Is my fishless cycle still on track?

Fishless cycle in my small tank.
My Untreated Tapwater is:
pH: 7.5 (API Master Test Kit)
GH: 180 (API Teststrip)
KH: 180 (API Teststrip)
Nitrite: 0 (API Master Test Kit)
Nitrate: 5 (API Master Test Kit)

Unless otherwise indicated, all tests were done using API Master test kit (liquid tests) (whose expiration date isn't until some time in 2026)

The cycle process began on Dec 17th.
The tank was filled with 2.75 gallons of dechlorinated water.
Heater set to 81 degrees F. (though the actual temperature has consistently run 83-85 F.
Tank contents include a piece of driftwood (that was leaching tannins before water change) and a couple of seashells, the rest is normal gravel and filter material. (plus loose sponges and filter material to seed for a larger tank when this is done)

I added a double dose (5.5ml) of vigorously shaken API quick start (doubled in hope of starting faster, water is fresh not salt).

I fed a 10% Ammonia Hydroxide solution via eyedropper until the Test kit read 4.0 ppm

Dec 19th:
Ammonia: maybe slightly less than 1.5 dosed to about 3.0
Nitrite: 0 - 0.25
Nitrate: 5
pH: 8.0

Dec 20th, near midnight:
Ammonia: ~4.0 (my prior dosing was probably higher than I thought - did not dose/feed ammonia.)
Nitrite: 0 - 0.25
Nitrate: no test
pH: ~8.1

Dec 21st, near midnight:
Ammonia: ~1.5 (did not dose/feed ammonia).
Nitrite: 0 - 0.25
Nitrate: no test
pH: ~8.1

Dec 22, 12:20pm:
Ammonia: ~1.5 (did not dose/feed ammonia).
Nitrite: 0 - 0.25
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Dec 23, 12:30am:
Ammonia: ~1.0 (dosed ammonia to ~3.0 after test).
Nitrite: no test
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Dec 23, 7:30pm:
Ammonia: ~2.0 (did not dose/feed ammonia).
Nitrite: 0 - 0.25
Nitrate: 5.0
pH: 8.2

Dec 24, 11:57am:
Ammonia: ~1.5 (did not dose/feed ammonia)
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: slightly more than 5.0
pH: 8.0

Dec 26, 1:34am:
Ammonia: 1.0 (dosed ammonia to 4.0 after test).
Nitrite: 0.25-0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Dec 27, 9:25pm:
Ammonia: slightly below 2.0 (did not dose/feed ammonia)
Nitrite: slighty above 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Dec 28, 7:32pm:
Ammonia: 1.0 (dosed ammonia to 2.0).
Nitrite: 0.5 - 1.0
Nitrate: slightly above 10
pH: 8.0

Dec 29, 8:43pm:
Ammonia: slightly below 1.0 (did not dose/feed ammonia)
Nitrite: slightly above 1.0
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Dec 30, 6:30pm:
Ammonia: 0 (dosed ammonia to ~1.5).
Nitrite: 0.5 - 1.0 (why did this appear to drop?)
Nitrate: slightly above 5.0 (why did this appear to drop?)
pH: no test

API Test strip test was done immediately after the above test on Dec 30
Nitrite: ~10 (why such a drastically different reading?)
Nitrate: ~80 (why such a drastically different reading?)
pH: 7.5 - 8.0
GH: 120-180
KH: 180+

Dec 31 9:04pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed ammonia to 2.0).
Nitrite: slightly above 0.5
Nitrate: 5 - 10
pH: no test

Jan 1st 10:44pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose/feed ammonia)
Nitrite: 0.5 - 1.0
Nitrate: 160+ (tested twice, test water was dark brown! This should not have jump that high)
pH: no test

Performed a 75% water change with dechlorinated tap water right after the above test and retested.
Ammonia: 0.5 -1.0 (did not dose/feed ammonia) (why did a water change make this go up?)
Nitrite: slightly below 1.0 (why did this appear to go up?)
Nitrate: slightly above 20
pH: no test

Jan 2nd 6:11pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed ammonia to 2.0).
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: slightly above 5.0 (tested twice, 2nd time after ammonia dosing. but had the same value. Why did this go down so much?)
pH: slightly above 8.0

API Test strip immediately after above test on Jan 2nd
Nitrite: 5 - 10 (why so drastically different?)
Nitrate: 40 - 80 (why so drastically different?)
pH: 7.5 - 8.0
GH: 180+
KH: 120

Jan 3 10:01pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed ammonia to 2.0).
Nitrite: slightly above 1.0
Nitrate: 5 - 10
pH: no test

The ammonia-eating bacteria appear to be well established, not sure about the nitrate eaters, maybe some? But why the heck are my nitrate tests so all over the place?

And just to put it out there:
The tank has no plant and no algae problems. Nothing that should be eating Nitrate.
I have been following the instructions and vigorously shaking bottle #2 and the test tube after adding it as per instruction on every test.

 

welcome to the forum . is the tank 2.75 gallons? what do you want to stock the tank with?

 

It said it is a 3.5 gallon tank on it's box, but it only contains 2.75 gallons of water (measured as I put it in), the rest of the volume taken up by the non-water tank contents, and my desire to leave room to not overflow the rim when I put my hand in there.

This is actually going to be a starter/quarantine tank while my 55g is going through a dry-start and to use it to seed filter media for it as well.

 

Welcome to Fishlore

We will try to get to the bottom of and try to answer your questions about unexpected readings. With just 2.75 gallons of water 4ppm ammonia was overwhelming it. What I would do at this point is an almost 100% water change. Once done run your tests to get a baseline reading for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. All should be close to zero. Now add enough ammonia to get it up to no more than 1ppm.

Run the test again in 24 hours. Compare the numbers to the previous readings. If you are seeing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites add enough ammonia to get it up to 1.5. If you are not seeing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites wait until both zero out. If it takes longer than 24 hours to zero out just add enough to get it up to 1ppm each time it goes down to zero

Once both zero out within 24 hours add 1.5ppm ammonia. And repeat the above until it zeros out within 24 hours. Once it does get the ammonia up to 2ppm. We want to get this tank up to where it is processing 2ppm ammonia through to nitrates within 24 hours.

Once it does you will have grown enough bacteria to help cycle your 55 gallon tank. the more media you have running in this tank the better it will be.

filter material. (plus loose sponges and filter material to seed for a larger tank when this is done)

What kind of filter are you running on this tank?

If I am understanding what you are doing, you are trying to grow enough bacteria to cycle your big tank. You mentioned having loose sponges and filter material in the tank. Some bacteria will grow on everything in our tanks but not as well as it will on the filter material in our filter or on a sponge filter. Bacteria grows better in an oxygen rich environment.

The readings you are getting can be explained if you don't have an actual filter running on this tank. We need water movement. We need to be pulling both ammonia and nitrites through our filters since that is where the most bacteria is going to be..

 

Thanks for the response.

I have not dosed Ammonia to 4.0 ppm since Dec 26th. I have only dosed Ammonia to 2.0 ppm since then when I tested it beforehand at zero.
I performed a 75% water change on Jan 1st as described above in the first post. (I cannot do much more than 75% in a single change w/out removing nearly everything to make room to get the last 25% of the water out)

I am running a filter in this small tank and have been since the beginning.

The filter I am running in this tank is the AQUANEAT Corner filter for up to 20g.:

I simply also have the blue sponge and filled media bag from my Tidal 55 loosely placed in the tank as well, merely to help seed it prior to future use. I will likely run the small filter in my 55g also (if I am not holding fish in the small one at the time) and run a fishless on the 55g as well when it is ready.


(this picture was taken at the beginning of the cycle)

My Ammonia has been reliably dropping to zero after dosing to 2.0 ppm for several days now as per my OP. My Nitrate levels have yet to fully fall to zero but appear to have gone up and down within a narrow range. My Nitrate readings are the ones that appeared to be wildly fluctuating and had vastly different values between API liquid test and strip test. (though Nitrite also had significant differences between the strip and liquid tests)

Extra info since it wasn't in the OP:
I am using Aqueon Water Conditioner to dechlorinate at 0.5ml per 1 gallon.
I did not temperature match the new water to the tank. I only have 1 heater so can't do so precisely but I can use hot water rather than cold on future changes.
I did not wait any significant amount of time after putting in the water conditioner before putting the new water in the tank.

 

vastly different values between API liquid test and strip test.

It seems your main question was why you were getting the different readings. Getting different readings when using liquid test and strips isn't at all unusual. This is why I normally recommend using one or the other. When both are used we don't know which one to trust. Personally I would trust the liquid test.

Sounds like you have everything under control and this tank is well on its way to cycled.

 

Alright I can ignore the test strip readings, but the main thing I am wondering about is the questions I inserted into the OP on the days I got odd readings, and those were with the liquid tests.

Why did my nitrite and nitrate appear to drop on Dec 30th compared to the prior readings on Dec 29th and 28th?

Why did I read a massive Nitrate spike on Jan 1st? This is what prompted me to water change.

Why after performing a 75% water change and immediately retesting did Nitrite appear to go up slightly? Was dropping to 20 Nitrate expected after a 75% water change that had a 160+ reading beforehand when my Tap water also has 5 ppm Nitrate reasonable or should it have lowered more or less?

Why after less than 20 hours did a 20ppm Nitrate reading go down to a near 5 ppm reading w/ no water change and no plants or algae consuming nitrate?

Why is my nitrite not managing to get down to zero despite seeing rises and falls to Nitrate? (Though not enough time has passed is a plausible reason)

Lastly, should I be doing anything differently beyond dosing to 2.0 ppm Ammonia when testing at 0, and waiting for the day Nitrite also tests at 0?

 

Though not enough time has passed is a plausible reason)

This is most likely why you are seeing what you are seeing. We will have ups and downs. Normally we won't know exactly why it is happening. Over time the numbers will level out and all you will see 24 hours after adding ammonia is nitrates.

Lastly, should I be doing anything differently beyond dosing to 2.0 ppm Ammonia when testing at 0, and waiting for the day Nitrite also tests at 0?

You are doing all you need to be doing at this point. Waiting is often difficult but it takes time. One day, I suspect it won't be much longer, things will balance out and you will see a true zero reading for both ammonia and nitrites.

One thing I will recommend. As long as the ammonia is dropping to zero within 24 hours, instead of adding ammonia each time it drops just add it every 48 hours. This will give the nitrite eating bacteria more time to catch up.

 

Reading today:
Jan 4th 8:55pm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 5
pH: no test
I will not dose Ammonia to see if Nitrite falls more by tomorrow.
I have to conclude that something has developed that is also eating Nitrate for it to be seen going down also. Not that that's bad, just unexpected.

 

Jan 5th 9:25pm
Ammonia: 0.25 (how did this go up after yesterday's 0 reading and no dosing?) I dosed it lightly this time to bring it up to 0.5 after testing.
Nitrite: 0.5 (no change)
Nitrate: 5 (no change)
pH: 7.8 (something made this drop a bit from my last reading on Jan 2nd)

 

Jan 6th 7:44pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5 (no change)
Nitrate: 5 (no change)
pH: 8.1

Jan 7th 8:22pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5 (no change)
Nitrate: 5 (no change)
pH: no test

With multiple days of no change, at this point, I determined my cycle was probably broken in some way due to no change and the fact that I noticed the Nitrite drops were immediately turning purple in the bottom of the glass before being mixed at all. Some internet searches later indicated this is a sign that Nitrites are actually so high they break the test. Most reports said that after 5 minutes it would pale to blue, but mine just kept paling to the 0.5 purple shade. I actually tested nitrite twice to pay attention to the color change after each drop during the second test. 1st drop immediately went to a dark aqua, 2nd drop to purple, 3rd drop to dark purple, 4th and 5th no further discernable color change. This is all before mixing. Once mixed and waiting 5 minutes, the color lightened up to light purple.

So I did a 92% water change and retested.
Ammonia: 0.5-1.0 (still not sure why this rises but suspect it is from dechlorinator acting on the chloramines in my tap water)
Nitrite: slightly more than 0.5 (this time all drops stayed aqua before mixing)
Nitrate: 5 (no change)
pH: 8.0

I had previously noticed an increase in nitrites after a 75% water change on Jan 1st so I suspect I also broke my nitrate tests back then for it to have go up even a little bit, but I didn't pay attention to the pre-mix drop colors of the nitrite test solution then. The only way it makes sense for nitrites to go up after a water change is if they were so high in the prior test that your test outright failed. Lesson learned: pay attention to the color of the drops of your tests when they hit the bottom of your test tube before mixing and note if they are out of the norm.

I still wanted to reset my numbers as best as I could, so I did another near 100% water change and pulled my tank apart. I did NOT clean or scrub the filter or items that were in the tank because I didn't want to lose any of the bacteria. I just set them aside temporaily. (though I chose not to replace the plastic plants because they were mostly in the way.)

After the 2nd water change, I retested: (1/7 11:21pm)
Ammonia: 0.5 (again suspect it is from dechlorinator acting on the chloramines in my tap water)
Nitrite: 0.25 (went down this time, and again all drops stayed aqua before mixing)
Nitrate: 5 (no change, my tap water is 5 so this is baseline.)
pH: 8.2

To double-check I tested my dechlorinated tap water that I had leftover that had not been put in the tank yet:
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrite: 0 (so the 0.25 from above is what the WC's could not remove)
Nitrate: 5
pH: 8.2

Did not dose ammonia again but will test in after 12 hours to see if either go to zero, or Ammonia goes to zero and nitrite rises) I also think any future ammonia does I will keep to 1.0 at most.

 

I think you are right about the ammonia you see is from the chloramines in your tap water. Both your ammonia and nitrate readings are there in your tap water. This is the main reason I recommend folks test their tap water. This gives us a base line reading.

I also think you have gotten things back on track by changing out so much water. This is such a tiny tank it doesn't take much to overwhelm it. Now that you have lowered the nitrites adding enough ammonia to get it up to 1ppm should get this cycle moving forward. You can gradually increase the amount of ammonia you add to grow even more bacteria. Once both ammonia and nitrite zero out increase it to 1.5ppm. When it processes through to nitrates within 24 hours increase it to 2ppm..

By increasing it very slowly you won't be overwhelming the tank before it is ready to handle it.

 

Jan 8th 12:00pm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.5-1.0
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test
So in 12 hours, the Ammonia went to zero, and Nitrites went up accordingly

Jan 8th: 11:25pm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.5-1.0 (no change)
Nitrate: 5 (same as baseline)
pH: 8.0

Still no drop in Nitrite, not sure how long I should try going without dosing Ammonia, I was hoping I'd see some bit of decrease. I haven't dosed Ammonia since Jan 5h and then wasn't very much. Since then, the only Ammonia source was whatever got generated into a 'safe' form by the dechlorinator from the water changes, and however long it lasted until reverting.

 

You can of course wait for the nitrites to finally zero out and maybe they will at some point but I still recommend you start feeding this cycle. Things got way out of whack to be begin with because you started this tiny tank out with 4ppm ammonia. Now that things are under control, feeding it should get things moving forward. I would get the ammonia back up to at least .5ppm each day.

 

Can you post a picture of your nitrite reading?

 

Still trying, nitrites still not dropping.
Jan 9th 12:30pm (12-hour nitrite check)
Ammonia: no test
Nitrite: 0.5-1.0 (no change)
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 9th 11:30pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed up to 0.5 after other tests)
Nitrite: 0.5-1.0 (no change)
Nitrate: 5 (same as baseline)
pH: no test
(got frustrated, added 5ml Aqueon quick start to try to re-seed after I did test readings)

Jan 10th 10:18pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose)
Nitrite: slightly less than 1.0 ?
Nitrate: 5-10?
pH: 8.1

(the color readings for nitrite at 0.5-1.0+ area always hard to tell, as is the Nitrate 5 and 10 colors)

Jan 11th (evening, didnt write down time)
Ammonia: no test
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 12th 9:21pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed w/ 4 drops up to 0.5-1.0 after other tests)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 5-10
pH: no test

Jan 13th 10:47pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5 - 1.0
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 14th 10:52pm
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5 - 1.0
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 16th 2:19pm (I missed testing on the 15th)
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 16th 11:48pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed 3 drops to 0.5 after other tests)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 5
pH: 8.2

Jan 17th 10:53pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5 - 1.0
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 18th 11:53pm
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: slightly above 0.5 ?
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 19th 11:50pm
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 20th 11:50pm
Ammonia: 0 (dosed 2 drops to slightly above 0.25 after other tests)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 5
pH: 8.1

Jan 21st 11:38pm
Ammonia: 0 (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Jan 22nd 11:38pm
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Nitrites are still not going down in any meaningful way, even while reducing amount of ammonia dosing trying to let them catch up. As said before the color gradations are difficult to ascertain so I don't even really trust my best guesses on a lot of these measurements. Nitrates seem to go down on their own slowly somehow but never below 5 (baseline from my tap water) and Nitrites have never gone below 0.5 on their own without water changes.

It has been 5 weeks and 2 days since the cycle was started.

I'll try to take a pic of the nitrate readings tomorrow. The light flash glares on the test tubes though so I never really like how prior photos have come out, and not using the flash makes it look too dim.

 

Since you are basically at a standstill it is time for an intervention. I recommend you change out most of the water. This should lower the nitrites to or very close to zero. Once you do the water change run ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests. Your ammonia should be .5 since you have chloramines in your tap water and your nitrates should still be 5ppm since that too is in your tap water.

Have you been adding any fish food to this tank? If not then I recommend you start doing so. For some odd reason liquid ammonia alone isn't getting this tank cycled. This thread will explain why I am recommending you start adding fish food. PSA: Something I am seeing more and more often, fishless cycling.... | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 477380

Get a fine mesh media bag. Put a teaspoon of fish flakes in the media bag. Hang it in the tank in the outflow of your filter. Add another teaspoon of flakes to the bag every third day.

Only add enough ammonia to get it back up to .5ppm each time it drops to zero. Don't do it any more often than every 24 hours though.This should get this cycle moving forward and should soon finish it up. By doing this you will be keeping both ammonia and nitrite bacteria well fed.

I fed a 10% Ammonia Hydroxide

One question. Are you 100% sure this ammonia is just ammonia in water? meaning no additives to make it smell better or clean better?

 

I am 100% sure it has no additives. I am using this: Ace Clean Scent Ammonia Liquid 32 oz - Ace Hardware

Click on specifications and the ingredient disclosure link and you will see only Ammonia and Water listed.

I've changed near 100% of the water previously already. I'll consider the flakes, but may give it a while longer, while I'm annoyed at the slow progress I'm not in a rush either, my bigger tank will remain in a dry start for a while anyway. I may get tests for other chemicals/minerals to see if anything else is missing. (I expect to need them in the future anyway)

Here is something interesting about the need for micro-nutrient requirements for Nictrobacter and Nitrosomonas

 

I don't need to click the link. I'm sure you did and you are sure you have the right thing. I always have to ask since once in a while someone discovers their ammonia has added ingredients once we get to the bottom of a problem affecting the cycling process. If I ask a question I am not doubting anything. I just need everyone on the same page. I need clarity before making recommendations.

Adding the fish food has worked for others that find their cycle seemingly stalled. The water change may not be necessary. I just like starting with a clean slate when doing something a bit different.

 

Like all organisms, nitrifiers do need a variety of elements, not only magnesium and phosphorus, but also nitrogen, sulfur, etc. (beyond the obvious carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen). A lot of these are readily available though, and arguably would unlikely be materially supplemented by adding fish food as that would more likely be consumed and utilized by non-nitrifiers.

Anyways when you can, please share a picture of your nitrite test. I have a feeling it may be far higher than 0.5ppm, which would explain why it is the same reading no matter what you do.

 

Jan 23rd 11:50pm
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Still no changes on the Nitrite test reading. Pictures included this time at different light angles, my eyes still interpret this as 0.5 or maybe a smidge higher.

Initial drop colors are aqua, but the last drop starts to hue purple at the bottom before mixing. Right after mixing for 5 seconds, the color matches the 0.25 reading then settles to the below color after 5 minutes. Pictures were taken while the vial was held in a vertical position in front of the color chart with the camera flash on.

 

Jan 23rd 11:50pm
Ammonia: no test (did not dose)
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: no test
pH: no test

Still no changes on the Nitrite test reading. Pictures included this time at different light angles, my eyes still interpret this as 0.5 or maybe a smidge higher.

Initial drop colors are aqua, but the last drop starts to hue purple at the bottom before mixing. Right after mixing for 5 seconds, the color matches the 0.25 reading then settles to the below color after 5 minutes. Pictures were taken while the vial was held in a vertical position in front of the color chart with the camera flash on.

I'll be honest, it looks more like 5ppm to me. Especially based on your description, whereby the color changed purple even before mixing. That indicates there is A LOT of nitrite.

There is one thing you can try. Try mixing something like 1 part tank water and 9 part tap water or whatever water that does not contain nitrite. Then measure nitrite of that. If it is still purple, then yeah your nitrite is super high.

 

did some dilution tests this morning. While it was higher than my guess of 0.5 it was not nearly as high as you guessed.

Left picture is 9:1 (90% untreated tap water, 10% aquarium water) I read this as between 0 and 0.25, closer to 0.
Middle is 1:1 (50%/50%) I read it as 0.5, while in comparison I can see it is less, it has to be in comparison. To me, the color difference on the chart for 0.5 and 1.0 just isn't enough to distinguish for me very well.

Right is 3:1 (75% tap water, 25% aquarium water) I read it as clearly 0.25.

This tells me my original was probably around 1.0ppm.

Is there a good photometer app for your phone that can translate phone pictures to digital readings for API tests? This color guessing is very annoying.

 

did some dilution tests this morning. While it was higher than my guess of 0.5 it was not nearly as high as you guessed.

Left picture is 9:1 (90% untreated tap water, 10% aquarium water) I read this as between 0 and 0.25, closer to 0.
Middle is 1:1 (50%/50%) I read it as 0.5, while in comparison I can see it is less, it has to be in comparison. To me, the color difference on the chart for 0.5 and 1.0 just isn't enough to distinguish for me very well.

Right is 3:1 (75% tap water, 25% aquarium water) I read it as clearly 0.25.

This tells me my original was probably around 1.0ppm.

Is there a good photometer app for your phone that can translate phone pictures to digital readings for API tests? This color guessing is very annoying.

Yeah, I agree with you here. My original hypothesis is off.

Still crazy though given this is the reading after you had done a close to 100% water change in the past.

Unfortunately I don’t know a photometer app for the test. :/ I too also always have to do (serial) dilutions to get a good guess.

 

Success! Amazing timing given I did the dilution tests above from the posts above this morning around 9 am. Just over 15 hours later got me from a 1.0 to a 0 nitrite reading. I did it twice just to be sure.

Jan 25th 12:39am
Ammonia: 0 -> 1.0-2.0 (5 drops, dosed after other tests so I can see how quick this goes down as a final test tomorrow)
Nitrate: 0
Nitrate: 10-20 (a clear and obvious rise)
pH: 8.2

I never added any fish food just waited the extra days.

Attaching pics of Nitrate, Nitrite, and post Ammonia dosing test images.

 

This is normally what we see. We think the nitrites will never drop and then one day we test and they are gone. This may not happen but don't get overly alarmed if you see them again now that you have added ammonia again.

 

I did another test this morning at 9:45am, so about 9 hours after the prior one where I dosed Ammonia again.
Ammonia reading was around 0.5-1.0, Nitrites still said 0, and Nitrate seemed to be a clear 20. I took a pic of the nitrate reading but cant upload atm. Will see how the 24 mark test tonight goes.

 

Jan 25th, 10:35pm (~22 hours since last ammonia dose)

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: slightly above 20.

I'll test nitrites again early tomorrow morning to see if they zero out again.
Not ready to stock yet so will probably dose (less) again in a few days. It's already probably more than enough for a single nerite snail. (one because I want to give it a month to see if it lays eggs and trade it out or keep it if its male)

 

Nitrite read 0 at 6:42 am today, so turned ~1.5ppm Ammonia to Nitrate in less than 30 hours, enough to call it done. Took 5 weeks, and 5 days. I think the bacteria starter helped for the ammonia eaters but didn't for the nitrite eaters based on other time estimates read about elsewhere.