water parameters off after sand change do i need to worry

[Buercky]

Sorry if i'm getting paranoid

So I swapped out my sand bed on 9/8 pulled everything out, cleaned and scrubbed, added Tropic Eden live reef flakes, did an almost 90% water change, It clouded up but cleared by morning. I also did a quick peroxide dip of some of my rocks (about 12lbs) before putting them back. Since that day I've done 2 - 20% water changes.

 

​Today when I tested it was: Using API (I know not the best)

Temp 78.7

SG 1.025

PH 8.2

Ammonia: 2.00 ppm

Nitrite .25 ppm

Nitrates 10 ppm

I've been dosing with 1 ml Seachem Prime once a day for the ammonia

 

Is this normal? mini cycle? I've never taken a tank through a cycle before. Is there anything else I can/should be adding or doing?

 

I just added an intank media tray with Chemipure blue, purigen and floss and removed about 75% of the bioballs.

I have a biocube skimmer running that's been removing a bunch of brown gunk every day

 

I have a clown fish, blennie, 4 snails, 2 hermits, some zoas, and a frogspawn. They all seem to be ok.

 

Am I freaking out for nothing?

 

Thanks for any help

[seabass]

No, you are not overreacting. 2ppm of ammonia is quite high. You removed a good chunk of your bio-filter when you took out the bio-balls. That, and the disruption due to the tank cleaning has caused this ammonia spike. Definitely continue to dose Prime.

[Clown79]

^ agree.

 

I would suspect the removal of the bioballs at the same time of changing out the sand would be the cause.

 

Good call on starting prime dosing.

 

Keep testing the params, you want the ammonia down to 0. Don't worry about nitrates being at 10, its really not that high. 10 and under is good.

 

Using Api is not bad. I've used Red Sea, Salifert, and Api. For ca, nitrate, alk they have all been relatively the same numbers.