Ammonia high? Day one

[fishlips12]

Okay finally after months of prep studying and research I finally got water in the darn tank and the system is currently running for the first day.I only have the PS and return pump running.

70# LR
4"DSB
55G
25G sump

Here were my water conditions this morning. Ionly checked the following

temp 75F
SG 1.023
Ammonia 4.0 ppm

So for the ammonia is this normal to be so high ? I though it would creep up to such a level. What I think is that I did not scrub the "cured" LR( that I got in the mail.)

Am I okay what do I need to do if anything?

 

[BillyZ]

for day one it may be a little high but it in and of itself isn't too high.

how much black colored material was on your LR when you got it? If there was a lot you should scrub some of the black material off (black usualy = dead)

did you add anything to the tank (such as a shrimp) to kick start the ammonia? if you did, you can remove it if the ammonia starts to sky rocket.

I would tweak your thermostat up to 80.

keep testing, be patient... it's a long road but we're here to help.

 

[fishlips12]

Reply thanks Billy Z . I found one rock that had a clump of black stuff and scrubbed that off , but the majority of rock looked okay. But heck what do I know. I did not add a shrimp but do plan to add a little LS this weeked. I also have not started measuring the other things yet. Should I ( PH nitrate and nitirites).?

Thanks again

 

[BillyZ]

it's probably not a bad idea to at least check for the next step in the cycle so you can see when it starts to climb. It may go up before the ammonia disappears (although you do want the ammonia to disappear)