Stability and high ammonia

[marine_mini]

Hello

I have been doing a fishless cycle for about 2 weeks. The ammonia level has risen steadily during these 2 weeks due to the dead material on the rocks (the rocks in the tank are not live rock, but dried up pieces of what used to be live rock).

Worried about the continual rise in ammonia and wanting to speed up the cycling process, I commenced the usage of Stability 2 days ago. At the time when Stability was commenced, the ammonia level was about 3mg/L. Now, 2 days later, the ammonia is still about 2~3mg/L.

Is it normal for ammonia levels to decrease so slowly even with 2x overdosing of Stability? How long do you think it will take for my ammonia level to come down if I continue dosing with Stability? Note: I have 1L of Matrix in my filter, which should be more than enough for a 75L tank.

Is there harm to the Stability bacteria if the ammonia levels become extremely high (e.g. 4~8 mg/L)?

Also, I'm currently using Reef Buffer to maintain a pH of 8.3. However, the pK of Reef Buffer is 8.6, so does it mean that unlike Marine Buffer, an accidental overdose will cause the pH to rise to 8.6?

Thank you!!