nitrite is way off the charts

[DylFunk]

so my nitrite color chart only shows up to 5 which is a dark magenta so recently it keeps getting even further off. first it went past the magenta to a very dark purple, then it changed to an almost clear color, then it changed to a light olive green, and now its at a brown. I'm not sure what it is exactly but i'm sure its fairly high. i've tried doing water changes, but even when i did a 95% water change, to where the water level was under the gravel, it only took it down to a 4-5. i dont know if i should just keep adding ammonia and let it spike or try to keep it at a resonable level.

P.S. i am fishless cycling

 

[smithrc]

sounds like a test error - how old is the kit?

Most have a date on them somewhere - it might have been sat on a shelf for a long time before you bought it