Well I feel really stupid and very upset over this, I have had my tank set up for 3 weeks now, the fish have been in the tank for 2. I have a male betta, 3 red platies, and 5 neon tetra, and guess what, I FORGOT TO CYCLE THE TANK! the only thing I did was treat the tank with Aqua Plus soon as I set it up...Is there any way i could fix this? I really fear for my fish health.
I think I made a mistake!
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Wow! Someone who realizes their mistake and wants to fix it! Way to go! 
I never cycled any of my tanks and all my fish are fine.
Of course, I will always cycle in the future.
I believe as long as your parameters are ok, you should be fine. You can always add Biospira but it's kinda $$$.
Stick around for more help. I'm not quite clued in on cycling. Need to do some reading on it.
I never cycled any of my tanks and all my fish are fine.
Of course, I will always cycle in the future.
I believe as long as your parameters are ok, you should be fine. You can always add Biospira but it's kinda $$$.
Stick around for more help. I'm not quite clued in on cycling. Need to do some reading on it.
I have had good experiences with adding a water conditioner to get the cylce started and maintained -- you might check out Nutrafin's product called "Cycle". You can get it at pet stores or online for about $11. I'll include a link for reference: Aquarium Biological Starters: Cycle from Hagen Biological Water Conditioner
Adding a conditioner like that is inexpensive and good for maintenance too. I have a fully cycled tank and still add it on occasion. Even if the fish look fine right now I think it would be a good precaution to what you can to help establish the nitrogen cycle as soon as possible. If you know someone who already has an established tank it would also help to put a handful of their gravel into your tank.
As for water testing, I agree with the previous posts. If you're doing it the old-fashioned way you should test the water very regularly to monitor both ammonia and nitrite levels -- which have to be clear from the water to prevent fish deaths. You can get a simple "quick dip" test kit that is really easy and cheap to check for ammonia and nitrite. Even very small amounts of ammonia or nitrite can cause fish deaths. The cycle will be set up when testing reveals no ammonia or nitrite and low levels of nitrate (the levels are color-coded on test kits so you can see the exact levels that are healthy). I have one quick dip test kit for ammonia (toxic) alone and another for a combination of ph, hardness, nitrite (toxic), and nitrate (not so toxic).
Adding a conditioner like that is inexpensive and good for maintenance too. I have a fully cycled tank and still add it on occasion. Even if the fish look fine right now I think it would be a good precaution to what you can to help establish the nitrogen cycle as soon as possible. If you know someone who already has an established tank it would also help to put a handful of their gravel into your tank.
As for water testing, I agree with the previous posts. If you're doing it the old-fashioned way you should test the water very regularly to monitor both ammonia and nitrite levels -- which have to be clear from the water to prevent fish deaths. You can get a simple "quick dip" test kit that is really easy and cheap to check for ammonia and nitrite. Even very small amounts of ammonia or nitrite can cause fish deaths. The cycle will be set up when testing reveals no ammonia or nitrite and low levels of nitrate (the levels are color-coded on test kits so you can see the exact levels that are healthy). I have one quick dip test kit for ammonia (toxic) alone and another for a combination of ph, hardness, nitrite (toxic), and nitrate (not so toxic).