ammonia spike after adding cleanup crew, what can I do?

[niva]

Hi,
This is my first post here. I have been cycling a 30 gallon tank with 35 lbs. of LR for 4 weeks and just added my cleanup crew yesterday. Before adding the cleanup crew, ammonia was 0 and today it's .50ppm but the ammonia alert still says it's in the safe range. I noticed the water looked a little cloudy this morning as well. Is this normal? I'm worried about the cleanup crew with the ammonia reading. The rock from the LFS had been curing for quite some time before I purchased it.
Here is my tank information;
30 gallon
Penguin 125 biowheel filter
small powerhead for extra flow toward bottom
55 watt lighting
35 lbs of LR
1 1/2" SB
A small batch of caulerpa
readings,
PH 8.2
Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10ppm
SG 1.023
temp. 74 F

I don't think my ammonia test is off as it was reading 0 yesterday just before I added the cleanup crew. However, the ammonia alert says it's 'safe'...could the alert be off?
Here is what I added to the tank yesterday
1 very large, aprox. 8" brittle star
6 nassarius snails
6 astrea turbo snails
6 bumble bee snails
12 scarlet hermit reef crabs
4 peppermint shrimp

I lost a scarlet hermit crab...he may have been dead already from the transport but did notice the shrimp munching on him this morning.
someone suggested dropping in a few pieces of raw shrimp for them to munch on so I did do that last night and there was some leftover this morning so I pulled it out.

I'm concerned about the tank with the ammonia spike...if it was fully cycled would I still get this spike after adding this cleanup crew?
What should I do? Do you think the ammonia will keep rising? Should I do a water change? Does this mean my tank isn't cycled yet and I shouldn't add my fish?
Thank you for any advice you could help me with.

[ReelBigFish]

Heavy additions of bio loads will do that to your water. Do a water change. Let it cycle.

[jreefer]

Adding the raw shrimp, produces ammonia; the bactreia in your system was not ready to accept the increased bioload. It will adjust quickly and you should be fine. I would also recommend a water change.

[niva]

Thanks,
how much of a water change....10%?

[jreefer]

I usually do 10-20% when a reading concerns me, so I would do a 10% change and continue to monitor the ammonia,nitrites and nitrates. Are you using RO water? Good Luck.

[niva]

Yes I'm using RO water. Thanks for the tip. I'll do the change now. Does this set the cycle back? ...I was planning on adding my fish this weekend, should I put that off even if my ammonia gets back to 0 by then?
Thanks again!
Nicole

[jreefer]

That is a tough call. I typically add 1 fish at a time, or a mated pair in one species, then wait two weeks before adding another species or fish. Personally, I would wait a week, but other people will have differing opinions. Just remember, every fish you add will increase the ammonia and the system will take some time to adjust to the increase. Good Luck...