can't figure out why my water is 'off'

[dive girl]

I recently plumbed at 20 gallon sump/refugium into my 29 gallon reef tank. I added 20lbs of live sand, 25 lbs of live rock (give or take a few pounds) and some macroalgae. Ever since it's been running I've had water tests that result in 0.25 ammonia and 0.25 nitrites!

I've had no problems in the past with ammonia or nitrites and am not sure why I am now. I've had the increased levels for about 2 weeks now. The first week, I did a 10 gallon water change and did another on the second week.
I'm afraid to do more of a water change because if there is a small cycle going on I don't want to make it worse.
The only thing that I can think of that might have caused this spike is perhaps the live rock that I bought really wasn't cured???
I'd love some advice if anyone has any to offer.

 

[jackri]

Adding sand and live rock will cause a spike temporarily... its just like adding more bioload but keep with the regular water changes and keep an eye on it.. it should cycle out before long hopefully.

 

[valgae]

u started a new cycle w/ all the new additions. doing water changes will not hurt, keep up w/ the water changes u need to bring the amm down. was the sand live or brand new. if it was new get a cupful out ur DT and seed it w/ the live sand. what do u have in your DT? anything die yet? just the wc's and i think you'll b ok.

 

[natclanwy]

You can pretty much guarentee that any LR you buy is uncured, even if you buy if from the LFS. Generally they don't have it long enough to be cured and I haven't vistited any that worry about their live rock tanks much so even if it stays for awhile the huge amount of die off in the holding tank keeps the rock from ever curing.
The other thing is if you added 20lbs of true live sand not the wet sand in a bag to your 20g sump I am guessing your sandbed is 2-3" thick in you sump, so everything that is more than 1" or so from the surface is dying.
Water changes will keep the die off to a minimum and won't extend or worsen the cycle.

 

[dive girl]

Thanks for the replies. The sand wasn't true live sand. It was sand from the bag and I rinsed it with some RO water prior to putting it in the sump. Yes, I've got about 2" of live sand. I thought about that cauing a spike, but didn't really think about the live rock. Well, I certainly won't make that mistake again.
Everything seems to be holding it's own except for my blue sponge which had done fabulous until yesterday. I've moved a couple of my fish into my QT to help decrease the bio-load a little. I'll do another water change later today. My ammonia was at 0 this morning so I hope that by tomorrow my nitrite will be down as well.
I hate the fact that I did something to put stress on my reef!