tonyh67 said:
You might want to add some filter media and/or substrate from an established tank to jump-start the process. This works well in my experience.
Yea I did that. I think it helped the ammonia to start dropping right away, but thats irrelevant now.
I think the problem is that I am bad at reading the colors on the API cards. I have a feeling I was thinking the levels were a lot lower than they really were and therefore I was adding ammonia when I shouldn't have. I probably pushed the ammonia levels too high. I left it for a few days and it finally started dropping again.
It sounds stupid but I really have the hardest time matching the solution to the color card. Maybe its like some kind of color blindness? Now I just have someone else read it for me. It amazes me how fast everyone else reads it. I have to analyze it in 5 different lights, and even then I still can't tell. I am also letting it drop lower before I add ammonia to avoid the same problem again. I am going for between 2-4ppm, and I let it drop to 1ppm before I add ammonia - since 0ppm and 1ppm are the only colors I can easily distinguish.
The good thing is my nitrates are rising so I am pretty sure the media from the established tank got my nitrite to nitrate cycle going, now I just need to wait for the ammonia to nitrite cycle to finish.