Tank still trying to cycle?

[bshenanagins]

So my tank has been running for over a month now but I'm under the impression my tank has not fully cycled. I transfered my fluval 304 from my tiny 10 gallon to the 40 so there should be plenty of bacteria in the filter to speed up the process. It is still SLIGHTLY cloudy and ALL my readings are negative for Ammonia(0), Nitrite (0), and Nitrate (0). My PH is about 7.6 which bothers me and I wish it was lower so any advice on fixing that would be excellent. Anyway, I should have some nitrate readings if it was cycled correct? Is it possible that my plants are just eating it all up or is that excessive? I have two java ferns, an amazon sword, some micro swords, 4 anubias nana, and some Willow Hygro. My uncle assures me that this is not the case and that I should show nitrate so he believes im still cycling and I think he's right. I also keep losing fish here and there which is irritating and they are all healty. Whats the verdict gentlemen? THanks.

 

[aqua_chem]

You don't cycle the tank, you cycle the filter. If you moved all your filter from one tank to another, then all your bacteria are still there and will rapidly recovery and adapt to a new bioload. Its entirely possible that the plants are eating up the nitrates, but its also possible that you're getting a false negative because you're not shaking your nitrate test kits hard enough or long enough. The cloudiness is usually related to different biological processes in the tank itself (not the filter), and can take weeks to naturally clear up.