TKOS said:
The best thing for new tanks is to use dechlorinator and water changes, assuming there are fish in it. The absolute best thing is to do a fishless cycle and not worry about harming your fish.
Actually, there is no absolute best thing to do, I'm old school when comes to cycling and that's get some goldfish. Personally, I think you learn more about it by dealing with the spikes. I have done both and found cycling with fish to be a better process. IMHO, fishless cycle is quick and cheap but you do not learn a thing from it. Plus, the products have no shelf life. Which is why Biospira, Jungle fishless products are off the market in chicago.
Oniongirl- I have found basically the same information on bacteria, which is why the fishless products have no shelf life. I came across Stability at petsmart when I was looking for a veggie clip. After talking to my LFS, I learned that it was not so much as fishless but rather a bacteria "helper" for new tanks as it "helps" faster bacteria growth. I was given a bottle by them since it is new to test out. So here I'm with a bottle trying to decide if I really want to dump it into a 20 I'm cycling.