^^^ very true, my 52g spiked at 8.0( test only goes to 8, was not in cycle, had decaying plants I put off cleaning up) on ammonia, I lost all my neons, all my shrimp and a 2-3 guppies. ALl my other fish survived including angels( minus 1 I put her down thought it was septecemia again).
I always jsut fill my tanks, add the dechlor PRIME stuff, turn the heater on and turn the filters (seeded) on and add fish usually by the end of 48 hours with no remorse and no new tank deaths.
During time of tanks having no fish I do a pinch of food a day or 2ml by syringe when its frozen foods I am feeding the tanks. its just enough to keep the tank perfectly balanced.