New Tank And Struggling. Please Help!

Long story short, I got a 10 gal tank 3 days ago (glofish tank / beginners kit). I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and was told it would be okay to bring home the fish same day. I got 4 glofish and 1 platy. Most of them died before the transfer (still in bag) and then the last died within 1-2 hours of being in tank. It was then, that I began researching and learned of the nitrogen cycle and all that. So I take the fish back the following day, and they say it should be okay to try again. I went against my better judgement and brought home 5 new ones. They tested my water there, and said it was a little on the alkaline side so to pour the treated bag water in with the fish into the tank. We did the floating bag thing, the water was warmer (75 degrees) and we mixed some tank water in with the bag water , before dumping it all into the tank. 4 out of 5 died quickly but 1 is still alive. It’s been about 30 hours and the single glofish appears to be doing okay, besides hiding in the corner behind some decor.

Now, I have done TONS more research in the past 30 hours and know even more than before. If this little guy had died too, I would have done a fishless cycle. But since he’s still alive, I went and purchased the liquid test kit tonight and tested the water. I should add, that the tank has been treated with Tetra Aquasafe and API Quick Start. There is also a live moss ball in there.
As of tonight, my parameters are:

PH 8.2
Nitrate : 0
Ammonia : 0- 0.25 (this one was hard to tell. It appeared to be right in the middle of the 2 colors. So maybe .10 - .15)
Nitrite : 0
Temp : 72.6

I purchased a heater as well, but keep getting conflicting info on the proper temp for these guys. I haven’t installed it just yet, and thought I’d ask here first.

So, I have a few questions.
1. How do I get the PH down? I think it’s too high right? I can’t make it to the store to get PH down till tomorrow evening.

2. Is the temp okay?

3. I know these fish like to school... so I feel bad he’s alone and he seems stressed. But I also don’t want to add more fish and kill them off. So what’s the advice for that?

4. How will I know it’s cycled at this point? Everything says when the ammonia, Nitritres and nitrates are low but they already are.

Any other advice is welcome. I’m new to this and trying my best to make this work. I’m invested and kind of enjoying the challenge (not enjoying the killing of fish). The tank has been up and running for 3 days and has a slightly cloudy appearance with some little clusters of bubbles here and there along the surface- if any of that matters. Thank you!

 

1. Your PH is perfectly fine, don't worry about lowering it.
2. That's a bit cool, I would raise it to 76-78
3. What kind of glofish did you get? Tetras or Danios? If you're not sure put up a picture for us
4. It's cycled when ammonia and nitrites are 0, but nitrates are ~10 or more.
That cloudiness you see is a bacteria bloom, a very good thing right now and means your tank is cycling right. For now my only advice is to get some Seachem prime to detoxify some ammonia and nitrites, and do water changes to keep those levels below 1ppm (dose prime everyday for the whole tank). After your tank is cycled you'll want to do a 25% or larger water change each week depending on how high your nitrates get

 

1. Your PH is perfectly fine, don't worry about lowering it.
2. That's a bit cool, I would raise it to 76-78
3. What kind of glofish did you get? Tetras or Danios? If you're not sure put up a picture for us
4. It's cycled when ammonia and nitrites are 0, but nitrates are ~10 or more.
That cloudiness you see is a bacteria bloom, a very good thing right now and means your tank is cycling right. For now my only advice is to get some Seachem prime to detoxify some ammonia and nitrites, and do water changes to keep those levels below 1ppm (dose prime everyday for the whole tank). After your tank is cycled you'll want to do a 25% or larger water change each week depending on how high your nitrates get

Thanks for the response! Originally they were 2 tetras and 2 danios. Then in the second batch it was tetras. So the only one I have living in there now is a tetra! I will pick up some PRIME. For clarification, you said I need to use it to keep the ammonia and nitrites below 1ppm but they’re currently already there.... right? So would I only use it when those numbers go above that? Or use it now anyway?

Also, any advice on my lonely tetra? He hasn’t left his corner since yesterday. I read they’re schooling fish and don’t do well alone so I am worried about him.

 

Well Prime can only detoxify 1ppm of each, so you'll need to change out a little bit of water in order for the water to be safe, basically dose prime for the whole tank every 24-48 hours until AMMO and NI are zero
For the tetra, (being honest they actually are too big for a ten gallon) I would wait about a week so your filter can actually somewhat establish a cycle, then you can consider adding one or two more for now. If you do get more you'll need to pay close attention to the water for the first few days to make sure the ammonia doesn't spike.

 

Well Prime can only detoxify 1ppm of each, so you'll need to change out a little bit of water in order for the water to be safe, basically dose prime for the whole tank every 24-48 hours until AMMO and NI are zero
For the tetra, (being honest they actually are too big for a ten gallon) I would wait about a week so your filter can actually somewhat establish a cycle, then you can consider adding one or two more for now. If you do get more you'll need to pay close attention to the water for the first few days to make sure the ammonia doesn't spike.

Okay I’m sorry if I sound like an idiot for asking about this again.... but I’m still not understanding. Lol. The ammonia and the nitrites are both well under 1ppm currently. Ammonia is between 0 and maybe 0.25, and nitrites were 0. So why am I using prime to bring them down? Or am I using them to keep them from spiking above the 1, even though they’re not there yet? Or am I only using it, IF it goes above 1?

And dang, all my research said tetras are okay in 10 gallon as long as there were 6 or less. So should I stick with Danios then?

 

Oh ok, I see what you're not understanding now. Ammonia and nitrites are very toxic so they should be kept as near 0 as possible (even 0.25 can be harmful and should be avoided) so while they're above that but still less than 1ppm you should use prime so that it won't hurt the fish for a day or two, but the bacteria colony growing in the filter is still able to use and remove them from the water. Maybe a different way of explaining it would help? 0.5ppm AMMO plus Prime makes the fish feel like there is 0 AMMO, but 1.5ppm AMMO plus prime will still have the fish feel the effects of 0.5 AMMO so some water should be changed before adding prime to make it less than 1ppm

And dang, all my research said tetras are okay in 10 gallon as long as there were 6 or less. So should I stick with Danios then?

It's ok, it's a huge marketing thing so they can sell you too small of a tank and just happen to have that tank include a light for their glofish. A ten gal isn't ideal for either, but I'm not sure which one you should pick. The tetras are bigger but not nearly as active, while the danios are tiny and very active. Really I don't think either one is a "better" choice so I'll leave it up to your preference

 

That makes much better sense now!! I didn’t realize even a little over ammonia was so harmful. Thank you for re-explaining that.

I’m not surprised to hear that it’s a marketing thing. I was actually shocked today when I saw a glofish branded 1.5 gallon tank... I was thinking it was crazy they made one so small for them. Honestly, 3 days ago when I walked into the pet store, I was sort of expecting one that size... I had no idea they required even the 10 gallons until I was at the store and the dude told me he wouldn’t suggest anything under 10 gallons. I was definitely NOT expecting to be bringing home such a large tank that day, and was even more blindsided by the amount of work and knowledge that went into this. As I said, I’ve began to quite enjoy it... maybe even started becoming a little obsessed reading up on everything. I had no idea that there was this whole fish world out here, but it’s definitely overwhelming and intimidating to say the least. I just hope I can get it cycling here soon so my little fish can have some friends and hopefully leave his corner. I’ll try to get him a friend or 2 next week, but it saddens me to think he might stay there until then.

One last stupid question, I have this narwhal floating around in there. It’s one of those decorations that’s tied to a fishing line so it floats about mid tank. I was wondering if that might be scaring him cause it looks like a big fish? Or can he tell it’s not real?

 

One last stupid question, I have this narwhal floating around in there. It’s one of those decorations that’s tied to a fishing line so it floats about mid tank. I was wondering if that might be scaring him cause it looks like a big fish? Or can he tell it’s not real?

I'm not really sure, you can take it out and see if he seems to be less shy. If it makes no difference it's up to you