new w/ water questions

hey everyone, i set up my 55g w/ the salt last saturday. my salt was pretty high so i was working on that. i got my secific gravity to 1.026 still working on that. but i just started testin the water today. i use redsea as it was on sale. now these are my results.

ph 8.3 (it was between 8.2/8.4)
alk normal to high (this test is by colour only)
nitirite 0.05
nitrates 0
ammonia 1.0

what should i do in order to fix up the wrong ones, i believe everything is ok but the nitrites and ammonia. when is it okay to add the live rock?

 

Your test results look pretty normal for a new set up so now the waiting game begins I'd add my live rock now so that you don't have to worry about it starting another cycle when you add it.

 

isnt 1.026 still high? might even a few hours of evaporation raise that to even higher levels?
a bit lower might be better. good reefing.

 

1.026, IMO, is pretty perfect. My tank prolly goes up to that if not higher all the time due to evaporation. A few hours of evaporation on a 55gal isn't going to raise it much, if at all. It takes days for my tank to evaporate enough for me to notice and do a top off. You need to add LR as soon as you can. Without it your levels will read fine, but there will be no cycle....atleast, not much of a cycle. LR is the foundation of any salt tank. Do you have sand? If you can afford it, buy some live sand. I did when I switched my 29gal to my 46, and was GLAD I did. It really helps the cycle along. Oh this is so exciting! Setting up your brand new tank! *Sigh* I remember setting mine up for the first time....good times good times. LoL ok.

 

I forgot! In cold countries liquid evaporates far slower than in warm temperate countries. @1.026 my tank would raise up to 1.028 in about 8 hours i am not there (in the office!). ok ok ok....^.^

 

Water

I'm Gonna Get Liverock Today. When My Tank Was Evaporating The Sg Didn't Really Go Up And It Takes A While For My Tank To Evaporate. Ya, Ontario Gets Real Nasty In The Winter But Nothing Like Alberta...so I Hear. Right Now It's Warm Here, Dah Summer And It Gets Really Humid...thank God For Air Conditioning. I Am Really Excited And Nervous About The Sw Tank. I'm Terrified About The Mantis Shrimp, My Hubby Will Do The Trapping To Get To One If I Ever Have One And If God Likes Me I Hope I Never Get One. I Don't Do Well With Things Like That. I Can't Wait To Buy Fish And I Have To Have A Watchman Goby. As Soon As It's More Set Up I Will Get Some Pics. Thanks For All The Advice.