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Ah! That's alright! A lot of the people at pet stores are completely clueless about how fish need to be taken care of and give out information that is completely false. Almost everyone who gets into this hobby has that same experience at first. It's actually fantastic that you're asking questions! Most people only learn about the nitrogen cycle when they come to the aquarium subreddits because their fish is dying :( You're way ahead to the average new fish keeper!


So the nitrogen cycle is the process in which good aquarium bacteria take your fish's poop and other waste in the form of Ammonia and turn it from poison to stuff that is ok for your fish. Once the cycle starts, bacteria will turn the Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrate. Ammonia and Nitrites are poison to your fish and any level over 0ppm is considered dangerous. Nitrates are safer, you can have up to 20ppm (some hobbyists say even up to 40ppm) before they are dangerous to your fish. Your moss balls will help eat up the nitrates, but they could still get out of control if there's too much waste in the tank.


To figure out how your tank is doing, getting a liquid test kit like this one is a really good idea. A lot of stores sell test strips as well, but they are super expensive compared to the liquid tests and notoriously inaccurate. Plus the liquid kit is good for ~800 tests, and the strips only come in packs of 10-12. :P


I know when I first started keeping fish last November, it was so confusing for me. /r/aquariums has a really nice write up on how to start you tank's Nitrogen Cycle in their sidebar that helped me get my brain around it. There's actually a little bit of work involved in getting the cycle started, but once you have it established, you will probably only need to do small (~30% of the water in your aquarium) water changes once every week or so. It makes keeping fish soooo much easier.


To get it started, you'll probably want to do a "fish-in" cycle. It's a little harder than cycling without a fish, but it's worth it. The best thing you can do to get the cycle started is to set up your filter so there are lots of places for the good bacteria to live and grow. A lot of people will keep a sponge in there or special filter media (like this stuff but there's a bunch of different brands) to get as much surface area as possible for the bacteria to grow. You won't need to buy filter replacements like pet stores claim you need to. Just rinse your filter stuff off in old tank water every couple weeks and return it to your filter. Another option is sponge filter (which I really recommend), all you need is an airline and pump to run it.


Once you've good a good home for your bacteria planned, it's mostly just taking care of your fish as normal and waiting until the cycle is fully established. Feed your fish like you always do, and check how the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are doing every day. If the ammonia or Nitrites are above 0ppm or the nitrates are above 20-40ppm, just do a ~30% water change on your tank. Usually this means doing a small water change once per day for the 2-3 weeks it takes for the bacteria to establish themselves. :)


As for feeding your betta, there's a couple different things to keep in mind that will help you figure out how much to feed her. If you watch the area slightly below/behind her gills, you can watch to see if she has eaten enough. Usually that area will become more rounded out when she's full. You can also look at that area to see if she is constipated, which is really common for betta fish. If she gets constipated, you can skip a day of feeding her (most people will do this once per week, it's not bad for them), try changing food brands (some fish have an easier time with flakes) or giving her a little bit of a pea (you can soak it in garlic if she doesn't want to eat it). The other rule of thumb is don't feed food that she is going to waste. You can give her a little food and if she eats it, give her more. But once she starts ignoring the food or if it sinks to the bottom, that's too much food (a lot of people will use a turkey baster to suck out any left over food to keep the tank clean). It can take a little while to figure out how much food she needs, especially since she's growing, but it should become more clear within a couple weeks :)


I'm super jealous that you're starting out a tank with a girl betta, I recommend you look into doing a betta sorority once you e got your cycle set up! They're so cool and I probably won't be able to set one up until after my male betta fish passes.

A walmart tank should be fine. The key thing to do (if the store will let you) is to ask if you can fill it with water first to make sure there are no leaks. For a betta, you really don't need a Fluval or anything. Those are for once you get addicted to the hobby. :) Bettas do need space, but they don't necessarily need anything super fancy.

And especially with bettas, the fish you purchase at the store may not be in the healthiest of conditions when you get them. Did you pick him out of a bunch of bettas sitting in one-cup containers? That's how most stores deal with bettas because they're capable of surviving that way. But it means that you'll often end up with a fish that's already sickly when you got him.

The thing to bear in mind when you're starting the aquarium hobby is that it really is a lifetime of learning. Aquariums can have a steep learning curve that's made more difficult because you're dealing with living creatures. Try not to get frustrated or downhearted - it really is something we've all gone through as we're learning how to care for them.

You're taking the right steps in asking questions (bear in mind that it's difficult to diagnose without seeing the fish closeup so we're not able to easily diagnose your fish; all we can really do is recommend ways to fix your tank setup). And it just sucks that the treatment involves spending money. As far as filters go, I've had success with the Tetra Whisper. It worked fine for me - I ended up upgrading, but that was only because I wanted a bigger tank.

Ten Gallon is actually what I was looking at getting

Would something like this be appropriate?
http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-17755-Deluxe-Kit-Aquarium/dp/B0027J3JKK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318973136&sr=8-2

Also I went off of what Monsieur said below me and I believe they were snail eggs. I removed them when I cleaned the tank or I would post some pictures.

I got an automatic feeder for the community tank. Sooooo worth it. EHEIM Everyday Fish Feeder Programmable Automatic Food Dispenser https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F2117I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_PStDDb2KTB4EG

Had a somewhat similar post recently, I'll add it here in case you didn't see: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fish/comments/7yq6n0/beginner_recommendations/

Another recommendation might be Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed.

I’ve used those clarifying chemicals and they never work.

Ecological Labs AEL20448 Microbe Lift Special Blend Aqua Water Conditioners for Aquarium, 4-Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007B4XBU4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KZM0BbECW7KJB

This is what I use now and it’s never let me down.

FYI: Warning: I can not stress this more. It smells like rotten eggs and death but it works!!!!

The smell clears out but just warning you ahead of time

Also add you some live plants. ;)