Cannot manage ammonia levels

[Garrett]

I have been keeping track of my amonia levels for the past couple days and have had the tank set up for almost 2 weeks and yet the ammonia levels stay in the 4-8 ppm range even directly after a 50% water change. What am i doing wrong? I assume the ammonia is suppose to steadly decrease as the tank gets the bacteria set up but i am worried 8ppm seems dangerously high.
The tank itself is about a 50gallon tank with 8 convict ciclids in it everything was cleaned under hot water prior to setup. Unsure of the filter brand but i can attach a picture if it helps

 

[Colin_T]

Just clarifying, you have a 50 gallon tank that has been set up for 2 weeks and has 8 convict cichlids in, and the ammonia is 4-8ppm?

Ammonia levels should be kept as close to 0 as possible if you have fish in the tank. And if you are doing a fishless cycle you try to keep it under 4ppm. Depending on the pH of the water, if the pH is below 7.0 then that is why the fish aren't dead.

I would suggest doing a 90-95% water change now and then from tomorrow, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the ammonia and nitrite levels are on 0.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Only feed the fish a small amount once every second day until the filters have established.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence and do not clean the filter for a month.

You could take a sample of your tank water to the pet shop and ask them to test it for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH. Write the results (in numbers) down when they do the tests. Take your test kit in and check the same sample of water at the same time. If you get different results to the shop, one of the test kits has expired and needs replacing.