Newbie with Red Cherry Shrimps, need help asap!

Day 11 (4/22):
Worked on my car and my hands were covered in grease and oil so I didn't bother testing the water.

Day 12 (4/23):
Ammonia - 1 ppm
Nitrites - 3.3 - 33 ppm
Nitrates - 10 ppm

Also added a little ammonia to keep the cycle going. I didn't retest the ammonia but I assume its approx. 2-3 ppm.
 
Day 13 and 14:
No water tests were done.

Day 15 (4/26):
Ammonia - approx .25-.5 ppm
Nitrite - 3.3 to 33 ppm
Nitrates - 10-20 ppm

Added some more ammonia to keep the cycle going.

Also since I didn't get any replies to the questions from anyone, for the past week, I have increased the time the lights are on from 8 to 12 hours to help with the Cyrpts setting in because leaves are still dying out. The Nana Petites had 2 leaves fall off as well. But due to having traces of hair algae, I've cut the photo period back down to 6 hours.
 
BB, it's normal, I think for plants to "melt" their current leaves when introduced into a tank. They need to grow new leaves that are suitable for the water perameters and lighting that makes up their new home.
 
Day 16 (4/27) and Day 17 (4/28): No water tests done.

Day 18 (4/29):
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrites - 3.3 to 33 ppm
Nitrates - 20 ppm

I added more ammonia to keep the cycle going. I hope it wasn't at 0 ppm too long where some of the bacteria died off.

Day 19 (4/30): No testing done. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to test.
 
Day 20 (5/1):
When I added ammonia on 4/29, I believe I added enough for about 2-3 ppm. Todays water parameters are:
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrites - 3.3 to 33 ppm
Nitrates - 20 ppm

I added a little more ammonia then I added on 4/29 because I don't know if I will have time to be working with my fish tank the next couple of days. Last 2 weeks of school an finals are consuming all my time.

Should I expect the Nitrites to drop to zero randomly as well?
 
Day 21 (5/2):
Only tested for ammonia since I need to devote the entire day finishing a book...

Ammonia was around 3-4 ppm yesterday (after adding more ammonia) and dropped to about 1 ppm over night. I added more to 4-5 ppm since I won't be around tomorrow. So I assume it should last me until Monday.
 
I have not been able to test the water parameters from 5/3-5/7 because I don't even have time to eat cause I've been studying and taking finals nonstop. This weekend I have a few hours to relax and do some water testing before I study nonstop all next week again. I have been adding ammonia every 1-2 days to keep the cycle going. Sadly I haven't been able to test to see how much I've been adding so my recent tests are wacky as hell.... =|

Day 27 (5/8):
Ammonia - 8 ppm
Nitrites - 3.3 to 33 ppm
Nitrates - 10 ppm

I can figure out how the ammonia shot up so high because there is dead plant matter in the aquarium and I've been adding 2-5ml of ammonia every 1-2 days to keep the cycle going. But before I stopped testing last week, the Nirates were building up and I was thinking my cycle was near the end as soon as the Nitrites disappeared. But is it possible for Nitrates to drop from 20 to 10 ppm with NO water changes and only topping off the aquarium?

Hopefully I can test more often when my finals are over next week and I the aquarium will finish its cycle and stabilize itself out.
 
I also noticed that I think my API Ammonia and Nitrate tests are expired? I remember reading the Q-tip threads about reading the lot numbers and the last 2 numbers on them are 07 and 08 assuming they expired in 2007 and 2008 but I bought these during my cycling process from bigal's and petco which is odd.

What are the chances of this affecting the results of my fishless cycle?
 
the nitrates will drop from the plants using it. so if you have been going a few days in between doses they may have used it all cause none was being produced. hard to tell with out daily tests and dosing. i have a bucket that i keep bio media in with a foam filtered power head and when i get a few days where i have to skip dosing it tends to make the bacteria reduce to where i have to work back up to the 4~5 ppm in 24hr dosing capabilities. i would guess where your nitrates were rising before you had to start skipping multiple days your bacteria is just dieing off to a lower dosing level and as soon as you can get back to more regular doseing it will stabalize.

as for the age of your test kit the date is the date of manufacture and i think the minimum life is three years so you should still be good.
 
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