Cloudy and Stinky Water - Cycle help

This is about my mom's freshwater tank...

So she just got a new 38 gallon tank. I helped her set it up and am helping her cycle it, fishless. I've been putting pellets and mysis shrimp in to rot and get some ammonia going. The other day she went to a petstore and the guy sold her this beneficial bacteria stuff that he said is good for putting into a new tank. So she put it in. I wasn't there (I'm not big on adding things) and she is not a big Google person lol

Anyways, the tank is so cloudy now you can't see through it at all. It smells HORRID! I've been testing the water for her, and no ammonia has shown up yet. How is that possible?! And why is it so cloudy? I was thinking bacterial bloom, but I've never experienced one, so I don't know much about them. When I cycled both my saltwater tanks it was really easy and I didn't experience this super cloudy, super stinky water.

Anyways, will the cloudiness finally clear? And how can there be no ammonia if it reeks so bad??

Thanks

 

That probably is from adding pellets and mysis daily if I read your post right. You should only do it once. Whatever was added then went ballistic on the available food and clouded the tank. Siphon the gravel thoroughly and make a large water change. You can cycle fresh water tanks with a hardy fish or two because the ammonia is less toxic at lower pH. If the pH is below 7 it is almost not toxic at all. If you want to cycle fish less then put starter in only once.

 

if possible find the bottle she used and see what it says. Then this would help better.

 

Ohhh....yeah okay. I've never cycled fishless before...I was putting food in everyday. Had no idea.

Boooo! Work for me to do today. Thanks for the help.