Nitrites

[britnicole1724]

If you are not going to stock many fish not carelessly feed them, it seems like you do not need to wait much longer. Also, the amount of toxic smmonia in your system is 5-10% of the total ammonia concentration, which is what you measure with ammonia test kits. Keeping the pH at 8 or below will keep the proportion of toxic ammonia lower, a nice insurance policy. You can target the “ perfect“ pH and nitrate level later.

Our pH has actually been 8 on the dot all week with no fluctuation

 

[Spare time]

Its fine just let the nitrite drop. Some nitrate tests are not accurate when nitrite is present. Nitrite can cause issues, but you shouldn't have the ppm to make it an issue

 

[Spare time]

I’m not trusting Dr Tim. I got 3 bottles of bacteria and none of them worked. Added Fritz turbo and immediately saw results. Just had a bad experience with it

That is probably a shipping issue and not a manufacturer issue.