The most important (and most difficult to follow) lesson I've learned in keeping NPT tanks is patience. If things aren't going the way you want, don't rush to change water or add chemicals or move fish around, unless plants and/or fish are being seriously hurt. In your case, high ammonia and nitrite, at least at those levels, are not going to harm (and in fact would be beneficial to) plants, though certainly harmful to fish. Since you don't have any fish in the tank, the best thing to do is to test the water every couple of days. Once the ammo and nitrite register at zero, then you're ok to begin adding fish.
-ricardo |