Sorry that you lost your fish.
Is it possible that there are bacteria remaining in the substrate that are processing the ammonia? I find it very hard to believe that a single plant can process all this ammonia by itself.
So you're adding 30ppm of ammonia. Your test kit may simply not be able to cope with such a high reading, it's quite common for test kits to read zero ammonia when the actual level is off the scale.
Come to think of it, 30ppm of ammonia would probably kill any bacteria that you did have anyway. I would try a complete water change, add 0.3ml to achieve 3ppm ammonia and test again.
Is it possible that there are bacteria remaining in the substrate that are processing the ammonia? I find it very hard to believe that a single plant can process all this ammonia by itself.
I put about 3ml in, when the calculator only calls for 0.5 for 5ppm
So you're adding 30ppm of ammonia. Your test kit may simply not be able to cope with such a high reading, it's quite common for test kits to read zero ammonia when the actual level is off the scale.
Come to think of it, 30ppm of ammonia would probably kill any bacteria that you did have anyway. I would try a complete water change, add 0.3ml to achieve 3ppm ammonia and test again.