Chemi-Clean Question??????????

[djminus1]

Many of the members on this board have recommended that I use Chemi-Clean to rid my tank of Red Slime. The instructions say to do a 20% water change after full treatment.
I am confused. When should I do the water change? Right after I add the Chemiclean? Or after it has had time to work in the tank.
The instructions do not specify.
:help:

 

[reefnut]

I would strongly disagree with anyone advising the use of chemclean or any other chemical to rid your tank of cyano. This WILL NOT solve the problem, the cyano may die but the true problem still exists.

 

[djminus1]

Ok...maybe you can tell me what the problem is.
Tank:
90 Gallon Tank
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
PH - 8.2
Phosphates - 0
Temp - 80.1 F
SG - 1.022
60 lbs LR
100 lbs LS
Cleanup Crew:
20 Blue Leg Hermits
5 Large Scarlet Hermits
25 Turbo Snails
15 Snails (burrowing kind...cant remember name)
Equipment:
CPR CY194 W/D w/ Skimmer
3 - Medium Powerheads (no dead spots)
Steps Already Taken:
Continuous siphoning of Cyano
Re-aligned Powerheads to flow over sand better
Feeding once every other day (only a small amount...little waste)
Reduced lights from 12 hours to 8

 

[bang guy]

How old is the tank?

 

[djminus1]

The tank is 2.5 months old. Is this just a new-tank syndrome that I am experiencing?

 

[tizzo]

Rust colored crap that won't go away?? Yeah, it's most likely diatoms, or that new tank syndrome as you call it. Give it time it will go away on it's own. :yes:

 

[ophiura]

I'm assuming you're using RO water?

 

[orucco]

I had about the same parameters on a 5 month old 75 gal 105lbs lr and was really tempted to drop in chemicals but I listened to the experts here who told me to resist and I siphoned out as much as I could every other day, did bi-weekly water changes, reduced feeding and eliminated gelatin based frozen food and found my skimmer was not working to its best, so cleaned out the air venturi and after about 3 weeks it disappeared.

 

[djminus1]

Originally Posted by ophiura
I'm assuming you're using RO water?
Yes
And it is not Diatoms...it IS Red Slime Cyanobacteria. It is reddish color, hairy, and comes up in clumps. It is covering my sand bed in all areas that get light.

 

[acrylic51]

ReefNut is correct it won't solve the problem, but the stuff does work and they are saying after the treatment is complete

 

[ophiura]

This is my take on chemicals, because I have been desperate enough to use these sorts of things.
1) Your tank is young. Give it some time and see what happens. Such blooms are pretty normal. Just follow some of the advice that is given on it to make sure your tank is running up to speed.
2) If/when, in a mature tank, you have an issue that becomes so overwhelming that you really have no idea where to turn and are at your wits end, then I would do it, and I have. Because no, it doesn't solve the problem, but it alleviates a problem so that you are not so overwhelmed and can get back into the maintenance and enjoying your tank. If you enjoy it, then you can start solving the problems and maybe start spending money on it. BUT, these things can go wrong, you stand a chance of potentially losing stuff. People report that now and then. I was always on the lighter side with dosing. But I can see where problems become so overwhelming that it is a last resort to save interest in the hobby.
At this point, I would say your tank is still young, there are a lot of nutrients in young tanks that are fluctuating a lot. So I would give it some time to mature before taking what I would consider to be a last ditch effort.

 

[djminus1]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
ReefNut is correct it won't solve the problem, but the stuff does work and they are saying after the treatment is complete
How do I know when the treatment is complete? When the stuff is gone? They don't say that either!

By the way, I am considering not using it at all. But I feel as if I have tried everything.

 

[1journeyman]

Cyano bacteria is a scourge on humanity. I hate the stuff.
I have a couple of spots in my tank that consistently grow it. I'm going to try re-doing my water movement this week to see if it goes away.
I'm too scared to use a chemical in my main tank.

 

[sprang]

Cerith snails like to eat it (cynobacteria) as well as mexican dwarf hermits.

 

[scubadoo]

If you kill all your cyano off at once using the "snake oil" products, it can release toxins in your water due to the massive collapse/die-off of the cyano and kill your animals. This may not happen but I have read several cases where it has after using the chemicals.

 

[wax32]

Originally Posted by djminus1
How do I know when the treatment is complete? When the stuff is gone?
Yes, when the cyano is gone, but like others have said, keep that for last ditch efforts. Cyano isn't going to destroy your tank. If it's litterally covering your corals and threatening your fish with a bat, ok maybe use the chemiclean.

 

[murph145]

i used chemi-clean in my tank once when i had a bad outbreak of red slime.... i didnt realize at the time that i should have been checking for phosphates or other possible causes i was just lookin for the cure.....
it actually worked great it removed the red slime within a couple days then after a week i did my water change nothing outta the ordinary.... the red slime did start to slowly come back after about a month never as bad as before but then i realized i needed to check for phosphates i have a large load of fish and they produce alot of waste so thats where it originated from..... so then i used the phosguard and its gone permantely...
if u are looking for a quick fix it works good but it will start to come back in the future if the underlying cause isnt solved

 

[wax32]

Using phosguard isn't really solving the problem either! Keep less fish.

The hardest thing to do in this hobby is say no to another beautiful fish friend.

 

[murph145]

yah lol i know what u mean!!! i like all my fish for different reasons.... i was going to try and rid some of the damsils from the tank but i cant catch them at all and im not willing to break down all my LR and move my corals around just to catch a few small fish lol....
oh well i guess it is what it is for now.....

 

[wax32]

It's not that bad. I actually took all my LR out a few weeks ago and rearranged it and I like the set up better now. I just put all my rock/coral in a big rubbermaid with water I drained from the tank. (Did a water change at the same time. )