Fish out cycling 10 gal tank, have questions. :)

[Bearchumjs]

Hello! My daughter is in the process of setting up a 10 gallon tank (with a fluval 5-20gal HOB filter) for her betta who currently lives in a 1 or 2 gallon tank. We just got an LED plant light for it today. The cycle is going good I think- we started it at the end of January. We used a piece of shrimp and some fish flakes tied up in some cheese cloth to keep it from making a huge mess. Ammonia spiked to 2.0-4.0 the other day and is now dropped to .25. Nitrites are spiked to 5.0 today. Nitrates are 10-20ppm. Anyway, my questions:

1. Once the ammonia disappears and the nitrites disappear, what do we do next? Giant water change and then it's ready for her fish?

2. Prime- should I use it now while it's cycling or wait until the cycle is over?

3. We have an anubias and a crypt for plants right now. What are some other pretty plants that would go well on a 10 gallon tank?

4. So this is going to be a planted community tank with a betta fish. She was already thinking of getting Pygmy Corydoras. Can anyone suggest good community fish that work well with male bettas? He is a dumbo betta.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

 

[GuppyGuy333]

1. bacteria booster products might help you. i use stability.
2. You should add your water conditioner whenever you first filled it with water (or at least that's what i did with all my tanks) and every time you change the water.


3. We have an anubias and a crypt for plants right now. What are some other pretty plants that would go well on a 10 gallon tank?
Pretty is kind of subjective haha. but the two types you have are good beginner plants. some other good beginner plants are anarchis, java fern, java moss, water wisteria, and moss balls. I don't know whether or not these are beginner but i have good luck with apongeton, banana plant, brazilian pennywort, and horn wort. I dose with API leafzone every water change as a fertilizer.


4. So this is going to be a planted community tank with a betta fish. She was already thinking of getting Pygmy Corydoras. Can anyone suggest good community fish that work well with male bettas? He is a dumbo betta.

a ten gallon tank is kind of a tight fit so you can't have too many other tank members. corydoras need to be in groups of at least 5-6 with the more you have the happier they will be. they will need a fine sand substrate for their barbels.

you could also look up otto cats. they are super small.

you could do a betta with ottos or pygmy cats and then maybe add a mystery snail?

some small fish that might work are neon tetras who are pretty small. the recommended number for them is 8-10 though so at max you can have like ten with your betta and nothing else. though they are pretty active and they might stress your betta out. It's always better to understock your tank.

Bettas are all different so what might work for one doesn't mean it will work for another. you could add your betta to the perfect tank and he might not like it.

to maximize your chances, add your betta last to your tank so he doesn't establish a territory and seek to defend it. the more plants the better so his eyeline will be broken by plants if something he sees disturbs him and he chases it. make sure the outflow isn't too strong and he is constantly having to fight the current.

Good luck!

 

[Bearchumjs]

Update: so ammonia is gone now, nitrites spiked to 5+ and now seem to be coming down slowly, and nitrates are so high it's crazy. Ph is good at 7.4.

So do I leave the tank alone and let it do it's thing, or should I do a water change? I feel like leaving it alone should be fine, but I don't know. What has everyone else done? The shrimp is still in there rotting and I think it's making a weird smell in my house. I cooked bacon today so it covers the odd smell. Lol! Can't wait for the cycle to be done!

Also- plants are doing well and we are planing to add sand on top of the current substrate so the Pygmy cory's will be happy once we can start buying fish and putting them in. The water is cloudy and gross right now. I'll try to post a picture.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Well hopefully this attaches right. This is a week ago after we added the plants, lights, driftwood and lace rock. It's a lot cloudier today.

 

[Bearchumjs]

My cycle is finished!!!

Nitrates are high, ammonia and trites are finally zero. We are doing water changes, and once the nitrates are down we can put the Betta in? There's nothing else to do to cycle right?