Guys at the fish store said with RODI and canister bio, it would not take long, a few days to introduce hermits, snails, etc then fish after tha ....why would they say that?
Because their job is to sell stuff. Our job as responsible hobbyists is to put in the work, research and verify through testing. What are you using for test kits? Are you being consistent with the steps each time you perform a test? I have to think there is at least some factor of testing error by virtue of the fact that you have given 3 different ammonia results over the course of our short conversation.