Question: Cycling help

Hi all, I had a question about cycling. I read up on how to do it with a pure ammonia source. I set up my tank and am ready to start the process, however I had a few questions. This is how my setup went:

Oct 17 - Set up 10 gallon tank. Tank previously housed a turtle. Scrubbed clean with vinegar and water. Added 2 tank decorations (plastic rock platforms) that were previously with the turtle, that were scrubbed clean with just hot water. Added a small airstone.
Oct 19 - Added a Aqua Tech hang-on-back power filter.
Oct 21 - Added 3 live plants to the tank, which came from a petshop tank with fish.
Oct 23 - Water parameters are ammo/nitrites 0 and nitrates 5.

During this time, I didn't start adding any ammonia or do any water changes. I just tested the water today and those were the levels. I read that a cycled tank should have 0 ammo/nitrites and less than 20 nitrates. Is it a silly question to ask if my tank has cycled itself somehow with bacteria from the turtle tank decorations or the live plants?

Should I start adding ammonia and try the actual cycling process? When is it safe to move my axolotl into the tank? Also the filter I got says "New BIO-Fiber removes ammonia and nitrate 'on contact'"... If my tank isn't actually cycled, then would this "bio fiber" actually be hampering my efforts if I started adding ammonia to do the fishless cycle? What should I do in that case?

Thanks for any advice!!

Hello
10 gallon is a little too small for a fully grown axie with decor and filter ect, are you planning on upgrading?

Did the turtle filter ect stay in water with the filter still running?

The bacteria from a cyled tank will only live for a few hours if its still kept wet with the filter not running.

You wont have readings of ammonia, if there is no ammonia being put in the tank, i.e fish(axies)/food/pure ammonia.

So to answer your question, if your doing a fishless cycle, start adding the pure ammonia, but you will literally only need 1 drop a day, to your tank (daily) with the filter and everything running.
Then in a few days time, test the water and you should see the cycling starting to work

I will most likely upgrade in the future, but for now I'm using the 10gal since I already had it and it wasn't being used

Thanks for the info! I can conclude that nothing had bacteria on it (besides the plants maybe) since it was all out of water for quite some time

Ok, will start adding ammonia and waiting.

Thank you!