No one could ever accuse you of not testing your water!! Wow, you have
all the tests! And I really don't blame you for being confused!! You appear to be doing everything you possibly can, and those conflicting results definitely have me confused as well! I can totally see why you're frustrated and confused! I always found my API Master test kit to be reliable, so I trusted it - and yours is definitely showing a reading of around 1-2ppm ammonia - but usually with an ammonia reading that high, I would have expected fish to be dropping dead if it were accurately reading ammonia... Also confused about zero readings for nitrAte at this point, when I'd expect there to be
something.
So I'm somewhat confused, but I'm sure
@Essjay or
@Naughts will be able to make more sense of it! Honestly, I'd be inclined to say not to rely too much on test kits (I rarely test my tanks now, honestly, just rely on maintenance and test if I suspect there may be a problem, or there's a big difference in bioload and I want to see if I need to adjust my maintenance routine on that tank, for example) and just rely on observation and water changes - if we knew your source water was safe. But since we don't know that yet, and I also remember relying on my test kits a lot more when I was new to the hobby and learning - hang on to them for now, but don't panic, okay? The results are odd, but a puzzle to be solved, not sounding as though you're doing anything wrong! So see what the others say, but if the fish look alert, not fin clamped, gasping, getting red streaks or dying, then don't panic.
For the sake of scientific enquiry, I'd definitely want to test some samples of different water with the API ammonia tester, like the tap water and some rain water, to see what results pop up.