Tank is finally done-ish cycling!

[Qozux]

Hey everyone. So like many many others, I stocked my tank without knowledge of the nitrogen cycle. After about a month of doing everything I could to keep my fish healthy, I believe my cycle is just about done.
I tested my water tonight and got .25PPM ammonia, .5PPM nitrites, and 30PPM nitrAtes. Yesterday I was .75, 2, and 10. I did a 30% water change (I've been doing these every day for about 2 weeks) and then fed my fish and tucked them in for the night.
Any advice for what to do next? Should I keep testing and changing everyday or every other day?

Also, I may have lost a ghost shrimp today. I accounted for all 4 of them yesterday (not an easy task because they hide well) and today I could only find 3. There was a pretty hefty chunk of tail behind a decoration, and it appeared to have some meat in it, but I couldn't find any more of her :/

 

[Rivercats]

You need to continue doing daily water changes if needed. Anytime ammonia and or nitrites rise above .25ppm you need to do a big WC to keep fish safe as possible.

 

[Qozux]

You need to continue doing daily water changes if needed. Anytime ammonia and or nitrites rise above .25ppm you need to do a big WC to keep fish safe as possible.

Copy that! I will continue as I have been until they're at 0. I have been using a half cap of Prime and a half cap of Safe Start every water change since I realized the gravity of my mistake. I think I got close to losing a tetra or 2, they are GloFish, and their heads got kinda translucent. Broke my heart.

 

[Rivercats]

Wow you only need a little prime. That was an expensive mistake. Plus you only need to be using Prime.

 

[candymancan]

I always tend to go overboard with prime... I just don't see how a drop or two of it can actually help in xx amount of gallons.. So I always do like a cap full or two in my 55g after a 50% water change.. "its still cycling" when I do normal water changes I only put like 2-3 drops in my 2 gallon container though

 

[Qozux]

Wow you only need a little prime. That was an expensive mistake. Plus you only need to be using Prime.

Meh. Prime is relatively cheap. Now that it's done cycling ill cut back to only what it needs to dechlor. I knew my fish had been exposed to ammonia so I had to ensure it didn't get worse. Honestly I would have spent way more than the $20 I did making sure they would stay healthy.

I didn't start my fish hobby to save money