Ammonia phase of a cycle in an unseeded tank typically lasts 2 weeks, perhaps longer. Bacteria can be effected by pH (less than 6.5 bad, less than 7 takes longer) and temp (78 to 85 is fine).
The fact that your tap water tests positive for ammonia is almost certain that you have chloramines in your water. That means you will need a good dechlorinator for when you have fish and do water changes. You also need dechlor now, for the cycle. The good news is that your tap water, when treated with dechlor, gives you 1 ppm of ammonia to start your cycle. The bad news is that your tap water will be an ammonia burden on your tank every water change. Chloramines stink.
How much ammonia did you put in? you need 0.34 ml of a 10% solution to achieve 1ppm in 10 gals. so, for a 30 gal tank, you need 1 ml of a 10% solution for 1 ppm. 4 ml gets you 4ppm. easy to remember, each ml gets you about 1ppm. A 10% solution from ace hardware will burn your eys, nose and any other membrane you get close to it. If you put way more in than 4 ml, this could explain why your efforts to dilute it are failing to get it down. A tsp is 5 ml, I think.