Ammonia @ 0.25? Is tank doing a mini cycle?

[nicolea]

hello all,

i am looking for some help with my tank. i have a 50 gallon; its about a month old. it is cycled and i currently have in it; live rock, sand, and some stock...

-1 snail; i cant find the other one? had 2 at one point (blackfoot)
-2 chromis
-2 clown gobys
-1 black ocellaris clown

today i lost my oscellaris clown baby; as soon as i brought him home he wasnt eating really.

my problem is my ammonia, last 4-5 days its been sitting at 0.25. Nitrites and Nitrates are 0. My pH is at 8.4.

my lfs is saying that my tank is probably trying to re-cycle; or do a mini cycle because there isnt enough bacteria in the tank.

I've been using the "stability" bottled bacteria... looking for opinions on if you agree with this "diagnosis" and if the stability is a good way to go, or anything else i can do, below is a picture of my tank, should I be putting more live rock in? is that a source of bacteria?

[Sniperhank]

Def don't have enough bacteria to support the fish if you are having ammonia pop up. Bottled bacteria is garbage basically...how quickly did you add your fish? Adding too many at once might have produced mroe ammonia than the bacteria could convert. Either way it doesn't matter since you are having another little cycle it seems.

[nicolea]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Def don't have enough bacteria to support the fish if you are having ammonia pop up. Bottled bacteria is garbage basically...how quickly did you add your fish? Adding too many at once might have produced mroe ammonia than the bacteria could convert. Either way it doesn't matter since you are having another little cycle it seems.

the fish were just added within the last 10 days. not all at once.
what do you suggest doing to get the bacteria count up?

[Reefman97]

If your tank is doing another cycle, just wait, it making more bacteria.

[54seaweed]

If you have ammonia it would be best to do a partial water change 20%
to bring down ammonia
keep a close eye on the ammonia doing wc when you see ammonia building
a new tank should get a partial water change an a weekly basis to help it along anyway
than eventually you can do it bi weekly
chemicals only mask your problem
your tank is still new and needs time to establish the necessary bacteria to build a good bio load
5 fish in 10 days is a lot for a new tank your tank needs to catch up before you add anything else give it a few weeks
than add to it slowwwwwww

[nicolea]

thanks everyone for your help. i will do a small water change to help keep it down for now.

[54seaweed]

I would also recommend you add more cured live rock
the little bit of rock you have is def not enough for 50 gal unless you have it hidden in a sump below
approx 1 to 1 1/2 lbs per gal is recommended
that's a big reason your having issues already

[nicolea]

Originally Posted by 54seaweed

I would also recommend you add more cured live rock
the little bit of rock you have is def not enough for 50 gal unless you have it hidden in a sump below
approx 1 to 1 1/2 lbs per gal is recommended
that's a big reason your having issues already

okay i will grab more live rock.
is a sump better than HOB filter?

[Sniperhank]

A sump will add a significant amount of water to your existing system. More water is this hobby is better as it will displace parameters if an issue occurs. It will also give you a spot to place all of your equipment so it doesn't have to hang in the tank.

[nicolea]

I -->moving this question to sick fish help!