"Fishy" cycling

I agree that do as many water changes as possible to keep ammonia less than .25 ppm at all times...

I have read that tiger barbs are very sensitive to nitrites. Not sure how true this is but if it is than you will need to be even more observant of your params once 'trites start showing.
 
My tap water appears extremely aerated after filling a 2.5 gal. bucket. I've been adding the Prime, filling he bucket, letting the water clear, and then pouring it into the aquarium. Is that chloramine coming up to the surface from interaction with the Prime, or is that something else?

My water provider is the MWRA (http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/04water/html/qual5ph.htm)
 
I'm not sure that I understand the question. The effects of the Prime will have no visible signs other than your test results.

BTW, what test kit are you using?
 
What I am seeing is that out of the tap, when I fill a bucket of water, the water is cloudy, and I cannot see to the bottom through 2.5 gallons of water. After about one minute, the water becomes clear. What I am questioning is whether or not that has to do with aeration out of the tap, or chemicals in the water.

I have the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit.
 
The link to your water supplier says that they are adding chloramine that will break down into ammonia and chlorine. This means your water changes are adding some amount of ammonia. Try testing tap water after you have added the prime and see what you get. The best you will be able to do with tap water is to get down to that level of ammonia. For me that is about 1 ppm. My only option is to add the prime to new water to get the ammonia in a less toxic form and do water changes when the aquarium has more than 1 ppm of ammonia. If it is at or less than 1 ppm, the tap water won't help and may make it worse.
The number for you is probably different but until you find out, you won't know where water changes will be fruitless for ammonia.
 
Use Prime, and it will bind any ammonia, from the tap or from the tank.

The bubbles you see in the bucket are from the aerator on your faucet and the water no longer being under pressure. Not an issue.
 
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