Hello, I'm fairly new to keeping aquariums. I used to have a betta when Iwas roughly 5 that lived for 3 years lol, but a couple of months ago I purchased a betta (Winston) and a Cory Cat (Kaleaco). They were both in a 1.8 gallon filtered bowel made by tetra (i think). Recently I thought I'd be nice and give them a present, the marine land 10 gallon kit. Well I put sand (possible factor) mixed with gravel, a couple of fake plants, well I had no idea about cycling a tank beforehand, but they both seem fine, a week later (now) the penguin bio-wheel filter that came with the kit breaks (sand in the impeller burnt out the motor ) so I went and got the AquaClear 10. well I love the thing, adjustable output, basically a crude canister style HOB filter (imo) lol. Its been running a couple hours, and the water is cloudy, not terribly. Somewhat hard to see the other side of the tank when looking down the length of it. Is it just from the new filter not having the same filter sponge as the last one, will it go away on its own? I haven't done a water change yet, I planned on doing a 60-70% every two weeks with preventive filter maintenance. Is that to long without a water change? Sorry, it's just been a while since I have cared for aquatic friends and have already grown attached and would hate to see anything bad happen to them. I have not tested the water as I do not have a test kit yet, what should the normal stats be? Is there anything else I should know? thanks for the help. (:

Btw, bettas are my favorite fish and I become attached quite fast lol.

Hi and welcome back to the hobby! Lots of questions. Of course, you already know that your tank is cycling, so the haze/cloudiness could be caused by a small bacterial bloom. Definitely get the test kit and try keeping the ammonia and nitrites below 1ppm. Parameters when the aquarium has cycled should be ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm, and some amount of nitrate. I do 50% water changes once a week. Get a good quality dechlorinator/water conditioner for use with water changes. Filter media don't need frequent replacement; if there's floss you can rinse it in the siphoned water from the tank during water changes (not in straight tap water cause the chlorine would kill the bacteria).

I hope this helps.

How would I keep the nitrites and ammonia down?

You will need to do water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites down during the cycle period. I would be very surprised if your Cory does well at all in that tank. They usually need others to do well and a much larger tank is better. Don't add anymore fish thouugh.

well he seems to be doing okay so far, but who's to say that wont change. To bad I messed this tank up. Hopefully I can manage to save it. Thank you for the advice everyone. (: