Fishless Cycling: Am I still on track?

[Hydro]

Here's where I'm at.

Days 1-15: Ammonia added at the beginning kept at 4 ppm during this period, nitrite and nitrate both 0 ppm.
Days 16-21: nitrite detected on day 16 (0.3 ppm) and climbed to >33 ppm (off scale) on day 21. Nitrate detected on day 18 at 10-20 ppm and climbed to >110 ppm (off scale) on day 21. Ammonia dropped to 2 ppm on day 20 so I began adding just a small amount each day.
Days 22-35: Even after adding ammonia each day, it always tested zero the next day. I took this to be a good sign. Nitrite stayed at >33 ppm and Nitrate at >110 ppm during this entire period. I didn't do any water change (just the occasional top up and always with "aged" water) except until day 35. My nitrate test kit says that readings may be off if nitrite is too high, so I changed about 50% of the water to try to bring down the nitrite.
Day 36 (today): Ammonia 0, and nitrite (>33 ppm) and nitrate (>110 ppm) are staying at the same high levels.

Am I still on track? The second stage seems to be taking so long (it's been 20 days since nitrite was detected). Is this unusual?

I'm puzzled by the high nitrate readings and yet nitrite is not going down. Should I keep adding ammonia daily (I've been adding only a few drops daily)? Should I continue my water change? If so, how often and how much? Is there anything else I should do?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

[OrionGirl]

I would continue adding ammonia--you have to keep feeding those bacteria! The bacteria responsible for consuming nitrites are typically much slower growing than those that consume ammonia. So, it takes longer for the colonies to get up to the needed size. Pretty normal!

[anonapersona]

I think the nitrate is too high. There is some maximum, I think it was 80, over that you mess up certain bacteria.

If I were in this spot I'd change enough water to get the nitrate doen to something reasonable, like 20 ppm. Keep adding the ammonia at the lower dose.

You are almost there, just waiting on nitrite to drop.

[aquariumfishguy]

Yes, you seem to be getting there. I agree with some of the about posters but we are glad to hear you have some readings period! While some bacteria can be harmed in this process, your readings are somewhat average so hang in there!

[Hydro]

Thanks all. I'm still adding the ammonia and I will do another water change tomorrow to get the nitrite and nitrate levels down a bit.

Patience I guess.