Ammonia rise?

[KelliZackMOM]

Is it normal to see a little bit of an ammonia spike after adding 1st fish? :cry: I am about to cry! I just tested water and got:
Ammonia 0.25-0.50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40( was at 20 yesterday)
PH 8.0
I have been so happy with how my tank has been coming along the past week and now to have this happen a day after I get my 1st fish that I have my heart set on actually surviving now that I am doing my best to do things right. My heart is breaking already even though my fish seems to be doing well. I just feel like the doom is coming.

 

[little_fish]

It can be be normal after adding any fish to the tank, just do a water change and dont totally panic

 

[Bifferwine]

It sometimes happens, especially if you don't start off with enough live rock or didn't cycle the tank ahead of time. What's happening is your tank didn't have enough bacteria in it to break down the new fish's wastes (or maybe even the food you are feeding it). So the ammonia spiked, but it will drop down again as the bacterial population grows.

Don't panic! Don't worry! It is probably going to be a small spike. You can do a water change to try to bring the levels down a bit. Also, be very careful not to overfeed the fish.

 

[KelliZackMOM]

Whew! Thanks guys! I felt like such a failure last night, but I think we are all good today. I checked ammonia a little bit ago and it was back to 0. I got some water mixing/heatng now so I'm gonna check everything this evening again and probably do a small water change. I'm probably just being a little OCD with checking my water as much as I do.