.
It haunts me twice a year.
javimarino
New member
Follow instructions to the t and should work fine. I got rid of mine dosing brown sugar a lots of skimming, reduce feeding, ligth and ad chaeto to the fuge. Almost all gone.
slief
RC Sponsor
It will temporarily eliminate cyano but if you don't address the problem it will come back. If you address the problem, you shouldn't need to use chemiclean. Also keep in mind that Chemiclean's active ingredient is erythromycin contrary to what the label states and it has been banned in Germany becusause of it. The label leads the unknowing to believe otherwise. They (Boyd) states that it doesn't contain Erythromycin "Succinate" however Chemiclean was banned in parts of Europe due to test results showing erythromycin which is in fact an antibiotic and also impacts beneficial bacteria. There are many forms of erythromycin such as Erythromycic Sulfate, Erythromycin Estolate, Erythromycin Stearate, Erythromycin Ethylsuccinate, Erythromycin Ethylsuccinate, and others. Chemiclean just doesn't contain erythromycin succinate. Instead, from what I understand, it contains Erythromycin Sulfate. All of which are Antibiotics.
While it may not kill all denitrifying bacteria, antibiotics aren't all that selective in the bacteria that they target and some benificial bacteria including dentitfying bacteria will be impacted and inadvertently targeted. Does that mean that the use of Chemiclean in your system will crash your tank? Certainly not, but treating our tanks with chemicals that target bacteria is never a great approach as it weakens the most important and complex part of our tanks ecosystems. In a well established system that doesn't have nitrate issues, the impact may be minimal however in a system that isn't well established and or one that has nitrate issues, the impact can be larger than people realize and it can cause longer term issues.
In my opinion, there are much better ways to address cyano. Increased flow and better husbandry are two key things that go a long way in beating it. UV Sterilzers are also very useful in stopping the spread of cyano and don't target denitrifying bacteria.
Anyhow, you will see those that clamor over red slime removers but at the end of the day, that approach is nothing but a temporary fix and as I said, there are MUCH better ways to address cyano than putting antibiotics into the system.
While it may not kill all denitrifying bacteria, antibiotics aren't all that selective in the bacteria that they target and some benificial bacteria including dentitfying bacteria will be impacted and inadvertently targeted. Does that mean that the use of Chemiclean in your system will crash your tank? Certainly not, but treating our tanks with chemicals that target bacteria is never a great approach as it weakens the most important and complex part of our tanks ecosystems. In a well established system that doesn't have nitrate issues, the impact may be minimal however in a system that isn't well established and or one that has nitrate issues, the impact can be larger than people realize and it can cause longer term issues.
In my opinion, there are much better ways to address cyano. Increased flow and better husbandry are two key things that go a long way in beating it. UV Sterilzers are also very useful in stopping the spread of cyano and don't target denitrifying bacteria.
Anyhow, you will see those that clamor over red slime removers but at the end of the day, that approach is nothing but a temporary fix and as I said, there are MUCH better ways to address cyano than putting antibiotics into the system.
Ron Reefman
Active member
I'm 100% with slief on this one. Solve the problem, don't try to fix the symptom (the cyano).
outy
New member
While that is true, it does not hurt a well established tank.
I use it off and on for the last 25 years with only success.
The key is to follow up with large water changes to cure the existing problem and get rid of the meds.
rastafarian
New member
The reply of 'fix the problem, not the symptom' seems to be popular. Not disagreeing with it. But, I think there is some validity to using chemiclean to help get ahead of it. If you have taken the common steps (flow, phosphate, etc) I think using chemiclean is a decent method for 'ending it'. I had the issue, took the necessary steps, but it seemed to be winning the battle. Chemiclean removed the 'remaining' cyano and it has not returned since.
DivingTheWorld
Active member
I tried it about a year ago and it worked great. The cyano can and may come back as stated, but it took a year for me. It's not as bad again in my tank yet, but I'm planning to do a Chemiclean treatment on my next water change because Cyano frankly just annoys me! I had no ill affects last time I treated.
Regarding "treating the problem", I don't necessarily disagree. But in my case I find that Cyano just comes regardless. I run Nitrates 1-5, Phosphates 0.03 or less and in my 80g I have two MP40's running 90%. The only other thing I could maybe do is run my lights less, but my sps wouldn't agree with that.
For me, Chemiclean is the solution.
Regarding "treating the problem", I don't necessarily disagree. But in my case I find that Cyano just comes regardless. I run Nitrates 1-5, Phosphates 0.03 or less and in my 80g I have two MP40's running 90%. The only other thing I could maybe do is run my lights less, but my sps wouldn't agree with that.
For me, Chemiclean is the solution.
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Agree that we need to attack cause, rather than symptoms. Tried that without success for more than a year. Recently gave up and dosed CC in my 180 on 2/19/16.
Had an ATS that died when pump died and LEDs cooked algae. In early February, I restarted ATS in a 20 gallon bucket, which I fed with dry food twice a week to try to encourage algae growth on screen.
CC wiped DT clean of all nuisance algae without any adverse impact on corals, inverts, or fish in tank. Did a few days of heavy GAC filtering and moved ATS back to 180 sump on 2/14.
Since then, growth of green algae on ATS screen has been phenomenal, and there's been no "rebound" growth of nuisance algae in DT.
Obviously, too soon to tell if this is permanent solution, but I am optimistic about tank for first time in long time.
Mike
Had an ATS that died when pump died and LEDs cooked algae. In early February, I restarted ATS in a 20 gallon bucket, which I fed with dry food twice a week to try to encourage algae growth on screen.
CC wiped DT clean of all nuisance algae without any adverse impact on corals, inverts, or fish in tank. Did a few days of heavy GAC filtering and moved ATS back to 180 sump on 2/14.
Since then, growth of green algae on ATS screen has been phenomenal, and there's been no "rebound" growth of nuisance algae in DT.
Obviously, too soon to tell if this is permanent solution, but I am optimistic about tank for first time in long time.
Mike
Devi
New member
I'm in a different boat than everyone else. What causes your cyano? Well it's not what caused mine, it's what started it. My tank was in perfect working order but we had a storm and we lost power for nine days ten nights. Temps in the house were 30. I had bubblers and several bags of hot water that we changed out every four hours. Blankets over the tank to hold in warmth. We got an indoor propane heater to keep one room warm, and put blankets up to keep heat in. When power finally came on cyano was everywhere!
So I started with water changes. Three that first week. Siphoning everyday. Adding flow and filtration and phosguard. I battled for four months. Winning sometimes thinking it was over only to have it take over again. I changed lighting cycle and color, I changed ro filters, I did twice a day siphoning, then I started buying bigger pumps, more filters, then I purchased a gfo unit. I was thinking to myself my tank was fine before the power outage why am I adding all this crap and spending all this money I don't have?
I used the Chemiclean. It worked almost overnight. I turned off Skimmer, took out carbon, changed floss everyday to catch dead cyano. I did a 20% water change after 48 hours and dosed again. After the four days my tank is back to how it looked before the outbreak with no harm done to corals or fish. I am so happy.
So I started with water changes. Three that first week. Siphoning everyday. Adding flow and filtration and phosguard. I battled for four months. Winning sometimes thinking it was over only to have it take over again. I changed lighting cycle and color, I changed ro filters, I did twice a day siphoning, then I started buying bigger pumps, more filters, then I purchased a gfo unit. I was thinking to myself my tank was fine before the power outage why am I adding all this crap and spending all this money I don't have?
I used the Chemiclean. It worked almost overnight. I turned off Skimmer, took out carbon, changed floss everyday to catch dead cyano. I did a 20% water change after 48 hours and dosed again. After the four days my tank is back to how it looked before the outbreak with no harm done to corals or fish. I am so happy.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
re: Chemiclean
what is it? lol!
what is it? lol!
Psychomantix
New member
Many people believe it is some salt of erythromycin, an antibiotic.
I've used it a few times with great results and no harm done to anything I didn't want to kill. Just follow the instructions on the box.
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