Ugh I didn't cycle my tank

[monkeysinacan]

Ok so I thought I had everything ready for my fish. I washed off the gravel, rinsed out the tank, set up my filter and my heater, added the de-chlorinator, and the bacteria, then let the tank sit for 24 hours as per the instructions I received. The next day I went to the store to purchased three Glofish for my 10 gallon tank. They seemed happy enough and then towards the evening like clockwork the tank became gross and cloudy looking (plus I think I over fed them on that first day.) Then I learned about this wonderful little thing called the nitrogen cycle :-( So assuming the cloudiness was a bacterial bloom I did a partial water change and it helped a little, I also added an ammonia neutralizing tablet to the water fearing I was going to end up killing my fish. The next day I bought a gravel vac, ammonia and nitrite testing kits, and an airstone. After both tests came back fine I gave it a thorough vacuuming, added the airstone, another partial water change and added some more bacteria as the instructions on the bottle said I should. It is now going on day 4 of having my fish in the tank and the water is now pretty much crystal clear.

What I really want to know is if adding store bought bacteria will speed up the nitrogen cycle and will that make it any easier on my fish?

Thanks a lot

 

[buddha_red]

Well some swear by the bottled cycle products, others don't. I for one doubt it will do much for your cycle. All you need is time now and it will cycle on its own. Use PWC's (partial water changes) to keep the levels low. By doing pwc's you slow down the cycle, but since you have fish its important.

What are your exact readings? please post ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

 

[Zagz]

If the store bought bacteria doesn't need to be kept refrigerated like Bio Spira, it will not do anything to speed up your cycle. If you don't have one, you will need a freshwater master test kit. This article will give you some tips on how to speed up your cycle.

Also don't bother with ammonia binding products. One they only work temporarily and two they can give false test readings.

 

[monkeysinacan]

My Ammonia reading is at 0.25-0.50 ppm and nitrite is at 0 ppm

Edit:
ps I'm using PetCo brand aquarium bacteria.

 

[jsoong]

You are just starting on the cycling process .... keep an eye on the levels & do water changes as needed. If you can get a hold of BioSpira (or an established tank's filter), you can use that to jump start the cycle. The product "Cycle" doesn't work by most accounts. <Tried that myself ... did nothing...>

 

[booginish]

unless you buy a cycling product that is refridgerated instore and prior to shipping to store, everything on the shelf is useless. bacteria needs to be in refridgerated conditions to be able to maintain. alot of those products have not bin fully proven yet at all so you really cant trust any of them. but products like seachem stability or bio spira(in the right product conditions) work great.