Agreed, wait a couple of weeks, feed fish daily..
check ammonia nitrites and nitrates, if ammonia don't rise or if u get nitrates/trites by the end of the 2 week period. you're cycled...or in the middle of it..
if u get nothing, then its been cycled..cause 2 months is plenty to show nutrient accumulating , unless u misssed the nitrogen cycle.
Nitrates don't apper or dissapear like a fart in the wind... they are the end product of nitrified ammonia( unused organics). Ammonia, Nitrites,nitrates are linked together..
you cannot get one and not the other, neither can ur tank process one without the other..(unless one of those its coming from a manmade source)..
uneaten food/fish poop/excess nutrients all break down into their organic components and must be dealt with. to start this There must be an initial source of organic material to seed the cycling process. (AKA CYCLING)
Now, ammonia will be the first detectable nutrient. Ammonia is deadly to marine life, even in tiny concentrations. Nitrifying bacteria will convert ammonia into nitrite, which is also toxic to marine life, and then further convert it into nitrate, which is much less harmful. Deep sand beds allow populations of anaerobic bacteria to thrive and convert nitrate into nitrogen gas and water. which can be and must be exported by anymeans..
Always add new livestock to a cycled tank slowly to make sure that the tank's bacteria population has a chance to adapt to the increased bioload..
Nitrifying bacteria ABUNDANCE + aneorobic bacteria colonies defines the resulting end product accumulation, regarless of skimmer and mechanical filtration used..
skimmer and filters are just insurance against nitrates. but they're not exporters...thas when the dsb's,macro algea,waterchanges,ect come in handy..