new aquarium, when to add ammo lock?

Question
Hello,
I have a 55 gallon tank that has been set up for two weeks now.  I did use seed material from a friends tank.

I have had fish in it for 6 days now. I have three plants in it (two swords and a red wendtii crypt)
The fish in there are 4 cherry barbs and 3 lemon tetras
I feed the fish once or twice a day.
Day 1 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, nitrate 0
Day 4 Ammonia 0, Nitirte .25 and nitrate 5ppm
Day 6 (today) Ammonia .25, Nitrite, .5 and nitrate 5ppm

So I did a 30% water change which brought the nitrite down to .25 but did not change the other two. PH has been stable at around 8.0

Our water comes from a well fed by a mountain spring so it is not treated with chlorine or anything like that. And prior to filling the tank it tested negative for any ammonia or chlorine.

I was wondering at what point should I add an ammonia neutralizer? I have some Ammo Lock but don't know when to add it. What level is considered high? I have read that it wont actually remove the ammonia so it will still show up on my tests. (liquid API master FW test kit) Will it disrupt the cycle?

Also the ammonia was 0 until today and along with it one ot the small sword plants appears to be suffering. I know it needs more light and I have ordered a better light that will meet its needs but it will not arrive for another 5 days or so. Could this plant be causing some problems with water quality or is it simply because of the lack of light that it needs?

My greatest concern of course is the fish and making sure they thrive. The plants are secondary to me at this point.

Thank you
Tori


Answer
Dear Tori,
Thank you for your very informative letter!
Sounds like you are doing everything right and cheers for that! If the 30% water change did not change the ammonia level, you may need to do another 30% water change or try a 50% water change instead. Sometimes just one water change isn't a enough.

~It's not really necessary to add a ammonia neutralizer when cycling unless your fish are truly suffering but otherwise, a good water change is best. You could try using a water conditioner that neutralizes ammonia and nitrite like amquel or prime instead. But otherwise, it is not really needed during cycling and those vital water changes will get you through most all problems.

It is possible that maybe your sword plants might be decaying if they aren't getting enough light. But they may just be having discoloration due to lack of light. If they are browning and decaying definitely remove them.

Of course, your aquarium may simply be just cycling and going through the spikes and drops in ammonia that tend to be normal. Every aquarium tends to cycle a little differently.

I really hope this helps!
Keep up the good work and feel free to write if you have anymore concerns!
Karen~