yet another cycling question... sorry

Kholguin

Hello everyone. My 75 gallon tank has been converted to a freshwater tank (started on December 31). I put some cycle "jumpstarter," some prime, and then added 12 small.fish the next day (I know that it is not the best thing to do... I gave in to my kids' pestering). I had not had any ammonia readings at all, so.I thought that perhaps there was enough biological matter in the tubing, (which I didn't clean out), the plants (I added 5), or the old, dried out sand that has been in my garage (it was live sand at one point). Today I see that the ammonia is starting to rise, so.I guess the cycle is starting. My question is, what should I do now to keep the cycling process going while keeping my fish comfortable at the same time? Should I be doing water changes (when I cycled my saltwater tank I was told to not do any changes)? If so, how much and how often? Thanks.

75 gallon tank
sand substrate
5 mollies
2 guppies
3 tetras
2 platies
5 plants

Nubster

50% daily or whatever it takes to keep ammonia <.25ppm and strap yourself in for a long cycle.

Kholguin

Rats!! You would have thought I would remember these things from years of seahorse keeping. Should I add anything to the water (like prime, for example), or would that just mess things up even more?
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Nubster

Do it just like you would a regular water change. Untreated water could be bad for the fish as well as the bacteria you are trying to get colonized, if you have chlorinated water that is.