Tank cycling results so far

[jacksparrow7]

Hello all, This is what I have, 90gal pentagon with 20 gal sump, 90lbs of LR (50 Vanuatu 40lbs Marshall Island) H&S skimmer with Bumble Bee pump, Mag 12 for return, 12k 400wse with lummarc mini reflector, ice cap moonlights, 3 120v ice cap fans,Aqu Medic bio-therm 500w heater, 3 900 max-jets in tank,using elos testing kits, RFK2 controller, using ro/di water, tank is a acrylic 30x30x30 corner. My test results after two weeks (started on 2/10/07) are

Nitrate 75
Nitrite 4
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Phos 0.05
Alk 3.88
Kh 10.88
Salenity 1.025
temp 78

Anything out of wack or is this heading in the right direction? No livestock in the tank yet, patients I have, money I don't so I want to do this right the first time instead of killing critters. Will be setting up my own water station with RO/DI unit soon with a ATO.
Any adive would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Jack

[zisbell]

IMO wait another week or so and do a water change, retest parameters and see where they are. What would bother me more than anything is you already have phosphates, what kind of water are you using? tap, filtered tap, distilled, store bought?

[jacksparrow7]

I'm using RO/DI from my lfs. I'm not sure what the TDS is but I plan to buy a meter soon.

[Myka]

Phosphates are produced from the die off of the LR when it's introduced. I wouldn't be worrying about that. When my cycle was finished I added a sack of phosphate remover to my power filter chamber to suck the phosphates from the cycling out.

[jacksparrow7]

Thanks, I did a 30% H2O change today so I will be testing in a few days. Can not wait for my Nitrites/Nitrates to go down. This tank has been in the making for a year. Jack

[jacksparrow7]

Aloha all, well things seem to be going well but hopfully you experts out there can tell me if I'm steering off a cliff and crashing to my gruesome end.

Nitrates 50 (Elos test kit)
Nitrites 1ppm (Salifert test kit)
Ph 8.2 (Salifert and Ph probe)
Ammonia 0 (Salifert)
Phosphate 0.01 (Elos)
Alk/Kh Alk 3.60 Kh 10.08 (Salifert)
Ca 450ppm (Elos)
Salinity 1.025 (refractometer)
temp 78
LR 50lbs Vanuatu 40lbs Marshall Island

I now have a fair amount of brown coloring on the LR and live sand, diatoms? I also have ( a small amount) of green forming in the live sand about 2.5" down, DSB of 4" Any idea?
Thanks Jack

[zisbell]

I would just wait now, as for the brown....sounds like diatoms, and it will get all over the glass too. Diatoms can also feed off phosphates. I did it to soon but thats about when I added some turbo snails. I would suggest cutting the lighting back to just a few hours a day if they are on. The diatoms will kill themselves out after they feed off all they can. Does the skimmer run all the time? You can also try dosing some kalk (I use ms. wages pickling lime) it will bind the phosphates and raise ph and alk, I would only add a tablespoon to start with and adjust accordingly. Mix it in some fresh ro/di water and pour in the sump. Don't be alarmed if it raises the ph like I said, but if it goes to high (8.6) let it run and the next time use a little less kalk. The stuff is only like $2.49 at the local Kroger. I does 1 table spoon everyday to hold ph and keep alk up. It acts the same as a kalk reactor your just doing it manually. Just my 2 cents!