Im so lost

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Im just using a hydrometer untill i get everything stable then ill spend the money to get a better one . and i have been slowly removing water and adding new water but its really frustrating now because the hydrometer is reading extremely different levels almost everytime i test . te water is heated to about 72 degrees and the filter and power head are running . i made the mistake of putting in the sand while i do this so it looks like crap right now