Yes, we are talking about filter media. Filter media includes cotton, sponge, activated carbon, etc. Never replace any filter media except for the activated carbon. Filter media is the place where most of your beneficial bacteria are. If you remove/replace them, you lose all of the beneficial bacteria and instantly crash your cycle. You can totally remove the activated carbon and add in more sponge/cotton type of filter media to increase the surface area for the bacteria to colonize on.
Since you still have 2ppm ammonia, you do not have to add more. If you add more, then make it so the new reading will not exceed 5~6ppm.
A lot of factors can affect the cycling speed. ex: Water temperature, oxygen availability, filter efficiency, etc.
Make sure you took all the readings correctly.
