My ammonia is somewhere in the middle of zero and .25 ppm. It is clearly green though, so I leaning closer to .25, but for sure it's under .25.

Nitrites are zero, actually the blue liquid is lighter than the colors offered on the card. Whatever..

And my nitrates are at a -you guessed it- HEALTHY ZERO The yellow liquid matches the "zero" on the card so well I could puke. >:(

This tank has been running FOR OVER A MONTH. I have seen no signs of cycling! No attempts what so ever. It's becoming a real pain.

On top of that, my blue Oranda is still resting on the bottom more often than swimming happily about like her tankmate.

Is my tank TO clean or something? I'm getting angry!

I am moving this to the water quality section.

What size is your tank?
How many fish and how big?
Bare Bottom or gravel bottom?
How often do you water change and how much do you change?
Do you have a filter.. what kind?
Are you adding anything to the water?

Sorry, I should have put there in the first place.

It's a 20 gallon tank
2 fish, 1 is about 2-2.5 inches liong, the other is about 3.5-4 inches long.
Some gravel (it's bare in some spots)
I had been doing 30-50% water changes daily, then was told to cut back and do them every two two days (to see if that would kick start the cycling) So I am currently doing 30-50% water changes every couple of days. Unless there is an ammonia reading, then I change it right then and there.
I have a Whisper 20i (to small I know)
The only thing I add to the water is the chlorine remover (to the water before I add it in to the tank) and aquarium slat once in a while.

Is it possible that you are not getting the nitrate test processsed correctly? I have problems with mine - for the chemicals are not used in equal amounts. The second bottle of the AP test has a larger drop than the first bottle - and runs out sooner. I swear that the mix at the end is not quite right.

If you are using the AP test, remember to REALLY shake the 2nd bottle for 30 seconds - count it or time it, do not guess! - and then after the addition to the test tube, cap it and shake it again, vigorously, for 1 minute - timed.

I do not know why you are not seeing nitrAtes, but .25 ammonia is really a small amount - with the fish you have in that 20, assuming you are feeding them , if you did not have a cycle, your ammonia readings would quickly rise over 1-3ppm, not stay at .25ppm.

It is entirely possible that your cycle has developed slowly and gently - the nitrItes being processed at the same time as the ammonia - both types of bacteria deveoping concurrently. This is the best of all worlds in a tank cycling with fish.

Since you are always going to need to nitrAte test, if you have any doubts about it, you might consider getting another one to see if there is something wrong with the first. Then change change change that water - do not be afraid to change it out.

I have 3 tanks (30s and 20) that are obnoxiously sticking to about .25 or a bit under ammonia for weeks after their "cycle". To conquer this, I have added extra media for the beneficial bacteria to colonate in hopes that the larger colony of beneficial bacteria will grow to process that last little bit.....

Patience - it will get there..... honest!

When I first got my fish all they had was a Whisper 20i as well, and I think there is not a whole lot of places for bacteria to grow right off, just the floss and the carbon, if you have that in the Bio-bag and the sponge. If you can get some other media (ceramic rings, bio-balls, pea sized lava rock) and throw it in the back of the filter (although you can;t fit much there) or even put it in some nylons in the bottom of the tank it might help? Daryl is the expert here though, so she what she thinks about that, I just didn't know if she had ever experienced the Whisper 20i.

Also, on the offchance that you don't already know this, you don't want to be changing the filter cartridges every month like the box says. I only change mine when I absolutely have to (but my tank is way overstocked, where yours is fine), but every other week I pull the cartridge out and swish it around in the used tank water before I dump the bucket if there is any gunk built up. Or you can rinse it in clean but dechlorinated water, if needed. But while you are trying to cycle you want to leave the filter cartridges alone as much as possible!

You probably already knew all that, but I just wanted to say I had been through it with that particular filter before...good lucK!