Finally, the fish! Now the questions...

So I finally have fishes in my tank. 40 Gallon, 8 Harlequin Raboras, 4 Panda Cories, 2 Opaline Gouramis. Planted, with 2 Crypt, 4-5 Cabomba, and 3 Dwarf Sagiterius. I know have a smattering of questions that could use answering.

1) So do Nitrite Kits go bad often? I had been testing my Nitrites for a month, and one morning it jumped from 0 to 2ppm. It never varied from 2 for 3 weeks, even after water changes. I got real suspiscious after I did 2 35% changes in one day, and it was still 2. I then put 1ml of tank water in a tube, and 4 ml of tap water (0 Nitrite) and retested. It still said 2, so I believe I have a busted kit that reads 2 if I have any Nitrites.

1.1) In case the readings aren't wrong, and I have acted wrashly in getting fish, I want to make sure I know the correct treatment for high Nitrites. It is frequent water changes (Daily) and a 1/4 teaspoon or so of aquarium or sea salt, right?

2) So I bought a KH kit so I can use CO2, but it doesn't have it's color card. Are the colors fairly standard for liquid kits? Can anyone point me to an online one, or mention what colors correspond to what?

3) Finally, the gouramis aren't getting along the best. The male chases the female a little more than I hoped. If I returned to the shop I got them from and bought another female from the same tank, would that help spread out his aggresion, or just make her the new victim?

Any and all help is appreciated and will dictate the course of my aqarium. Thanks. And in case anyone is curious about Bettas compatability, I tried to put my Girlfriends Betta in with the slim hope that it might be well tempered so it could live in a bigger, nicer home. It went well for the first 20 minutes or so, he flared at a Cory once, but it ignored him. Then he finally saw a Gourami in the open water. He started chasing and would not let up, there was no escape. I was watching and waiting with the net, so I removed him promptly. Just too bad since he could have lived a lot better. I think the Gourami lived through it without too much damage, his fins are all still fine and the chasing was less than 30 seconds. Anyway, I may try again once the Gouramis grow a little, I don't expect it to work, but I can hope can't I?

For starters, I did a fishless cycle with pure Ammonia at 5 ppm dosed daily, so I added all the fish over 3 days or so with the belief that this would be ok. The Nitrites read high with the fishless cycling and with the fish. The activity of the fish makes me think the water is ok, but I did a 40% change today, and will probably do one tomorrow too. I will try to show patience and wait to get the female Gourami for a bit. As for the KH kit, I think I will go back to where I bought it and see what they can do for me. Can get my water checked while I am there.

And while I am posting, I would like to thank anyone who has ever helped me, and the folks who run this show. Without a site like this, I would likely be totally ignorant and mistreating my fish. So on behalf of my fish, thanks.

Wow, I guess that was a stupid question then. Good advice, that instruction reading. I had no idea that it was a titration kit. In the future, I will try to read irst and not ask such dumb questions.

One last quick question in this thread, I have a few ghst shrimp, and this morning I saw clear, empty shells in my tank, so I guess two of them molted. Now they are missing and I hope hiding. How long before they should come back out so I know the Gouramis didn't get too hungry?