Thanks for the replies. However, I am curious as to how long a tank has to exhibit a certain chemical balance before it can be "officially" deemed to be cycled. For example, suppose I am checking my levels every three days and I see that the ammonia is zero (which it has been at for a while now) but I see that the nitrate is hovering around at a certain level. OK, to make it easier to see my situation here is what I have seen on nitrates, by the numbers and by the dates (all readings are in ppm's of course):
6/15: 2.5 (this was taken about 5 hours after the introduction of all the LR, live sand etc).
6/17: 5.0
6/19: 5.0
6/21: 5.0
6/24: 5.0
6/28: 5.0
7/4: 2.5
7/9: 2.5
7/18: 5.0 (this was taken a few hours after I added some more livestock - sorry about that
Niitrites have been zero since the 6/28 reading.
Ammonia has been zero since the 7/4 reading.
Thanks
John