yetee
Aquarium Advice Activist
What they are asking by if the tank is cycled is that if you have an established colony of beneficial bacteria in your rocks/filters/sand. when a tank is first set up if it doesnt have any decaying matter in the tank you will get perfect results when you test because there is no source of DOC or amonia. when you add fish to an aquarium they poop/pee in the water, this is converted to ammonia then nitrite then nitrate and if you have a place where anerobic bacteria to grow it will turn into nitrogen gas and buble out of the water. the first three compounds of the "cycle" are toxic, the first two are the most toxic. If you do not have a good colony of bacteria these levels can get very high before you get a good colony and it can kill livestock. this is just a quick version of how a cycle works I would suggest reading these:
Ammonia conversion to nitrate talks about the nitrogen cycle
Cycle your salt tank talks about how to do a cycle without hurting livestock
and here is a link to multiple articles that will be useful to you
Articles
depending on where you got your rock/sand and if it already has bacteria colonies on them you might not get a big cycle. I would keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite for now and also on your nitrate. your ammonia and nitrite should be at undetectable levels.
Ammonia conversion to nitrate talks about the nitrogen cycle
Cycle your salt tank talks about how to do a cycle without hurting livestock
and here is a link to multiple articles that will be useful to you
Articles
depending on where you got your rock/sand and if it already has bacteria colonies on them you might not get a big cycle. I would keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite for now and also on your nitrate. your ammonia and nitrite should be at undetectable levels.