photo of ferment with brown sugar

I need help with my first ever water kefir grains ferment…

1. I don’t like how dark the water is. I can’t see what the grains are up to at the bottom (organic brown sugar was used). This is more of an observation…

2. I wasn’t sure how much grains to put in. I used 3.5 cups of water and a slightly heaping tbsp of grains… Is that not enough?

3. I used a metal spoon when dishing out the grains… Will that be a problem? I’ve read that kefir grains react to metal…

4. How do I store the unused water kefir grains? Should I have dumped the rest in? (there’s about 3 tablespoons left from my original packet).

5. After adding room temperature water to the hot sugar water, I did not test the water temperature. However, the jar is now in a room above 70 degrees… What problems can occur if that water was not room temp after I completed the mixture?