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Anonymous
I worked in aquarium maintenance.
Anyway, so, you shouldn't have even added shrimp to your setup until your tank was fully cycled, which can often take a month or more. Your little tank is way overleaded for being so young, but there is little you can do about that now, so here's what you -can- do.
Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate -> Cycled. This is your standard process, and as you can see, you're smack in the middle of it. I would suggest Laying off on the water changes and paying a visit to your local petstore. In a section of refrigerated foods (ask an employee) there will be a product called "Bio-Spira," which will come in the appropriate size 35 gal. and under. This is cultured bacteria that will supposedly cycle your tank over night, but I believe it takes a few days. If you want to try this, go on ahead, but there are obvious risks, such as shocking your fish from their usual nitrite-filled environment; however, it could very well work wonders.
When you rinse your cartridge, I hope you're dechlorinating the water you're doing it in. If not, that's part of the problem. Try these steps. <3
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