New to this hobby...need help!!!!

i started my tank last month 5th....the live rocks i took directly from sea and i have cured it. i did my curing in my 40gallon tank. during the curing i didn't switch on any thing only i put the water pump on so that the water will circulate (3000L/h)
after curing i didn't put live sand to it, just kept the tank with out doing anything....on the 2nd week i made a 100% water change. still i didn't put a sand sand bed. after one month i put a sand bed and now its been 7 days since that....i did a water test last night and it shows i have "0" Ammonia, but my nitrate level is high from the color code it show it on the 2 from the bottom and also have some nitrite

i have not switch on my skimmer, chiller o lights.

my question is am i doing this correctly or not?
plsz help

 

Its hard to say. Am I reading right that you did a 100% water change? If so, I would test daily for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for at least another week because that big of a water change could have thrown everything off. What kind of water are you using? Did you add anything to the tank to help it cycle?

 

actually i did not know that during cycling i should not change water but after i did i found out that i should not have done that....so i added a small dead shrimp to start the cycle....my house is near the sea...so i use salt water from the sea.......thnx for the reply

 

Where are you from by chance?
And where exactly are you getting the water? Are you just walking up to the shore or going out in a boat and getting it from deep water? What kind of sand?

 

well the sea is just opposite side of the road it wont take even a min to walk to the beach from my house....i take water form 10 to 15 feet from shore...which very shallow arnd 3 feet deep....tuk the sand also from the same place....does this have any affect on the tank???

 

Honestly don't know if that is far enough out to collect water and materials for your tank. I'm thinking that contaiminants are starting to get really concentrated at that point. I would figure the futher out and deeper you could go, the less chance of getting boating oils, pesticide run off, ect.

 

Not only contaminants but just waste in general. The beach is natures skimmer, and you don't want anything near it to be in your tank. Most people that use real ocean water suggest a minimum of 3 miles out and 60 feet deep.