Thanks so much for all the info. At this point, I still have a decent reading of nitrates (5.0) but for over a week now I can't get ammonia to stop climbing. I'm still doing water changes using prime to condition. I obviously have bacteria since I have nitrates.
Fish are showing no signs of stress at all, which I know is good. I just can't wrap my head around why the bacteria isn't decreasing the ammonia.
I know I am not over feeding. I give them a single tiny pinch of flakes once a day.
I rinsed my filter media in the dirty water that I siphoned out and when I put it back in the filter I had white stringy stuff floating around in the tank. Is that my bacteria!?
No, that's something else. Or at least not your nitrifying bacteria. These colonise your filter but can't be seen.
What's the white stuff look like? Is it getting worse?
What is ammonia now?