a heads up from the industry
the seller's industry: they have a different cycling approach than buyers do
buyers are trained (by forum cycling peers and youtube videos) to doubt + fear cycling bacteria in water as unable, and to buy multiple bottles of bacteria or just wait extra arbitrary weeks adding multiple supports for cost in order to get a perfect reading of zero (post cycle tanks don't run zero, so that's a beneficial habit for the seller's to receive from buyers)
sellers who manage large fish shipments in and out, such as Dr. Reef's quarantined fish, simply take fritz and dump it in a large holding vat for expensive fish and they stay in there a long time
they don't test for anything, because it's not needed. sellers are completely confident in cycling and cycle times
I knew you weren't going to try and carry fifteen hundred dollars in fish on the first pass, that was factored into your cycle timeline we used confidently to call your cycle done. your api test kits weren't factored, although they happen to agree this time. this thread we're in would be much more fun if your ammonia was darker green, everyone would be 1000% sure the bacteria were dead/the bottle was dead
and that's the trained difference between sellers and buyers. sellers can make a cycle call knowing nothing about your system other than a couple points of information, without testing at all. what bac you used and how long it's been in the water are the two confirmation points here, that's sellers angling.
most of the 'rules' about cycling are written by direct bottle bac sellers. that's why you have people who factor nitrite into a marine cycle (we don't need to know it) and that's why you expect zero ammonia before accepting a cycle is done, it's that doubt training that's permeated the hobby. sellers never doubt, they command a cycle, they skip cycles. you are ten days wait past how long it takes fritz to carry fish in a new setup.
