[melbadog1]

So there is a long back story here, but I uneducatedly ended up with a very overstocked 75g tank with no cycling. I'm learning as I go here....

I'm currently experiencing a major ammonia spike (was up to 8ppm). I did about 4 days of 20-30% water changes before doing a 50% water change last night, and about a 70% change today. I've also removed some of the fish and placed them in another (already cycled) tank.

My question is, how often should I be doing water changes, and how much tank water should I be changing???

Also, I've fasted the fish for 2 days. Should I continue to fast them, or is it safe to feed them a small amount? I've got flake food and algae wafers (I have cories and a bristlenosed pleco). Can I use both types of food in small doses?

 

[sprmankalel]

You should be using something like Seachem Prime or API AmmoLock to detoxify the ammonia. This will make it available for the beneficial bacteria but less to non-harmful to the fish. You should think about re-homing some of your fish to get it so it is not overcrowded. This will help with ammonia and stress as well. You should be doing at least daily water changes of probably 50% each time adding your AmmoLock or Prime to detoxify that ammonia.

Don't worry. I think this is how we all learned about the nitrogen cycle and establishing the tank. Nobody at the stores, especially the chain stores, tell you about the cycle and how to stock your tank.

What kinds of fish do you have? Let's make sure that they all can live together while we're at it.

 

[edman2012]

Do you have any plants? Plants absorb ammonia, and with several of them you can eliminate it or reduce it significantly. In my tank I never managed to record any levels while cycling, although everyone's tank is different. However if you do want plants, you should take the above suggestions.
I suggest feeding your fish, just remove any uneaten food.