Re: cycling problems
Simpte already beat me to it, but as he mentioned, your initial ammonia level was way too high. In fact, it might have damaged your bacteria to the point they can't function.
My suggestion, now that your ammonia is down to a manageable level, is to add more bacteria.
What brand did you use, by the way?
"Stability" and "Bio-Spira" are the only two brands currently on the market which actually work.
When you say you had a little problem and wound up with an empty tank, what do you mean? Did you have a disease prblem? Did you use any medicine to combat it, which may also have contributed to your inactive bacteria?
By the way, it's entirely possible that you don't have any problems at all with your bacteria. Instead, things may well be working very, very well indeed, and the reason you find no nitrite is that it's getting converted to nitrate as fast as it's being made. Come to think of it, this is the most likely situation.
Stop adding ammonia. If it drops to zero while your nitrate goes up, then your tank is fine and fully cycled. Do a water change to reduce the nitrate and add fish.
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