Help! Man I Messed Up!

[NewbToFish]

Alrighty, so I have a Biocube 14g, protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, and about 14 lbs of LV. I have had this tank set up for about a year now. I didn't know much and its been a long road since then, changing sand, researching why some of my invertebrates died. Point is I kept my bioballs in since then, yesterday i read it can effect nitrate spikes so what do I do? I Took about 1/2 of the balls out yesterday. I don't have any LV rubble atm to replace but I wanted to slowly get them out. Checked water today, EVERYTHING HAS SPIKED, Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia, etc. Currently my stock is 10 Astreas, 2 Turbos, 5 hermits, 2 Small Green Chromis, 1 clown, and soft corals(Common hardy ones. I don't know what to do? Will everything die? Should I put them back? How can I fix it?... Help please!

 

[-Nemo-]

Are you sure it was the removal of the bio balls that caused this?
Did you check the levels previous to removing them?
How often do you normally do water changes on the tank?

And finally, please post your levels here.

 

[NewbToFish]

I don't exactly know for sure but thats the only thing that could make a huge impact like this.
My tank rarely gets dirty and its pretty basic, I do about 15% every 2-3 Weeks.

Before bio ball removal the stats were (Write them down):

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrates:15 ppm
Nitrites:0.0 ppm
PH: 8.3
Gravity: 1.023
(Not including random spikes killing some invertebrates)

After
Ammonia:2.0 ppm!!!!
Nitrates:160 ppm (That can't be right!)
Nitrites:1.0 ppm
PH: 8.4
Gravity: 1.022

I mean I checked out difference sources and posts to make sure Id be able to keep it stable it seemed like a good idea.

 

[-Nemo-]

Generally it's good to remove them slowly otherwise spikes can happen. Since they've been out of the water for a day and you most likely cleaned or rinsed them off anyways, adding them back wouldn't do anything.

Do a nice big water change 5-7G for now. It seems very odd to me that the levels would spike THAT much in one day... Test the levels again tomorrow and go from there.

Hope all ends up well. Small tanks can be tough

 

[NewbToFish]

Thanks for the help, I will get on it right away. I was shocked when I saw that I mean something must have gone wrong. Also if anyone has some tips on creating a good live rock filter system (More than what i have i mean), or what I should use the bio ball space for? I'll open a different topic in nano tanks to post picture once I have this resolved!