switched from strips to liquid test resuls are odd

Here is a picture of the tank..i know this doesnt help at all in diagnosing my problem but i really just eant to show it off to other fish keepers and get some feed back.

My normal routine is about a 25% change every week. Then the 4th week i do 50% and do a thorough cleaning and rinse my polyfill filters in the water i take out. But with the trace ammonia i have been doing more numerous wcs every other day to try to conbat it. Was that the wong line of thinking?

I am using api stress coat plus as a conditioner. Nitrites are 0 with almost no nitrate after the water change today.i know GBRs can be very sensitive so as long as he is not stressing or anything i should be okay right?

If you're using 'Prime' it'll give you a false positive on ammonia, when using the API test kits....check your nitrites and nitrates....if no nitrites and a trace/low reading nitrates..you're good to go...

Oh sorry i missed typed the ammonia is readin a littke lighter shade than .25 so just above 0 but still there non the less. Its a 55g with fake plants the pool filter sand is right about there about a 1/2 inch to 3/4inch . I am not doing huge changes about a 5 gallon bucket. As for the A.borrelli i know they are a peaceful cichlid . I was going to add a pair of them and a pair of A. cacatouides. And i ordered new lights from dr. Foster so i can begin adding live plants over the next year. I have sone big plans as you can see. Lol ohhh water hardness is about 190

So i have started to take my aquarium much more seriously over the last year. Over a week ago i changed from gravel substrate to sand substrate. I decided to buy the api kit so i could more accuratley test my water. Now i keep getting an ammonia reading between 0 and 2.5. My German rams and Angels dont seem to be feeling any ill effects and i been doing water changes almost every other day. I have bio wheels and all my other parameters are fine 0 nitrite hardly any nitrate with so many WCs . Do you think maybe its just my eyes or maybe the lighting in my house. Its really baffling me. I am supposed to be picking up a pair of borrelli apistos next week and dont want to put them in any danger because of the ammonia. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.