Hey guys i just started up my new 40 gallon a month ago. i put in 40lbs of live sand and 20lbs of live rock. I am very confused with the cycling. i know you must get a ammonia spike then allow it to drop on its own. Well i started off with throwing in a raw shrimp and left it in there for about 2-3 days. Ammonia spiked up to 2.0ppm. I then took out the shrimp and waited. about 1.5 - 2 weeks later ammonia finally hit zero. i tested the water with the results of zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and 5.0ppm nitrates. Seems cycled correct? well i decided to put in all my live rock from my previous 20 gallon tank to start to do the swap lil by lil. i put in about an extra 30-40 pounds of live rock and my clown fish. next morning i check the water to make sure everything is still in check so i can continue putting in my other fish, but ammonia went up again to 0.25ppm, nitrites still zero, and nitrates still at 5.0ppm. kinda confused that the ammonia went back up. will it harm my clown? what should i do next? wait it out again? was thinking of using bottled bacteria like stability or microbacter7. what you guys think? Please help
Thanks guys
Thanks guys