Like I said, the best place to put stability is in your toilet.
The need to deal with ammonia is not a universal response. What matters is how much of the ammonia in a tank is in the form of the gas NH3. However most of the total ammonia in a tank is due to ammonium NH4 which is way less toxic.
The way to deal with ammonia in a tank over the longer term- more than what is measured in days, is by having the bacteria reproduce. it does his when there is more ammonia than what one has already cannot use it all. The result is reproduction speeds up. Under optimal conditions the bacteria can double in about 8 hours. However, it is rare to have ideal conditions in a tank.
The point of cycling is to develop enough of the ammonia oxidizers to deal with the amount of ammonia the tank creates. Normally, this level occurs at the outset when there are very few of the needed microorganisms present. This is why we add 2 -3 ppms of ammonia when doing a fishless cycle. However, this is not how an established tank crates ammonia. Producing that 2-3 ppm takes 24 hours depending on the what is creating the ammonia. Mostly this comes from the fish. Every time a fish "exhales" it releases ammonia into the water. In addition, any organic waste as it is broken down also creates ammonia. This would include fish poop, uneaten food, dying plant or algae, a dead fish etc.
So there is a second way to reduce the amount of ammonia being created in a tank which is to reduce the sources. Stop feeding, remove dead fish and plants etc.
When there are fish in a tank and there is ammonia which is actually at a dangerous level, then we have to act. But we need to be aware of what is happening. When we change water that lowers the ppm of ammonia but it does nothing to reduce the creation of more ammonia. For that we need the n]bacteria to multiply. If we use ammonia detoxifier that also will reduce the amount of ammonia as NH3 but not the ammonium NH4 which may actually increase. But at lower levels and for shorter term only a few days, this may not be harming fish.
The bacteria can process NH4m but the do so less efficiently so they will be reducing the total ammonia levels more slowly. The bacteria work best when consuming NH3. So, when we use something like prime or other conditioners to deal with ammonia we are also slowing down how rapidly the bacteria will reproduce. So there is a trade-off between how fast the bacteria will reproduce to provide a permanent solution as opposed to how long fish might be exposed to a lowered level of NH3. Longer exposure to lower levels is still harmful.
In writing the 3 cycling articles on this site my goal was to do two things. The first was to protect any living things in a tank from being harmed or killed by the presence of ammonia, especially in the form of NH3. Elevated NH4 over time can still be pretty harmful or even fatal. But it takes a higher concentration of NH4 to cause harm than how bad NH3 can be.
The second concern is how the fishkeeper reacts. The last thing one should ever do is to panic. This often causes us to make bad decisions. If we do understand what is going on and the appropriate way to deal with things, we will likely make mistakes. So, the articles are intended to help folks who may not be sure of how to react to avoid reacting in a panic. Yes there are times when we must act quickly and in the right way, but staying level headed goes a long way to understanding what to do in any given situation.
The 2nr and 3rd cycling articles dealing with cycling issues when there are fish in a tank use pretty conservative levels of ammonia both for Total ammonia and for NH3 itself are designed to protect our fish and our "sanity" when we need to deal with ammonia.
Finally, there is rarely any need to change water for nitrite because using chloride will block that from even entering a fish. So we need not do the things we believe will protect the fish from nitrite such as dosing Prime or changing lots of water which will slow down the reproduction of the needed bacterial which will solve the problem for the longer term. Once inside a fish it takes a day or two for that nitrite to work its way out of the fish. And, if there is still nitrite in the water, it will continue to enter the fish. Chloride prevents this.
