Why won't my levels go down?

[Firsttimefishes]

Hi all, first time fish keeper and first time poster here. Apologies for the super long post. The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in our tank just dont seem to go down.
We have a 70l tank with 6 neons, 6 guppies and 4 panda corries that we purchased from maidenhead aquatics. We told them that we wanted to start small with minimal upkeep as we are complete novices. The chap we spoke to said the fishes mentioned were all fine to have with our tank. Before buying any fish he told us to buy the hydra pump to 'take away the guess work' of the levels in the tank seeing as we are newbies and told us with it we could get the neons the next day, even though I had read about cycling.... but we did. Que water testing and all seems to be ok with the paper tests for the first week. We then introduced the guppies and continued testing. Ammonia and nitrites were rising so we did a few water changes that week. Levels were ok on the weekend so we added the corydoras. We lost one straight away overnight. So we did another 50% water change. Levels ok for a day and then they skyrocket. Amonina and nitrite is at 1.5 and nitrate is 40pp on the api liquid tests. We did an 80% water change on tuesday and tonight we just lost another panda (no surprises really but sad nonetheless). I dont understand why our levels arent getting any better when we are water changing every other day! We are on week 5 of having our fish. Perhaps we should have waited before adding the pandas but the chap in the shop said they would help with keeping levels down.
What can we do to stop them from constantly raising? Are we destined to do water changes every day forever? I dont think we are over feeding, all the food does seem to eaten pretty quickly. I am beginning to feel like a bit of failure for not being able to control it.
Any practical advice would be much appreciated
Thanks in advance!

 

[Oblio]

Welcome to TFF!

First thing is to reduce feeding. Feed less, and less often. Skip every other day until your tank is cycled. Fresh treated water won't hurt the fish, and they won't starve but high levels of Ammonia and Nitrate will kill them. If need be, change 80% daily.

Read this:

Cycle Your Tank! A Complete Guide For Beginners

Fishless cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ Silent or plant cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/planted-silent-cycling.470400/ Fish-in cycling...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Firsttimefishes]

Welcome to TFF!

First thing is to reduce feeding. Feed less, and less often. Skip every other day until your tank is cycled. Fresh treated water won't hurt the fish, and they won't starve but high levels of Ammonia and Nitrate will kill them. If need be, change 80% daily.

Read this:

Cycle Your Tank! A Complete Guide For Beginners

Fishless cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ Silent or plant cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/planted-silent-cycling.470400/ Fish-in cycling...

www.fishforums.net

Hi all, first time fish keeper and first time poster here. Apologies for the super long post. The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in our tank just dont seem to go down.
We have a 70l tank with 6 neons, 6 guppies and 4 panda corries that we purchased from maidenhead aquatics. We told them that we wanted to start small with minimal upkeep as we are complete novices. The chap we spoke to said the fishes mentioned were all fine to have with our tank. Before buying any fish he told us to buy the hydra pump to 'take away the guess work' of the levels in the tank seeing as we are newbies and told us with it we could get the neons the next day, even though I had read about cycling.... but we did. Que water testing and all seems to be ok with the paper tests for the first week. We then introduced the guppies and continued testing. Ammonia and nitrites were rising so we did a few water changes that week. Levels were ok on the weekend so we added the corydoras. We lost one straight away overnight. So we did another 50% water change. Levels ok for a day and then they skyrocket. Amonina and nitrite is at 1.5 and nitrate is 40pp on the api liquid tests. We did an 80% water change on tuesday and tonight we just lost another panda (no surprises really but sad nonetheless). I dont understand why our levels arent getting any better when we are water changing every other day! We are on week 5 of having our fish. Perhaps we should have waited before adding the pandas but the chap in the shop said they would help with keeping levels down.
What can we do to stop them from constantly raising? Are we destined to do water changes every day forever? I dont think we are over feeding, all the food does seem to eaten pretty quickly. I am beginning to feel like a bit of failure for not being able to control it.
Any practical advice would be much appreciated
Thanks in advance!

 

[Oblio]

It is never a good idea to add too many fish at once, which seems to be the case here. Any BB (Beneficial Bacteria) in your tank is in balance with your bioload. If you add fish, the bacteria population needs to increase to handle the extra level of fish waste.

 

[Firsttimefishes]

Thank you Oblio, we will skip meals every other day and try the larger water changes daily.
Do we then feed every other day going forward when hopefully the levels even out? Or will that just cause them to spike again?
Best wishes

 

[Oblio]

Once the BB adjust and Ammonia/Nitrite are zero, you can feed normally.
Here is what happened when I added just 6 Black skirt Tetras to a cycled 125 gallon tank
I lost one of the fish on the second day. You can see the WC helped out and the BB started to multiply and drove Ammonia to zero. 125 g, 6 Buenos Aries Tetra, 9 Black Skirt Tetras, 8 Corys

 

[Oblio]

On Corys: Keep in schools of 6+ if you can, they will have less stress and are way more fun to watch

I'm not a stocking level or community tank expert, others can advise on that. Do you know your pH, GH and KH of your water as that may come into play?