Some have claimed the cycle stalls with ammonia too high..
What is too high? I know several who used the fishless method that you added ammonia daily after getting 4 ppmm [the same amount originally added to get 4ppm] until you saw nitirtes then cut dose in half or kept it the same but only added every other day.
While I have heard others who say once over 5-8ppm it will take much longer ?
I know Caliban had a conversion for ammonia to nitrite and according to that you are going to get like 3-4ppm[ I think ,maybe even higher] nitrite per ppm of ammonia so going high can have lasting slowed effects with all the nitrites that will need to be processed also ...
I am old enough to have cycled fish in regularly and fishless with fish food !
We used to just pretend we were feeding our invisible fish and the tank would cycle without any water changes till the end as dylanp said..
I cycled my 75 g marine in one month only testing when the month was up !
That tank is 4-5 years old easy and many of the fish originally stocked after the cycle are still in it ...
Being patient and not having calendar goals is a big mental health crutch in cycling IMO...If you are in a hurry get some seeded media to add or possibly even try using one of the bottled bacteria.
Dr.Tims One and Only and Tetra Safe Start [TSS] are the two best trusted ones...
I would if cycling new do an ammonia fishless with the bacteria added...I have read of people [I know] who stocked their 75g in one week with out issue using this method...