I agree medication shouldn't be the first line of defense, but my situation was a classic case of where medication was absolutely needed.
I followed every guideline for months on end, my tank was in perfect shape, I got my plants growing very well, fish happy, water crystal clear and I was certainly way ahead of the cyano, but, it was still there, creeping across any part of the tank where flow was reduced, out of sight etc.... but I knew I was ahead of it, and if I took it out with chemiclean I knew it would not come back because I removed the root cause. Now, after the treatment, I know I killed any that was left after fixing the root cause. Chemiclean is nitrogen cycle safe, plant safe, shrimp/snail safe, fish safe and overall it will clean up any nasty bacteria in the tank. Even us as people will eventually need some meds at some point to overcome an illness, so in my opinion a 1 or 2 time dose of chemiclean is well worth it, and shouldn't be viewed as an ill practice in fish keeping.