Could my tank already be cycled?

[monstersmom]

So I bought my second tank used 3 weeks ago. I set everything up and have been using flakes as I have yet to find a pure ammonia source for cycling. If also used some squeezings from my filter media, as well as using the media I replaced the weekend after purchasing the tank in order to help speed up the cycle. I also had to wait for my test kit to come in which it finally did today.

My results
Ammonia- 0
NitrIte-0
NitrAte- 5

Now since there is no ammonia reading or nitrites does this mean that the tank has cycled in such a short time, or is the cycle just in the begining stages. It just find it weird that nitrates are so low with everything else being low.

 

[BHead707]

test your tap water to see if there is nitrate in it. also im kinda confused about the filter media part of your post. did you seed in in your old tank first?

 

[monstersmom]

Yes I seeded the media in my old tank first, I figured that if it went as long as it usually does before I replace it enough bacteria would have built up. Ill test my tap water for nitrates in the morning and see what I get.

 

[jetajockey]

how long has the tank been running? Flakes will cause a little bit of ammonia but not a whole lot, and it takes a while to break down into ammonia.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree, dosing with flakes isn't the best way to determine whether the tank is cycled. It could be showing 0 ammonia b/c it's cycled, or because the fish food didn't break down into enough ammonia to show on the kit. If you can get some pure ammonia, dose it up to 3-4 and test for a week to see what happens it would be a better (and safer) indicator.