Frank,
Make sure you aerate the water in a room with lots of fresh air, otherwise you will be mixing more CO2 into your new saltwater.
Great to hear pH went up after turning on your air exchanger. I'll bet if you keep it on from now on, your pH will eventually stablize at a much higher level.
As for the reading, do it in several shots, and reread material over time. It took me several months of reading to get even the most basic understanding of what's going on chemically in my tanks. Of course, I'm a chemistry dummy, and old
