Stressed lemon tetras help!

[-blake-]

Just a few days ago we put 3 lemon tetras in my fish tank (first fish to be put in the tank its a pretty new tank we're gonna get 2 more in a week to have a  school of them). We got them from the in person aquarium co-op shop and we're trying to get them to eat hikari mini fish pellets and they're barley touching it. The second day we had the one jumped out the tank (the lid doesnt really fit the tank perfectly) we don't know how long he was out but we put him back in and hes doing better today atleast. We tested the water to see if something was wrong with the water and nothing but the nitrites were a little low. We modified our hob filter cause the flow was too strong and we put in an air stone. We've had them for 3 days and they still seem stressed and wont really eat. I dont know if I even want to own fish anymore if theyre just gonna be stressed their entire life. And I feel like giving them back and just quitting cause I feel like I cant give them a proper home because theyre still stressed after 3 days of owning them. I dont know what I'm still doing wrong for them to still be stressed or if its normal or if I should just give up on fishkeeping.

[quikv6]

if you have any level of nitrites, that could be why. You would want both ammonia and nitrites to be zero, since they are both harmful to fish.

If you are showing nitrites, the tank is still cycling....in which case partial water changes (dechorinated) and a bottle of Prime (a declorinator that can also detox ammonia and nitrites for 24-48 hours) will be your friend until your tank completes cycling.

[-blake-]

@Nooby the tank has been cycling for 3 weeks and they said it would be okay to add a few fish.