Am I on the right track?

[duff0712]

First salt tank ever and it has been set up for 17 days now. I believe I am in the diatom stage at the moment and wanted to check to see if my parameters were within the right range for where I am at. I am mainly concerned with PH and KH.

37g tank with no sump, I plan on it being a reef tank. Mainly Zoas and mushrooms, hopefully some Acans and a few small fish and inverts.

NH3/NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PH: 7.9-8.0 (not 100% sure on color)
KH: 7.5
Salinity: 1.024
I suck at reading other measurements so there is probably a degree of estimation.
CA: ~425
MAG: 1480 (was told the test can run a bit high)
PO4: .2

I am pretty sure I am in the diatom stage with all the brown algae looking stuff pretty much everywhere. I was wondering if I was on track and if my ph and KH are lower than they should be what the best way to fix it is.

Also for more info I filled the tank up with aquavitro salinity and have done 2 changes with the salinity and the last 2 changes have been with red sea coral reef pro. Until I put coral in the tank I think I will continue to use salinity so I don't over dose my tank with the pro since I have little to use calc/mag.

 

[Tahoe61]

Please use the link below as a reference. The author is a member here as well. The alk and pH are within normal range.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Your values are fine all except for the phosphate that number needs to come down significantly.

Do you use live rock or a bacterial product to initiate the cycle?

 

[duff0712]

Thanks for the link I'll take a look. I have 1/3 of my rock as live and I have also been adding a small amount of bacterial product daily

 

[duff0712]

Please use the link below as a reference. The author is a member here as well. The alk and pH are within normal range.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Your values are fine all except for the phosphate that number needs to come down significantly.

Do you use live rock or a bacterial product to initiate the cycle?

Thanks for the link I'll take a look. I have 1/3 of my rock as live and I have also been adding a small amount of bacterial product daily. If it makes a difference I have been using the Brightwell Aquatics Continuum Gen-M bacterial product.