Ammonia Question

[drkegel]

I'm a newbie to this hobby, but did about 3 weeks of reading on this board, and also ina couple books before buying my 55 gal tank. I filled it on Sunday, and have a wet/dry filter system running, and used crushed coral as my substrate. I want to use it as a fish only tank. I tested the water after two days, and all the levels were fine, except the ammonia was a little high. I checked it again last night, and the ammonia level sky rocketed, and I didn't do anythign to the tank. Is this normal? What's a good way to get the ammonia levels down?
Thanks.

 

[mr . salty]

Your tank is starting to CYCLE.This is absolutly normal.For more info about the cycle,type it into the search box...

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Mr. Salty is rarely wrong - your tank will then have a major increase in Nitrites.
Just to add my two cents - almost every person on this site agrees that sand vice crushed coral is a better substrate for detritus reasons (cynanobacteria) pockets of bacteria growing areas. This will cause nitrate (and I know it does because I have crushed coral substrate and my nitrate level is a constant struggle). I am planning on removing my crushed coral soon.
Hope this helps
Brewski