I have never fishless cycled a single tank, let alone a planted tank, I think it's simply not ever required for a planted tank........the plant roots have active bacteria and the leaves and surfaces do as well.
I've never once been able to detect ANY NH4 or NO2 in any planted tank I've ever done.
If you have an established tank already, then use the dirty filter water to seed a new tank.
New tanks should get frequent good size water changes anyway, so there's no point at all in doing this and it's frankly, a waste of time.
But what do I know.
I said the bacteria are on the plants and the their roots.
Which they are........
And plants remove NH4 directly, so why bother with FC?
This is topic that is well over 15 years old on mailign list and forums and folks still think FC is some great thing or something they should tell every newbie to do. I do not get it.
I've yet to see any risk associated with this, and yes, I've been around and looked and talked to many folks for decades.
Cannot be from a lack of discussion with hobbyists or not enough tanks/experience here.
Mr. Barr,
You are an acknowledged learned and experienced aquatic hobbyist, and the 'no cycling necessary' approach you have taken for all these years is unquestionably fully effective. And yes, you cannot also be faulted for describing an FC as a "waste of time".
The problem lies with giving newbies this type of advice without clearly elaborating on the 'How-To's', the essential Do's and Dont's, and without outlining the precise step by step procedure for successfully implementing a 'silent' cycle.
This apparently is what you 'don't get', but should, and is precisely the reason why many experienced hobbyists advocate FC's.
Fishless cycles are described in detail in many articles, threads and stickies on aquarium forums, and newbies can readily follow step by step procedures for preparing a new tank without risking loss of fish life.
Literally every aquaria forum is rife with tales of woe, of hundreds or thousands of failures, or fish loss disasters each year, when newbies try to set up their first fish tank without any cycle at all, or by doing a fish-in cycle, or by some form of 'silent' cycle such as you describe.
Because they have limited or no experience, and have no idea what to look out for, or lack a common sense approach to what is feasible or appropriate, or not, newbies all too frequently make bad judgments as to: stocking levels (e.g. immediately adding a dozen large fish to a 20 gal tank, or; water changes ( e.g.assume that a once a month wc is quite satisfactory to bring down a rising ammonia level, or; planting a tank ( e.g. place 2 or 3 small plants in a 29 gal tank and expect it to be immediately cycled). These are just some examples, but the list of faux pas, and problems associated with a new tank set-up, is endless.
It's Murphy's Law at work, which we all should appreciate and accept as fact.
These are the very reasons why serious, committed, and experienced aquarists will opt to responsibly, and cautiously, advise newbies to undertake FC's.
Having said all of this, if you were to undertake to write a suitably methodical and relatively detailed article on the silent cycle method to be followed by beginners, and have same posted on the forums of which you are a member (and which you and others of us could refer newcomers to) then there would be no grounds for others to take issue with your brief commentaries on the subject, such as what you have done here, as well as on the Planted Tank forum.
That's my take on the subject, with all due respect to you and your experience, and at the risk of my being found to be rude and offensive.
