Mini-cycles.....Help

[thepomonacow]

A week ago I added 2 lbs of live rock. Then my Ammonia and nitrate shot up. One clownfish died. The guy at the fish store said it probibly was a mini cycle. So everyday since then I have been doing 15% water changes to try to keep the chems down. I also turned off the skimmer. (Should I have done this?)My water STINKS. Anyways. Will the "mini cycle" take a month to complete like the initial cycle when I started up my tank?
Even though I am changing the water it is not lowering the chems much.
currently
NH4 = .5mg/l
no2 = 0
no3 = 10
salinity = 1.022
temp = 78
Any other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jay

 

[nacl-h2o]

I would turn the skimmer back on. The live rock you got probably wasn't cured or wasn't cured well. continue the water canges to control it. Sometimes minicycles can become recycles. If NH4 or NO2 get so high that other things start dieing it will become a recycle.
It doesn't seem right that .5 NH4 could kill a clown they are usually tougher than that.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Whenever the tank cycles you should have your skimmer turned on, especially when you add new LR. Sorry about your fish, that's a bummer and it probably was uncured LR.
I like uncured LR because it comes with more interesting things on it, but as you have learned it can cuase your tank to re-cycle (your's had no chioce because of the amount of uncured LR you added).
I wouldn't get discouraged about buying new LR again though, simply be prepared. Do a water change when the LR arrives and place your removed water into a large plastic container, add a heater and a powerhead and throw in the rock. this way the LR can cycle in the plastic container without effecting your display tank and your animals.
Recommended by someone who learned the hard way

 

[mr . salty]

How small is this tank??? It just seems strange that only TWO LBS would screw up your tank that bad...A mini cycle usually refers to a couple days or a week at most.Yours sounds more like a full blown RECYCLE...Something smalls fishey here,and not just your water...