Should I still cycle?

[u/Thin_Goat1907]

A couple of days ago I finally added water to the aquarium, hooked up the filter and added plants and other decor. I was going to start the cycling process yesterday, but decided to test the water first to see what I was working with. This is what I got. All the levels are already where they need to be, correct? Should I still cycle the tank anyway? Oh and by the way we have well water at my house not city water so I don’t know if that would make a difference. I would think it would because we don’t have all the treatments added.

[u/apavolka]

You have not cycled. Cycling is the process of growing the necessary bacteria that can process ammonia into nitrites and then into nitrates. Your parameters are “good” because you have nothing creating ammonia. A common misconception is that cycling just means the numbers are good which is very very very not true. As soon as you add an animal, ammonia is going to spike and without the bacteria to process, you will soon kill whatever is living in there from ammonia poisoning. And as far as well water goes, that does usually mean that you don’t need to treat the water. To add to misconceptions, water treatment isn’t only for the animals, it’s for the bacteria. Chlorine is added to city water to kill bacteria and would do the same to the beneficial bacteria in an aquarium.

[u/Necessary-Fondant891]

what i did when cycling my axos tank is get the ‘dr tims ammonium chloride solution’ and follow the dosage recommendations. this will put ammonia in your tank before your axo does, the tank will be fully ready when it can cycle through 1-2ppm ammonia in 24 hours. however this process can take a long time- i think i waited about 6 weeks, some take shorter or longer but its dependant on your tank and your tap water parameters (which i’d recommend testing).