Help! I would appreciate your advice.

[syedali1salmaan]

So, my dad bought a Betta from a supermarket when they had it in those small box on display. When he talked to the employee, they said that we can put it in a glass and feed it once a day. Upon research, I quickly discovered its not true. (It was an impulsive purchase from his part)

Then, I went to a fish aquarium store and bought a 10 gallon tank and the supplies. I bought a hygger heater, hygger sponge filter w/ ceramic balls, air pump, some decor and black clay gravel. Let this dwell in water for 2 days and changed the water.

Meanwhile, my poor betta is in a fish bowl. I have been doing a water change every day (because the water gets dirty) and putting a drop or two of Aquaeon water conditioner. The bowl in 1G.

Back to the Tank. After performing a water change, I consulted my local fish store. They advice me to put frit zyme turbo start and add the three black neon tetra's after an hour (I initially wanted to use Tetra Safe Start). I did that, but it was on the same day as the water change which meant that i did not add the water conditioner 24 hrs prior. Also, the bottle smelled like rotten eggs so maybe the bacteria had already died?

I kept testing the water everyday for 4-5 days and the readings were:
0.25 Ammonia
0 Nitrites
0 Nitrates
Test conducted with API liquid kit thingy

So, then after 5 days I added API Quick start. Its already been 3 days since then. Readings were (tested everyday):
0.25 Ammonia
0 Nitrites
0 Nitrates

Not once have the levels spiked up or down. They have been consistent.

My black neon Tetras seem healthy. Exploring the entire tank. Moving fast. Eating everything I feed for a minute.

Meanwhile, my poor betta fish is still in the bowl. Now, I have two questions:

1) I feel conflicted because I feel like I am trapping my betta and I dont know how healthy it is to change his water everyday in a 1G fish bowl. Should I just add him in the tank? What would be better for him? If not now, when should I plan on adding him to the tank?

2) Is my tank cycled yet (I did not see any spikes in Nitrites, and i also dont have any live plants)?
I am guessing it probably not cycled yet.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[syedali1salmaan]

UPDATE:

I just tested my tap water:

0.25 Ammonia (same color as my tank water. Got a confirmation with everyone in my house)
0 Nitrites
0 Nitrates

Also, the dose of turbo start was 5x the recommended dose (because it said that we can do that on bottle)
The dose of API quick start was 2x the recommended dosage.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I would put your betta in the tank. Even though its not cycled it will be better than the bowl.

You will then be doing a fish in cycle. Test the water daily. If you get detectable ammonia or nitrites do a 25% water change. Eventually you will see 0ppm ammonia and nitrite and will start to see nitrates. Thats when your tank is cycled sufficiently for the fish you have in there.

Keep an eye on the fish you already have in the tank and look for aggresion from the betta towards them.

Also, do a water test on some bottled water so you can see what a 0ppm ammonia reading looks like and compare with your 0.25ppm reading. If looked at in poor lighting a 0ppm reading can look like 0.25.