I understand how the cycle should work and I am definitely not interested in more water changes so I will wait longer. It is just frustrating not seeing an end to this high ammonia.
Do you know how much live rock you have in your tank instead of just saying 5 pieces? And you have 40 lbs of sand in your tank? Where did you get the sand from all over the world, like beach sand? Are you making your own water or buying it from a LFS? How did you spike your tank, raw shrimp or?
A consideration is just start all over again.