How is my tank going?

[ben78]

I set up my first marine tank on Sunday 22/10 after having fresh for a few years.
47 gallons, Coral Sand substrate. I have one live rock pilfered from the ocean, and about 20 litres of ocean water, the rest being tap water and Red Sea aquarium salt. SG is 1.023 using a glass hydrometer. The rock had about 8000 small barnacles on it, some chitons and about half a dozen snails. In the first few hours there was plenty of pods swimming around (doesn't seem to be so many now though

Barnacle losses have been about 1/2 to 2/3rds. Snails are having no worries at all (maybe they eat the barnacles?). I also have a small bream in there (australian yellowfin bream - a very hardy fish that lives in everything from polluted freshwater to pristine reef, one of the highest survival rates for catch and released fish in studies of around 98%)
Initial test results on Sunday was
Ammonia 0.1-0.3
pH 8.1
Todays test
Ammonia 0.6
Nitrites 0 (no colour change in the test)
pH 8.1
Is this the rate that Ammonia will raise?
I realise I will need to get some more rock and will go to the LFS for that. We have one that is pretty much dedicated to Marine here so I hope I can trust them as this is all very new to me!!!
Oh yeah, one more - is Coral sand the same as Crushed Coral? This stuff is average of 1/32 to 1/16 in grain size and mostly smooth round chunks, nothing seems rough or sharp...
Ok, here is the litle guy, and the Coral Sand...

 

[poniegirl]

I hope your fish will be okay. there are ways to cycle your tank without using livestock and that is preferred.
Yes, after your ammonia spike, you will see that decrease and your nitrites will increase.
Next, your nitrite will decrease, the nitrates will increase.
PH would be good to see maybe a touch higher, but 8.1 is okay.
When ammonia and nitrites are 0.00 and nitrates are 20 to 40, you can do a water change (be sure to mix ahead and test specific gravity) of about 20%.
The cycle can take 3 weeks or more, so be patient. Don't add more livestock until the cycle is complete.
If you plan on adding live rock, you should do it now, so if it is uncured, it can cycle with the tank.