My 1st chemiclean

[jdw]

Well as title states, I just dosed chemiclean for 1st time. 90gallon tank with 35g sump. I am hoping my red algae will go away in 48hrs.

So should I feed like normal? Should I turn out the lights? The instructions do not mention anything besides treating and a 20%wc in 48 hours. All I have as far as coral is concerned is a few zoa's, couple different polyps, red monti, Hollywood stunner, acan, nepthea, a small frag of birds nest (I believe) & a couple mushrooms.

 

[sn4k33y3z]

I imagine you'll have to take your skimmer offline as it will overflow for several weeks during the process. I would pull your filter socks (assuming you have them) and allow that to be the method of oxygenating your tank until your skimmer can go back online. I took this advise from another reefer that I trust and needless to say, I had no issues

 

[dawgface]

Sn4k33y3z;954142 wrote: I imagine you'll have to take your skimmer offline as it will overflow for several weeks during the process. I would pull your filter socks (assuming you have them) and allow that to be the method of oxygenating your tank until your skimmer can go back online. I took this advise from another reefer that I trust and needless to say, I had no issues

+1

Everything as normal other than o2 consideration and massive water change at the end.

Also do be alarmed if after the water change your skimmer is still sensitive. May have to conduct a few more to get it to function correctly.

 

[picoreefguy]

yup do everything you would normally do but take your skimmer offline and if you're running any reactors take them offline as well. i would recommend doing a 50% water change at the end of 48 hours instead of 20% it will help your system get back to normal a little faster e.g. skimmer wont be as sensitive and your carbon/gfo wont exaust as fast for that first week or so after the wc. also its a good idea to take a bit of biomedia and keep it elsewhere (a friends tank) where the chemiclean wont get to it because it can and will kill the good bacteria as well. i run matrix in a reactor so i just turned off that reactor till i was done with my treatment.

 

[jdw]

Well, I left my gfo Reactor online. And I have NO biomedia isolated. I read on an earlier post about skimmer running is ok for oxygenation. I just pulled my plug of my skimmer collection cup, it dumps back into tank.

Edit: I will do a larger wc as you suggest.

 

[picoreefguy]

JDW;954196 wrote: Well, I left my gfo Reactor online. And I have NO biomedia isolated. I read on an earlier post about skimmer running is ok for oxygenation. I just pulled my plug of my skimmer collection cup, it dumps back into tank.

Edit: I will do a larger wc as you suggest.

you should be fine those are just extra precautions to get you running normally faster. use some stability after the treatment and feed lightly for a while till you're back to normal. you might expirence a spike in nutrients, if that happens just do water changes and try to borrow some biomedia from someone nearby till the tank settles in.

 

[jdw]

You run matrix in a reactor? I just have mine sitting on bottom of sump. Is there a benefit to putting it in a reactor as opposed to in a media bag on bottom of sump?

 

[picoreefguy]

you get more water going through the matrix because its being pushed through and has no way around vs in a media bag it can just go around. to me it seems like in a reactor its more efficient

 

[jdw]

Makes sense. Cleaner that way too

 

[picoreefguy]

yup

 

[dawgface]

Picoreefguy;954188 wrote: yup do everything you would normally do but take your skimmer offline and if you're running any reactors take them offline as well. i would recommend doing a 50% water change at the end of 48 hours instead of 20% it will help your system get back to normal a little faster e.g. skimmer wont be as sensitive and your carbon/gfo wont exaust as fast for that first week or so after the wc. also its a good idea to take a bit of biomedia and keep it elsewhere (a friends tank) where the chemiclean wont get to it because it can and will kill the good bacteria as well. i run matrix in a reactor so i just turned off that reactor till i was done with my treatment.

I've never heard or experienced bacteria die off with Chemiclean. Furthermore if you take anything from your infected tank and move it else where you are essentially infecting another system. Worse still then adding the infected media back to the very tank you've cleansed the infection from. Personally I would highly advise against this practice.

 

[dawgface]

Picoreefguy;954245 wrote: you get more water going through the matrix because its being pushed through and has no way around vs in a media bag it can just go around. to me it seems like in a reactor its more efficient

Wholeheartedly agree that a pass through is crucial. Matrix sitting on the bottom will have the desired effect initially, which is creation of ample room for nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria to colonize. It will eventually without manual action on your part create the perfect place for detritus to become trapped which will eventually negate and then surpass your beneficial bacterial ability working backwards. A reactor allows high flow through to eliminate this to an extent. Both ways need periodic cleansing, one much more than the other.

 

[skriz]

DawgFace;954266 wrote: I've never heard or experienced bacteria die off with Chemiclean. Furthermore if you take anything from your infected tank and move it else where you are essentially infecting another system. Worse still then adding the infected media back to the very tank you've cleansed the infection from. Personally I would highly advise against this practice.

A broad spectrum antibiotic doesn't discriminate against which bacteria it kills. So, it will kill both desirable and non-desirable. This is assuming the active ingredient is still the same as it used to be.

As to the second point, yes, definitely don't infect your buddy's tank with your tank aids!

 

[jdw]

Lol, don't want to infect anything... Trying
To clear it up

 

[picoreefguy]

Skriz;954279 wrote: A broad spectrum antibiotic doesn't discriminate against which bacteria it kills. So, it will kill both desirable and non-desirable. This is assuming the active ingredient is still the same as it used to be.

As to the second point, yes, definitely don't infect your buddy's tank with your tank aids!

yea im pretty sure the package said that it can kill off beneficial bacteria as well as the unwanted cyno. but its been years since ive actually read the package lol. and yes my bad i didnt consider the possibility of spreading it to someone elses tank. but it would be a good idea to get some from a buddy with a clean tank once the treatment is over to help get you going again.

 

[jdw]

Well my chemiclean experience we off w/o a hitch. Everything seems to be doing well when I last seen the tank. Skimmer still acting screwy, but that's to be expected.

 

[jdw]

Picoreefguy;954245 wrote: you get more water going through the matrix because its being pushed through and has no way around vs in a media bag it can just go around. to me it seems like in a reactor its more efficient

How big of a reactor do you use with the matrix? I currently have a phosban150 for gfo, another 150 on the way for carbon, and I was curious if I should go with a 150 or 550 for the matrix? I am thinking the 550 since the media is larger and I will have more room in the reactor. Whats your thoughts?

 

[picoreefguy]

i would go with the 550. im using a brs single reactor for mine because thats what i had laying around. but if i had a bigger one i would use it and fill it up with as much as possible. you can never have too much biofiltration.

 

[jdw]

Picoreefguy;954565 wrote: i would go with the 550. im using a brs single reactor for mine because thats what i had laying around. but if i had a bigger one i would use it and fill it up with as much as possible. you can never have too much biofiltration.

That was my thinking too

 

[rk4435]

Fwit..... I contacted the makers of Chemiclean after dosing a couple of weeks ago. They told me that they used to recommend turning the skimmer off due to overflow but now recommend leaving it on for oxygenation if you can.