I have to add something here.. Hennie has some very valid points, as do the other people, but I think that something quite important has been missed, and this is water volume.
I for one admire the guys that run nano's successfully, I myself could not (or am too lazy to do so), as changes occur very quickly, now, in a non cycled tank that is say 200 Gallons, with one fish without any cycle, then the shear volume of water will (almost) guarantee success, as the percentage of toxins (ammonia, nitrite etc) is a measurement of ppm (and we have lots of millions), however, this could not be achieved (well almost) in a 20 gallon tank, as mr. fish will release the same amount of waste in both scenario's.
So in summary, I think that a tank cycle involves the establishment of beneficial bacteria at all stages, however toxicity to marine annimals will always be based on ppm. So the new guys, who generally start with small tanks, no quick cycle trick (bad wording, but you know what I mean), as the odds are stacked up against you from the very beginning. Jojo22 summarized it very well on page two with her "Rant" go back and read it.