Need help with uncycled tank

[SuperD00D]

32 year old here, my daughter and my Mom who lives up the road from us brought home a Betta one day to my Moms house. I stayed over one night and it was in a tiny tank and super dirty so I took it and put him in a 3 gallon from Amazon.

I then bought the 10 gallon topfin tank from Petsmart with “Top Fin Silentstream 10 Power Filter”. I can’t seem to get the tank cycled. It’s been 3 months now with the Betta. I have only ever seen Ammonia while testing, and then change some of the water, using the topfin water conditioner. Test with API master freshwater test kit. Is the topfin conditioner bad? Or am I turning the filter on to quickly? Is the filter just not good for cycling? No added rocks/media or anything, just the filter cartridge and then a blue plastic supposed bio-filter.

I didn’t realize it wasn’t cycled (I thought it may be, and that the plants were eating all the nitrates and nitrites or something since it was just one Betta and he had been in the tank 3 months :/ ) so I bought 3 cory’s and an “algae eater”, which ended up being a CAE, from Petsmart. Idiot girl sold me a cory with swim bladder so now I only have two, and the Chinese algae eater knowing my tank size. Now nitrates are at 0.25ppm daily.
My long term goal is a 20 gallon-long tank, or maybe up to a 40 gallon, but Im moving in 2 months and it will be going upstairs, so no idea how big it can be in a standard upstairs north american home.

So my main questions are :

1) How can I get this tank cycled, and any future tank I will be cycling BEFORE fish go in?
2) How big of a tank can go upstairs in a standard united states wood house?
3) Are my Cory’s okay for now with just 2, or should I be seeking 2-4 more ASAP? Albino Cory’s.
4) And is this CAE a definite return? I like him and he did a freaking AMAZING job of cleaning the brown diatom algae. What else can eat brown diarom like him? Siamese? Oto’s? Clown Pleco? I lke the clown Pleco but not sure how good they are with algae. Specifically brown diatom as tha/ what I get here in South Carolina.
5)Should I just return every new fish except the Betta, and put him in his 3 gallon, and cycle his 10-gallon tank? And does his filter need rocks in it? Any new filter and media suggestions? Would need a new lid as well.

Thanks for indulging in this craziness and accidental diving into the fish keeping world.

[Aiken Drum]

A few questions here. Ill chip in with cycling first.

You say you have only seen ammonia, no nitrite, and now a little nitrate. How much ammonia? Why are you worried about your cycle? Are you seeing issues with fishes health?

Your target really should be to do water changes sufficient to keep ammonia + nitrite combined below 0.5ppm. This will leave enough ammonia and nitrite to fuel your cycle while keeping water parameters relatively safe for fish.

If you have a light stocking in a planted tank it is entirely feasible that the plants will take up all the ammonia and nitrate.

With regards to cycling a tank before you add fish, this is called a fishless cycle. Link to fishless cycle guide.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/tips-...ishless-cycle/

[Aiken Drum]

With regards to how big a tank can go upstairs. Assuming your house is built to a fairly decent standard the 40g tank you are considering will certainly not be an issue. I know of people with 100g tanks on upper floors.

I design buildings for a living and here in the UK a 75g tank would be right on the limit for the loading of a minimum designed and constructed floor given its weight and footprint. Nobody designs to minimum, you always give yourself a risk factor, and floors are stronger at the perimeter (where a tank is likely to be sat) than in the middle. I looked into american minimum standards a while back and they are pretty much the same. If you are concerned, make sure to place it at the perimeter, ensure your tank is perpendicular to the span of the floor joists, and try to place it so at least 3 joists support the weight.

[SuperD00D]

Awesome thank you. I kind of want to keep the 10 gallon for the Betta and some Otto’s, throw the cory’s and a clown pleco and maybe Molly’s and the Chinese algae eater into a 20 gallon in the next month, and then once I move get a 55 and put the chinese algae eater in there once he grows, and keep all 3 stocked, with my Betta with just Otto’s in the 10.

Would a CAE hurt a Betta? How long would it take before he is protein starved?

[pyealands]

I'll answer question #1 ,
fishless cycling , u will need , ur tank , ur filter running 24/7, the filter outlet needs to be disturbing the water surface , this creates oxygen , benificial bacteria (bb)
Need oxygen to grow .
U will need pebbles, decorations, plants etc ,
These create a surface area for the bb to grow on .
U might need a heater , keep water temp above 20c , bb grow faster in warm water , they can die if it gets too cold .
U will need a source of ammonia, usually dr timms ammonia chloride is used . Available from petco , , fish shops etc .
Directions on the bottle , and he has more advanced online info too .
U will need a test kit , the most recommended and widely used is the api freshwater master test kit , available petco etc .
I think thats all u need at this stage ... ?
Then its just a matter of waiting,
It can take up to 8 weeks .
With a fishless cycle u don't change water at all till cycle is complete .
Dueing cycling u will see an ammonia spike raise , then a few weeks later a nitrite spike , and finally u will see nitrate , the cycle is finnished , when u add ammonia to 2ppm , 24 hrs later the ammonia and nitrite will be zero .nitrates should be under 40 ppm .
No lights are needed for cycling .