new aquarium cycling questions?

Question

today i bought "Nutrafin Cycle" and added 10mL for my 10 gallon tank and right after i added it i tested the water for ammonia and nitrite the result i got were

ammonia - 1.0 (mg/L)
Nitrate - 5.0(mg/L)

what i want to know is am i getting close to having an cycled tank?

also i would like to know what Nutrafin Cycle really is i read the paper that came with it and i didnt really understand it can someone please clearify is for me? why is there a need to add it weekly?

Answer 1

Cycle is an additive that will supposedly add bacteria to your tank that are a part of the nitrogen cycle. (I say supposedly, because I hear different success stories from people who use it)

The bacteria will use the ammonia produced by your fish (which is toxic to the fish) as a food source. The convert the ammonia to nitrite (which is also toxic), then another type of bacteria will convert the nitrite to nitrate, which isn't toxic until you get higher concentrations.

Your tank won't be fully cycled until all the ammonia and nitrite are being converted to nitrate. That can take several weeks, but raising the temperature of your tank to about 80o can get the bacteria to reproduce faster than they can at lower temperatures.