colleen0309
Fish Herder
Since you are doing a fish in cycle, DO NOT use ammonia! The ammonia is for a fishless cycle. If you add ammonia to a tank with fish in it, you will kill them.If the tank and filter were brand new and never used, then you will not have any bacteria living in it to help break down the waste that your fish produce.
Fish produce ammonia, ammonia is toxic to fish so you need your filter to act as the "cleaner" for these products.
Cycle is ammonia broken down into nitrite (still toxic), nitrIte broken down into NitrAte (less toxic and is managed with water changes)
The ideal way to "cycle" your tank to get it ready for fish would be to add pure ammonia to the tank, measure the water daily until the bacteria have established themselves in the filter sponges to be able to break down these toxic compounds reliably and make it safe for fish.
A week of just water and no fish will not have allowed any bacteria to colonise your sponges so the addition of fish is going to kick start this process. It's not ideal to do it this way as your fish will be swimming in their own waste and it will be poisoning them until your filter matures (which can take weeks).
There are many topics on how to cycle your tank, have a wee read and since you only have two fish, hopefully you can keep thewater clean enough with regular water changes
Thanks very much for the useful info. I had no idea I had to do this. I will change the water regularly then to make sure it's clean. I will get some ammonia aswell. I have removed the plant in question and the fish have been up to the top of the tank thinking they were getting fed! They are back in hiding now.
Oh! Good morning and welcome to the forum!