My reef tank is cursed....

[JCM]

If those pics are current, I think you're freaking out over nothing. Do regular water changes and give it a few months. Everything looks happy

 

[bb6311]

What test kits have you used for them? How long have you had the current tank up and running? How many fish do you have?

the tank has been up and running since July of last year. I used a freshwater test kit for ammonia since the chemicals are the same. I have a Tropic Marin Reef test kit that I tested for everything else.

 

[maleks.reef]

the tank has been up and running since July of last year. I used a freshwater test kit for ammonia since the chemicals are the same. I have a Tropic Marin Reef test kit that I tested for everything else.

If this tank, or any other tank, has been up and running for 10 months then there is no way in hell you get any readings of ammonia or nitrite. As mentioned above, go to your LFS and get your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tested. Also, check the expiry date on your tropic marin kit. If your ammonia test kit is made for freshwater then it will not give you an inaccurate reading. So your real issue now is cyano, which isn't much of an issue really.

All you have to do is lower your nitrates and phosphates since that is what's probably causing it, increase flow if you have any dead zones and siphon out the cyano every time you do a WC. I promise you within a month or so your cyano will be gone.

 

[Jedi1199]

the tank has been up and running since July of last year. I used a freshwater test kit for ammonia since the chemicals are the same. I have a Tropic Marin Reef test kit that I tested for everything else.

Whoa!!! You are using a FW test kit for your tank? There is your problem right there. The chemicals may be the same, but the recipe is completely different!!!

This is like baking a cake where you use all of the same ingredients but substitute Salt Water instead of plain water. Same ingredients, same ratio, VASTLY different results!!!!

 

[Rmckoy]

A few things seam odd

1) sit back and take a breath
Don’t add tons of different chemicals without waiting to see the outcome of each .

 

[bb6311]

It's been a while since I posted about my problem with my tank. I decided to post an update. I didn't get to do anything with it for two months because my wife had a surgery that went bad and I had to take care of her. The only thing I did was water changes weekly. I also added Remediation weekly as well and I continue with it now.
I decided after I was able to spend more than a few minutes to test my water quality again. I used my Tropic Marin test kit and read the instructions all the way through for the nitrite test. I discovered the instructions say if the sample ever tests zero (no nitrites at all) then I need to run the regent test to make sure the reagents are good. That's when I realized the Tropic Marin will never register zero nitrites unless the reagents are bad.
After two months of nothing but water changes and Remediation, my nitrates now read between five to ten and the tank is looking good. I hope you can see the attached video.