Whats wrong with my tank ? help!

[avbryce1]

ok my tank has been up and running for about a month and a half now i had a little bit of an ammonia prob 0.75 on sunday and my nitrates were a little high like 3.5 i did a 50 % water change and tested it monday morning and all was great
i tested this morning and i got this.......
ph/8.2
ak/norm
nitrite/0.1
nitrate/2.5
ammonia/0.25
what am i doing wrong?
i have a false perc and a royal gramma
2 mexican turbos
1 hermit crab
and about 6 lbs of lr

 

[nacl-man]

When were the fish added?

 

[bigarn]

Is this a 10 gallon? What kind of water did you use for the change? What is the salinity reading?
You can use more LR and a bigger clean up crew. How often and how much do you feed them?

 

[avbryce1]

I used r/o water, yes it is a ten gallon the royal gramma has been in a few weeks and the clown i added monday afternoon i dont remember what the salinity was but it was right in the middle of the safe zone. also the hermit crab is pretty big for the tank im thinking about taking it back and getting a bunch of little ones

 

[bigarn]

I think the problem could be more live rock for natural filtration....plus the fact you have a ssmall clean up crew. The first spike could've been because you were nearing or marginally exceeded the Bioload of the tank. The second spike occurred after you added the second fish......Probably exceeded the Bioload. Get snails and more hermits ( red legs ) and a cleaner shrimp. Also if you don't have a powerhead, get one.....you need to have good water circulation.
Also don't overfeed. HTH