fish testing

Question
I have a 55 gallon fish tank for over a week. I've been testing the nitrate, ammonia, and the pH every couple of days.  Testing the ammonia it was a little above neutral, what does this mean and what to do? Then testing the pH it was slightly acidic and what does this mean and what to do? Testing the nitrate was neutral/normal. I have 7 fish where 2 are guarmis, 3 little guys unknown what they are )community fish) and 2 are black fins I believe also community fish. Thank you for your time and help.  Lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa,
You are being very smart by testing your newly set up tank for ammonia etc. Since it appears you are in the middle of cycling your tank and you have 7 fish you really need to keep an eye on the amount of ammonia in your tank. If it starts to get high immediately do a 50% water change to bring the levels down to a safe level for your fish. High ammonia will make them very sick.  Your tank hasn't gotten into the cycle too far and the ammonia will probably get higher than your last test results. You can do partial water changes during a cycle and it really helps fish not to get sick. With 7 fish your tank doesn't have enough beneficial bacteria to handle the fish waste load and be sure to lightly feed them so they don't produce as much waste and also there won't be a possibility of excess food in the water. If you do partial water changes during this cycling period, at least twice a week and remove at least 1/2 the water and replace it with declorinated water that is the same temperature as the tank water, you will not have as many fish problems while cycling. As for the ph, I wouldn't worry so much about it right now. Usually if water changes are done regularly ph will stabilize and fish will adjust to it. If you were testing for nitrates(with an 'a') you shouldn't have any at this point. What you do need to watch is nitrites.(with an 'i') You can have high ammonia and then nitrites and both are really hard on fish. When the ammonia and nitrites start to get more stable then you will get a nitrate reading and usually the ammonia and nitrite reading will be at 0 and nitrates will always be there and can easily be controlled by water changes.
Be sure to keep your tank regularly maintained by partial water changes (removing at least 1/3-1/2 depending on what type of fish and how heavily stocked) and filter cleaning after your tank has completed cycling, usually in about 3-6 weeks. When you clean your filter media be sure to clean it in aquarium water--reason for this is that you don't want to clean it in tap water since tap water usually contains chlorine or chloramine and this would destroy any beneficial bacteria that was living in your filter and that would cause another cycling to begin. Be sure to do water changes at least once a week and don't over stock your tank. Never add too many fish too fast since each time you add fish the bio load increases and the bacteria have to adjust to the extra load.
Keep checking your water and do partial water changes to keep your fish comfortable while cycling. Some people like to add a container of beneficial bacteria such as Cycle or Bio Spira to help establish bacteria a little sooner. You don't have to but it might help with the ammonia.
Best of luck with your new set up.
Hope this has helped,
Karen