Tank advice

[iambannana]

hey there, i have bought a second hand 250l tank that came with a filter and stones, i took it home and washed everything out with tapwater (probably not the best idea after doing some research) but anywho, i filled the tank and dechlorinated it and left it sitting for 2 weeks, crusied down to the fish store under the intention of starting a fishless cycle, however he talked me into just buying some neon tetra to cycle it. ive had 10 of them in there for 21 days now and my ammonia and nitrite levels are still just sitting at 0.25 and 0, i have a little nitrate (5ppm), but it seems to have stayed at the same level the whole time.. im getting kinda impatient because i want to get some more fish in there! just wondering if i dont have enough fish in there or it just takes a realy long time to cycle a tank this big as i havent seen any spikes? or could it already be cycled? the guy at the fish store told me i would have killed all the bacteria already in the second hand filter by hosing it out.. oh and it was that aquaplant soil under the gravel and i have 5 little grassy plants if that makes a difference..
your advice would be apreciated!

 

[BHead707]

beacuse you left it sitting for 2 weeks. that time shouldnt be included in your cycle. my fish in cycle took 7 weeks! and ya it will take longer cause you have fish in there

 

[iambannana]

i havent included the 2 weeks it was sitting there, just since i added the fish and started testing..

 

[BHead707]

ok so 3 weeks your fish have been in there. the problem with fish in cycles is that the water changes keep the ammonia low thus the BB colony grows alot slower from lack of food. the filter could have had BB in it still but its hard to tell if you cant dose your ammonia up