Tank readings...UPDATED!

[FishNoob]

Some background:

My tank has been up and running for about 4 to 4.5 months. I have been doing regular water changes because of the cycle with fish (ammonia never got above .5). When I started (29 gallon already had the 6 fish below in sig.) I put the filter media from my 5 gallon into the 29 gallon. The 5 gallon had some upside-down catfish that died of ich. It was 2 to 3 days before I put the filter material into the 29 gallon (after the the cats died).

I have been testing regularly with the test strips and haven't seen any nitrite show up. The other day I had Nitrate readings of 40ppm. I did a 30% water change. All 6 of my fish are alive and well, oh, and I also have a brown algae bloom on most of the decorations.

Tank reading right now (as of 5/19):
Ammonia: 0 for the last 5-7 days
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <5
Ph: 8
Temperature: 82 degrees Farenheit
GH: 6
KH: 6

My questions:

Is my tank cycled?
I never saw any nitrites, is this possible? Could that bacteria lived on the old filter?
You think I should wait to add more fish?

Yes the 5 gallon was a cycled tank. Just wanting to know hwat everyone thought about this.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I never cycle tanks, I just use established filter media. Your tank is likely to be cycled. Just keep your eye on it.

 

[FishNoob]

Thanks Cheese Specialist, that's what I was thinking, but just wanted to get someone else's thoughts on this.

Ed

 

[modernhamlet]

Just give it a week, testing every 2-3 days. If the Ammonia and Nitrites stay at 0, you're good to go...

What fish do you plan to add next?

 

[barbiya]

Just want to add my experiences. I've started up 2 more tanks in the past few months, using filter media from my established tank. I've never seen any nitrite, either. I tested daily as I was paranoid that I'd see a spike of ammonia or nitrite. Works great!

On the adding fish, personally, I will never again add more that 2-4 fish at a time, depending on their size. I've decided that nothing good can come from stocking up too quickly. JMO.

 

[Sky042]

test your tap water.
If your tap water nitrate readings are far below your tank readings and you have zero ammonia and zero nitrite then you know for sure your biological filter is working perfectly.

 

[FishNoob]

Just give it a week, testing every 2-3 days. If the Ammonia and Nitrites stay at 0, you're good to go... 

What fish do you plan to add next?

Cool! I plan on adding about 3-5 more zebra danio's to start with. Once everything catches up again I want to add some oto's (don't know how many).

Thanks for sharing your experience barbiya, I thought I was going crazy for a minute....no nitrites, what the heck is going on!

Good idea Sky042, I never thought of that...gonna go do it right now.

Update: Nitrate from the tap is 0.

Thanks everyone,
Ed