new tank tests

[captgut]

12587.1
ok finally have tank running, kind of.60 gal tank 50 gal refuge 20 gal sump
150 lbs sand 50 lbs hi rock thats it. running a week for stuff to settle.
thought i would test water to see what it looked like before adding live rock and
garf grunge.
1st test monday ph meter 8.5,salifert 8.0, red sea 8.2
ca salifert 580
kh salifert 6.4, alk 2.28, red sea low
oxygen salifert 8
orp monitor 315
mag 2000
specfic gravity 1.025
temp 80
rodi water
everything looks different than i expected mag?>??
tests this morning
ph meter 8.3, s 8.0, rs 8.4
ca 600
kh 5.4 alk 1.94, rs low
oxy 8, orp 316
mag 2000 ???
temp 79.7
specific gravity 1.024, refractometer
amonia .5
nitrite .3 these from dead stuff in rock ?
nitrate 5
are any of these possible,should i try to do something before adding any life, should i
add plants to refuge before rock and grunge, should i jump in tank and close lid??
thanks for any help

 

[alti]

just add the rock and watch your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. forget about the other stuff for now. are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle?

 

[captgut]

yes i understand cycle, just thought it odd that i had positive results with no live stuff in tank. are you saying the high mag and ca wont affect anything. do you know what orp i am looking for?
thank you for your help

 

[alti]

the live rock normally has some die off that will start the cycle. i cycled my last 2 tanks using only uncured live rock. dont put any living things in there until the cycle is over. if your ammonia does not go up add some raw shrimp from the grocery store.
i use the salifert test kit and my test only goes up to 500, so are u sure you are doing the test correctly. new tanks can register all sorts of wierd readings. all should balance out as the tank is cycling. just give it a little time and dont worry too much about the calc,alk, mag and orp levels. just watch your amm,trites and trates for now. when the tank has had some time to settle and has finished cycling then you can start to fix your other levels. HTH.

 

[captgut]

alti
thanks for info,will wait on tests till after cycle.
added 50 lbs live uncured rock today,hope some stuff survies

 

[alti]

you will be surprised at how much life will survive. i used 60 lbs of fresh uncured lr to cycle my 30 gal. the ammonia was off the charts for a week and i thought i had killed everything. now 7 months later there is so much life still there that i am still seeing new creatures come out of the rock.