exceedingly cloudy water and high ammonia

Question
Wow, my fish may not have three days, but I hope you can help me.  I am a newbie to aquarium keeping.  I purchased a small 5 gallon tank (yes, I realize this was the first of many errrors) for my kids for Christmas and am having a terrible time keeping anything alive.  I am about ready to forget the whole thing.  I started off with 4 cichlids(another mistake) and they all died during the first attempt at cycling.  I kept the tank as it was when the last cichlid died and followed the ammonia and nitrite untile the levels dropped to zero. (I also had no idea what cycling was- another mistake of which I have become fairly educated )  Once the levels dropped to zero we purchased 2 one inch panda corys.  they hve been in the tank for approx. 2 weeks now.  I have religiously been following the ammonia, pH, nitrite and nitrate levels.  All had been fairly well.  I had been adding "Cycle" to the tank to aid the bacteria, and I have only been feeding the fish every other day.  The water has become increasingly cloudy.  The first water change I did ( 1 gallon) was on Sat. one week after purchasing the fish and adding them to the aquarium.  As the ammonia level has been rising over the several days I have been adding "ammo-loc" to the tank also (as per recommendation on the bottle).  The ammonia level was at 1.0 last night and my husband and I decided to do another partial water change. We exchanged 1 1/2 gallons of water last night and treated the tank with "Amquel+", a dose of "cycle"(appropriate for our size tank) and 1/2 tsp of aquarium salt.  This morning the water is so murky/cloudy I can barely see the fish.  My ammonia level has skyrocketed to 3.0.  Is this a normal part of the cycle?  Have I added too much bacteria?  What should I do and how can I save my fish?  If these end up dying I think I will quit.  

Answer
Hello,

Cloudy water usually indicates a bacterial bloom, and a bacterial bloom can also cause high ammonia levels. What has likely happened is the waste breaking down has caused an extreme growth of bad bacteria, as well as high ammonia levels.

The trick with cloudy water is persistance. It will not necessarily clear up over night. You should began changing 15% of your water everyday. This will help control ammonia and bacteria. You should add a little bit of Cycle with each new bit of water you add, as it is a very beneficial product. Also make sure you treat your water with a chlorine remover if necessary.

It would also be a good idea to syphon your gravel. Unlike changing the water DO NOT do this everyday or else your beneficial bacteria colonies will never have an oppurtunity to grow. Also, do not clean your filter during this crisis. We want as much good bacteria as possible.

As a final note, it is actually better to feed your fish everyday instead of every two days. Fish get hungry too. The trick is to remember to only feed them what they can eat, keeping in mind that their stomachs are about the size of their eyeballs. You can feed them only once a day if you prefer, but I would definitly recommend doing it every day.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Stephanie