What's up with these test readings?

[roark fishies]

A quick background: I'm cycling my 10G with fish because I up and decided one day that I wanted a fish tank but knew nothing about testing water and ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Classic newbie mistake I guess. Anyway, I'm 5-6 weeks in it now. Yesterday my readings were Ammonia 0, Nitrites .5-1.0, Nitrates 0. I done about a 10% water change. Today Ammonia 0, nitrites 1-2, Nitrates 0. I done about 40% water change today. After 5-6 weeks in, where are the nitrates? I thought I would have some by now. Is is because I have to do so many water changes and it's just taking longer?

 

[MissFishy]

Yeah, that is probably it. You are doing the right thing with the water changes to keep the fish alive, but it is probably slowing down your cycle. Do you have any plants in this tank? If you have plants, you may not see any nitrates at all. Either way, try to keep the nitrite levels as low as possible, as big of a pain as those water changes can be. Since the ammonia is 0, you shouldn't have long now.

 

[roark fishies]

Thanks for the response MissFishy. At least I know the readings are normal. That's what I needed to know. It's encouraging to know I'm at least getting closer.
No I have no plants. I just don't feel ready for those yet. I'm doing good just to keep the fish alive!