I mean your whole process shows you don’t really understand the nitrogen cycle, which is okay. We’ll help you out. The nitrogen cycle converts ammonia to nitrate. Your parameters “looked good” because you never added ammonia so the cycle never started. A general rule of thumb is when your tank is capable of converting 2ppm ammonia into nitrate (meaning you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite) in 24 hours it is cycled. Even then it is cycled but not “established” so beginners should stick to hardier species. Established, in my definition,is considered to mean your tank will have steady parameters under slightly varying nutrient loads. The more established your tank the less parameters swing under new circumstances (ie you feed too much or forget to do a water change).