Toxic ammonia

Hi i have african rift lakes, i have been having a problem with ammonia i have so far..
Cleaned the tank for 5 days 35% water change
Added Am gaurd every time
Added bacteria
Added zeolite to filter

My question is do i still keep changing the water up until the level is normal?

And is there anything else i can do to safely lower the ammonia?

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Day 5

How big is your tank and how many fish inside?

I think your water change is not enough.
You may need to change more, at least 70% or more until your ammonia drop to 0.
Usually the first 2-3 weeks are critical.

Also, as Colin oftens advise, reduce feeding to every alternate day.

Do daily water changes. This is the only way to remove ammonia

200 litre tank 23 cichlids and 2 plecos

Yes i have been doing daily water changes for the past 5 days and adding am guard everytime

You need to do bigger water changes and cut the feeding back. Remove the Zeolite when the ammonia gets to 0ppm otherwise it will stop the beneficial filter bacteria growing.

If you do a 30% water change you leave behind 70% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

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Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the ammonia is on 0ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Reduce feeding to 2-3 times per week. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean 4-8 hours after feeding. eg: feed them at night and water change in morning.

Thankyou for that information that is really helpful, i will do a 75% clean out tomorrow
And defiantly keep to that feeding schedule from now onwards

It seems like it is dropping

Bridget0101 said:

Thankyou for that information that is really helpful, i will do a 75% clean out tomorrow
And defiantly keep to that feeding schedule from now onwards

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Once the filter has established and there is no more ammonia or nitrite problems, you can increase feeding to once or twice a day and do a 75% water change and gravel clean once a week.

Great thankyou i will write this all down in my diary