Dude,I have to jump in here.let me first say I am not anywhere near an expert but can only tell you what I did.If you remember I was looking for some filter media to seed my tank the other night,I was in the same position as you only I was doing a fishless cycle.I too was getting very inpatient
A little over two weeks my tank was running with pure ammonia added up to 5 ppm like suggested,everyday for over two weeks I would check ammonia,rite,rate,nothing ever changed,over two weeks dude ,no change
never added more ammonia because it never dropped
Yesterday,I go to my local Petco and buy a small piece of driftwood for $4.69 out of the healthiest tank I can find.I didnt care what it looked like,I just cared that the tank appeared to have healthy looking fish.anyway......
I get home,plop it in the tank,couple of snails appear,so what,at least I have life in there right
24 hours later,bang,ammonia going down and nitrates up to about 10,still no nitrites,never did,not sure whats up with that
BTW,I just rechecked all tests before I wrote this to be sure I knew for sure what was going on
I used an API liquid like most do,and yes I had checked my tap water before and no nitrates ever showed up
I'm sure this will cause some conversation,but take it for what its worth,Good luck Man