ya it cycled,and no this is not my first tank,i have a 20 gallon tank to with 6 tiger barbs and a few other fish.and as lostncofused said its better to get the advice and info from you guys who have had the experience.things are different in the home tank than in science lab tanks witch is what i heard most sites get there info from.my lfs said that most sites get info from scientist who have a tank with no decore only heater,filter,thermometer so of course its going to be a dif result with a real setup with a close to realistic envierment.but of course they could be wrong.and lotus what are you talking about.