Horrible Experince with Chemiclean!!!

[Ashleighsdad]

Toll so far:

1 Bi color benny
1 Clownfish
1 Sixline wrasse
3 Turbo snail
8 Algea Snails (that I just bought yesterday)
1 Sandsifting starfish
1 Firefish
Lots of unhappy softies!
1 PISSED OFF daughter!

All these fish were the original fish from 1 1/2 years ago when we set the tank up. They had become family.

Story: I had a little battle going with cyano. I did a lot of little water changes and lowered the lighting in an attempt to get rid of the cyano. I went to AW yesterday to buy more algea snails. I explained what my problem was. The AW employee recommended Chemiclean :hideeyes: as they used it in their tanks and it worked fine. When I got home, I followed the instructions to the letter!

Woke up this morning, just about everything is dead. :eek: First thing I did was a 20% water change, turn on the skimmer and added back my carbon pouch in the sump. Hopefully, the 1 remaining clown and clean shrimp will make it, not to mentioned all my softies.

What a mess!

[Redeye]

Never used the stuff
but, Sorry for your losses

[iVgOnMaD]

maybe you should go back to AW, and tell them they owe you a little something

[SDguy]

Doesn't Jasper use this stuff with no issue?

[semifan1]

I just did the same thing went to AW picked up some CC and everything went good. I just did a 30% water change all my guys made it. You might have something else going on also in your tank.

[whitefish]

Worked for me....it removes all o2 from the water I think...Did you take the top off your skimmer or add an airstone?

[Ashleighsdad]

Added airstone, pointed the powerheads to the top, and took the top off of the skimmer. Followed the instructions to the letter!

That's what gets me upset. If I did something wrong, then it's my fault. Guess I did do something bad, bought that crap.

Anyone know where to get cheap replacement fish?

[whitefish]

hmmm..I've used it twice in the last six months without any problems...how big is your tank?

[Diver Dan]

Added airstone, pointed the powerheads to the top, and took the top off of the skimmer. Followed the instructions to the letter!

That's what gets me upset. If I did something wrong, then it's my fault. Guess I did do something bad, bought that crap.

Anyone know where to get cheap replacement fish?

Get your wholesale license and go to LA... The wholesale license process is pretty easy, and you wont believe the prices up there... That sucks, i would go tell AW about it, but they probably will tell you it is your tank...

[Ashleighsdad]

Death Toll Update:

Last remaining clown is now dead!

The tank is 30 gallons.

[LotsaFishies]

Bummer
! I've used it literally dozens of times in my tanks, customers tanks, etc and never had a bad experience. Someone else mentioned a good point - it does severely deprive the water of oxygen.

Cheap fish? Me! IM heading up to LA on the 24th... Get in touch with me... Ill definitely help you out

[whitefish]

my tank is 75g.....30g is less room for error

[JAHGYDI]

i doubt it was chemiclean ive used it in the past

[lth03]

Both my brother and I use chemiclean and never have any problem with the product,we saw the good result of the product right away after we use it,we always dose about 90% of recommend amount.I am not sure why it is happen to you that way,maybe you have heavy bio load in your tank and the added airstone won't delivery enough oxygen for the tank?

[Clownaholic]

I've used ChemiClean for years without any ill effect on fish or corals. Don't know what to tell you, but it is interesting that they all died within a couple days of use.

[Haeun]

it is most likely something that had been wrong with your system, not the chemiclean.

[OceanBeach1502]

That TOTALLY sucks! I am so sorry that you lost all of your fish. Its hard enough for one to die. Total bummer :(
Whenever you do get more fish lotsafishies is the place to get em!

[Cuddlefish]

I can completely understand your frustration. Please do not blame AW for selling you the product though. Anyone would have suggested it for cyano and so far yours is the only case in which I have heard any complaint.

If you followed all the instructions completely everything should have gone fine. Unfortunately all I can suggest is getting back in the saddle and hopefully some friends will help you towards restocking the 30.

Good luck!

[Live Water Aquariums]

That's a horrible experience, please don't get too discouraged. There has to be an explination. I have used chemiclean and sold it for use hundreds of times over the last 12 years or so since it came out and never once had a loss. Double check how many gallons are in your actual system and what you dosed for, and keep looking for other reasons. Is there anything else new you used at the same time? Did you do a water change right before? Try anything else new, there must be another explination. I know with a name like chemi-clean it seems like it must be the culpret but if it was used correctly I guarantee it was not the cause. Good luck and stay with it, the kids love it.

[h20poloman]

That's a horrible experience, please don't get too discouraged. There has to be an explination. I have used chemiclean and sold it for use hundreds of times over the last 12 years or so since it came out and never once had a loss. Double check how many gallons are in your actual system and what you dosed for, and keep looking for other reasons. Is there anything else new you used at the same time? Did you do a water change right before? Try anything else new, there must be another explination. I know with a name like chemi-clean it seems like it must be the culpret but if it was used correctly I guarantee it was not the cause. Good luck and stay with it, the kids love it.

Thanks for chiming in Kevin with that much experience. I've used the product in the past and it worked for me as well. Try to keep your head up and I'm sure some of your fellow reefers will help you out. If you need some things to get you back up and running, let me know and I'll see what I have.

[NGN8DOGG]

i had a horrible problem last year with slime algae and i used chemi clean and it worked great and had no fish lost. Are you sure you didnt ad too much? Im pretty sure that stuff is lethal if you add a little to much it could kill your livestock

[NGN8DOGG]

I would go back to AW and talk alot of Sh.t and demand they hook you up with fish!

[Ashleighsdad]

After a very long and dreadful day, I think I might have figured out what went wrong. I think I did not overly compensate for the amount of liverock I have in the tank. I knew that there was not a total of 30 gallons in the tank due to the livesand and liverock but I think I did not go far enough causing me to overdose the tank (ie I dosed for a 22 gallon tank when I should have dosed for a 15 gallon tank). This is the only thing I can think of that went wrong especially after reading all the positive things everyone states about the product. For this mistake, I feel absolutely horrible for the livestock that perished. I would have done anything for this not to have happened.

My original post was not a bashing of AW, if anything they were more than helpful. It was my stupidity for making such a rookie mistake. I hope my tragic mistake helps somebody else understand just how fragile this hobby is.

Moving forward, I cleaned all the rock so it does not have cyano nor hair algae using a soft toothbrush and did a 50%ish water change. The softies appears to be coming back. My emerld crabs are still here, so I guess I was not a complete failure. Most importantly, I have a new found respect and understanding for this hobby. As Purplerock stated, the kids love it. That why I started and have my screen name, for my daughter.

Thanks for everyone's insights and comments!

[zoa]

oops didnt read that last post.... redundant comment

[LarryM]

I feel for you... I have been battleing cyno in one of the 12G's. I used CC and could not seem to get it to completely do the job... but always just used the 90% rule.

I think I would go tell AW what the story was... they may give you a break.

As far as replacement fish go either DavidM or LotofFishies could just about provide you whatever you wish for. Their both grat to deal with.