@i6pwr
Ok, with the above said, these are my recommendations based on my experiences and knowledge with a twist of my own methods.
1. A gravel bed of 1 inch is not enough. It should slope from about one inch in the front of the tank to about 3 inches in the back. Mine is about 4 inches in the back corners and a little less in the middle back to maybe 3 inches. I realize in a smaller tank this might look less then nice but at the least I would have about 3 inches in the back corners sloping to the middle with a low of 3/4 to 1 inch in the front.
The reason for this is in the deep area of the gravel which you never really want to clean. It's fine for the shallow areas of the gravel to clean) is at the deep level anaerobic bacteria develop. This is bacteria that lives in a VERY low oxygen environment. It is this bacteria that survives on the nitrate in the tank. It will help keep it lower.
2. Water changes, once a month, 25% to 30% ten gallon tank about 3 gallons (no more)
OF course if city water use dechlorinator .
One or two live plants, the ones you see that look spread out are Amazon Swords. Actually one would be fine for you. Also get some fish tank plant tabs. Put on tab into the gravel near the roots once per month.
3. I personally use test strips to check water quality, they work good enough for our purposes.
I find this time of year the water from my faucet contains low levels of nitrites (not nitrates) SO changing my water once a month is actually (lack of a better word) adding more dangerous Nitrites to the tank where the tank has none, and the tank then breaks down into nitrates (safer). Between the gravel and plants the nitrate level is stable at around 30 (ish) PPM. Anything less than 50 is fine. When I do a once a month water change this drops the level a bit lower. (my tap water does not have much nitrate)
4. Water temperature should be kept around 78 degrees. 76 winter is fine 80 summer is fine, even higher.
5. Food, this is what kills fish and ruins tank and has people give up on the hobby. They put food in the tank, WAY, WAY, WAY too much food. Been there done that decades ago. More fish and tanks are killed by to much food than anything. Fish in nature eat food at every chance they get, its survival, they never know their next meal. Thing is if their body doesnt need it, they are simply sending undigested food back into the tank. Most fishtanks are like fish living in a sewer.
IF YOU DO ANYTHING I posted, to this. STOP FEEDING YOUR FISH EVERYDAY and if you fish get sick, longer than that, they are sick because of polluted water.
Every other day is fine and when you do, feed every other day all food should be gone in less then 5 minutes, meaning NOT a trace of it left. I think I am closer to 3 to 4 minutes. I feed a mix of frozen blood worms from the pet store and LARGE flake food (tetra) so the fish have a chance to eat the flakes before they fall apart and become part of the water pollution problem.
When I feed, I drop a cube (you would use less) of frozen food and then flake flood all at once, you get used to what will disappear if a few minutes and than that is it. No more for another 2 days. This isnt a hard and fast rule, as long as you go light on the food once a day, you can even feed everyday but at least one to two days a week no food and never more than once a day.
Food is the pollutant.
FIlter - tough call on a 10 gallon tank, filters do not do too much, changing carbon once a month is a good idea or twice if its once of those small filters. I use Sea Chem Tidal filters hangs on back but their smallest is for 20 to 35 gallon. Fantastic filter if you ever have a larger tank. Wash filter media once a week. I also have a 270 GPH power head with filter material that gets rinsed once a week. This is needed in a tank this size to have proper water circulation. Meaning all four corners of the tank should have at least some moving water.
Im sure I am leaving some stuff out but let me address your original post now _
1. Stop adding chemicals to the water, forget trying to control PH. Fish adapt to a wide range of conditions, you make it hard for them with a seesaw effect every time you change water.
2. it takes a good 2 months for a tank to be fully established not 2 weeks, far too little. Do not worry about nitrates but do worry about Ammonia and Nitrite both deadly. If you have any ammonia you have along way to go until the tank is established. Maintain one or two fish, feed only every other day and as little as they can eat in 3 minutes. Anytime you put food in that water you are adding ammonia and nitrite but once a tank is established the bacteria breaks it down instantly to harmless nitrates. (amazon sword loves nitrates)
During this time DO NOT, NEVER, CLEAN your filter and NEVER clean your gravel. That is where the bacteria lives to break down Antonia and nitrite.
3. Once established and you NEVER see ammonia or nitrite in your water, you can once a week clean your filter. If you set up your gravel like I posted, you can clean the front of the gravel in the tank but NEVER the high part in the back. You want that undisturbed.
4. Ok, here is one chemical, most often used in a tank that is only a few months old. It's fantastic to clean up a tank where you eventually get a coating of blue green algae in a tank over the gravel CynoBateria. Always use any chemical is a last resort. This stuff works and you should never need it more than once, possibly twice in the first year of a tank. It's made by Boyd Enterprises and it is called ChemiClean.
Most all, chill, tanks take months to stabilize and be established. You will lave a run of the mill brown algae, to green, to possibly the mentioned Blue/green sheets of Cyno. Key is to not feed too much food.
they are actually very interesting fish. WHENEVER I do anything with the gravel. I do occasionally vacuum the very front (not the back. or plant a plant he is right there next to my fingers. I guess looking for creatures to eat as I stir up the gravel. Really interesting fish to watch poke around the tank all day.
