A little help with water readings.

[ant]

I tested my water this morning and this is what I got:
SG 1.023
Sal 32
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10-20 It's hard to determine, the colors are so close
Ph 8.4-8.8 same color problem
Nano tank, 20 gal, LR, LS, two hermits and one cleaner shrimp so far. Looks like the Nitrate and Ph both increased a little. I added salt water yesterday just to replace evap loss. Shrimp was added two days ago and crabs three days ago.
What do I need to do, if anything?
Thanks everyone, Ant.

 

[trainfever]

Well first off, never replace evaporated water with saltwater, always use fresh water. When water evaporates, the salt is left behind. When you added more saltwater, you added more salt to your system. Everything else looks good but you want to keep your nitrates as low as possible. Are you feeding too much? The PH is a little high. There are aditives that will lower your Ph. Make sure when you do a water change that you vacuum the substrate to get all the waste from the bottom of your tank. That's what causes most of your nitrates.

 

[bigarn]

Unless you're trying to raise the salinity, don't top-off with saltwater. (use freshwater only)
The nitrates aren't bad.... waterchanges should help lower it.
If this is a reef tank I'd get the salinity up to 35ppt. :happyfish

 

[ant]

It's not a reef tank. It will eventually be a FOWLR but for now It's a shrimp and crab tank. Would more crabs and snails help with the nitrate and ph issue?
I topped it off with salt water because my SG was 1.023 prior and sal 32 so I didn't think it would hurt. The salt water added was at SG 1.027. Didn't seem to change anything as far as SG or Sal. I added it yesterday.
I havn't done a water change yet, just started adding creatures at this point.
Thanks for the input-Ant.

 

[ant]

Oh-I did feed the tank twice yesterday. I wanted to see if the shrimp would eat flake but I really put in just a little pinch each time. One of the feedings was dry brine shrimp.

 

[trainfever]

A water change will lower your nitrates, crabs and snails will not. You should only be feeding your tank 2 or 3 times a week. That could be what is causing your high nitrates. Over feeding will cause your nitrates to rise.

 

[ant]

Trainfever-it was my understanding that I was suppose to feed the tank as if I had clowns in it (that's what I want eventually) for a week and if the amonia and nitrites remained zero then it was safe to add them. That was from Banguy.
"Thanks for all the responses. So most of you feed everyday, in the morning and at night." That's from 696, title "thoughts on feeding" under the New Hobbyist forum.
So I'm a bit confused with the info
I'm feeding my tank as suggested and only once a day with a small pinch of food. I realize this is not life and death for the fish at this point but I'd like to do the right thing now. Do you think I need to do a water change right now?
Ant.

 

[trainfever]

Ant, I'm not saying that your nitrates are high, they are not. I am saying that over feeding will cause them to rise and that snails and crabs will not lower them, only a water change will do that. I have always been told to feed them every other day. That is what I do. I don't think over feeding would be too much of an issue as long as you test your water faithfully and do water changes. I do tests and water changes on a weekly basis.
How long has your tank been set up anyway? Do you have any live rock in it?