Ammonia levels are so high

[Mc96928]

I've been running my tank off of testing strips and when i found out they're ineffective i went out and bought an ammonia testing kit, and a few others. My ammonia is 2ppm. I did a 20% water change second day of siphoning the gravel and it goes down for a bit and comes back up. I am currently feeding them every few days. And keeping it to a minimum because i know that can become a problem is overfeeding. If someone could help that would be great

 

[jlk]

Good job getting a proper test kit! Unfortunately, your tank is not cycled and likely will never properly cycle with the current stock. The best thing you can do are water changes. 50+% at time until you are able to bring the ammonia level down to .25ppm or less. Right now, this will mean multiple wcs over the course of one day then you will likely need to continue daily (or more frequent) 50+% wcs until you are able to get them moved to a bigger tank. Prime will help to detox ammonia up to 1ppm (this is considered high) between wcs but will not remove it- only wcs can do this. Make sure you temperature match and properly condition all new water.

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice