Cycling an aquarium

Question
Hi,
I bought my 95litre aquarium about 3 weeks ago and added the Cycle chemical and left the tank settle for about a 3 days before adding two swordtail fish.  
I have been doing water tests for the past two weeks and get fluctating ammonia levels from between .5 and 1.5 each time.  

I do daily water changes of between 10 - 15%.  Each time I add tapsafe and some Safestart to add some helpful bacteria.  I am getting readings of 0 for Nitrites and I am getting Nitrate readings of 12.5 of Nitrates.  My PH varies from 7.5 to 8.  

I boil my tapwater and leave it sit overnight before using in the tank adding a little more boiling water to get it to the temperature of my tank before adding it and then condition the water with tapsafe.

Maybe the Nitrates are coming from  my tapwater, or from safestart but how long more do I need to be doing daily water changes??

How come I am not getting nitrite readings??  Will I skip some daily water changes to allow the ammonia rise a  lit to convert to nitrites but this is might harm the fish....

I don't know what to do!! Are these daily water changes preventing the tank from cycling??  

Answer
Hi Denise,
The general rule is to do a large water change (around 30-50%) whenever your ammonia level starts to go above the caution level (indicated on test kits) or when your fish seem stressed (darting excessively, gasping or otherwise heavy breathing) I don't think you'd have to do them everyday.

Definitely test your tap water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Sometimes you will find them in your tap water. Using a water conditioner that neutralizes ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates is very helpful. Amquel+ or Prime works well for this. It claims it does not interfere with the cycle.

Your tank probably just needs more time to get nitrite readings. Keep in mind some water conditioners will show false readings on the test kit. So check for that too.

It's very good that you are staying on top of everything, just be patient and I'm sure everything will fall into place as it should soon.

Best of luck!
Karen~