Is My Tank Cycled?

[xgillian89x]

i asked in a previous post of mine this but havent had any replies, hope its ok i start a new post since its kind of a different subject?
 
i got a tank from someone and used his filter, gravel etc (water parameters were all good) i filled the tank up, left it over night and there was nothing in the water so i added some ammonia. think i added too much to start but it gradually dropped itself. i did do a water change which hurried it up a bit. the full time there was ammonia present there was a very small amount of nitrates. over the last couple of days i have added more ammonia (not as much as the first time) and it has gone within hours. i havent at any point when ive checked had any nitrites present but now my parameters are 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and about 50ppm nitrates after adding ammonia about 14 hours ago. does this mean my tank is cycled? ive only ever cycled a tank from scratch before, its just totally confused me as to why ive totally missed out nitrites? dont want to put my fish in for it to spike again but if im putting pure ammonia in and its changing to nitrates within hours does that mean its ok? any help would be much appreciated as i have no room with 2 fishtanks so if its cycled i can move everything over. thanks

 

[Gruntle]

Sounds like you're cycled if you've added 3ppm ammonia and it's gone all the way through to nitrates in 14 hours.
 
If you bought an established tank that was previously cycled and not left empty for a long time, I would say there's nothing unusual in your quick result.

 

[xgillian89x]

Thanks for your reply will add some more ammonia tonight as not going to have a chance to get anything done until tomorrow and will check it again before I water change then will add my fish in tomorrow.