I'd personally cycle the tank with the pH level suitable for the inhabitants that will be going into it.

I think it's better to stabilize and adjust the water parameters you want for your aquarium during the cycle period.

Sure it may increase the cycle slightly longer but it will make transition for livestock much simpler.

If you cycle at a 7.0 pH and then want to adjust to a 6.5 pH then you would either have to very slowly lower the pH which would alter other parameters.

Or lower it quickly which would also alter other parameters and upset the bacteria you're trying to cultivate during the cycle.

The key to a successful cycle is simply

Patience.

Give it time, relax, don't rush it, and do it all right the first time.

Remember, when cycling a tank you're trying to introduce and multiply bacteria which is a living source.

Just like all livestock they also don't enjoy sudden changes in conditions.

Hi Triggs great to see you back, patience has certainly been the key with my tank and the shrimp are doing extremely well.

i just found this sticky and I had been reading about bacteria and im led to believe that nitrosomonas and nitrobacter are endemic to soil and not water and research had found that the typical quickcycle products ie stresszyme (I certainly found it to be useless) die off in the tank. research found it is bio-spira which are the bacteria which colonise our tanks and not nitrosomonas and nitrobacter? perhaps thread should be updated?

Still reading and learning, keep up the good work Rev. I believe that the bacteria that perform nitrogen cycling in our tanks are still species of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. They're probably different species to those in soils, marine environments and other very divergent habitats but still members of the same group. 

 

The only "cycling" product that I suspect could contain real nitrifying bacteria is from Australia's own Aquasonic. However I don't know for sure and haven't used it or any other similar thing for years. Generally they contain other strains of bacteria (Bacillus etc) that need constant replacement hence the label recommendations to add weekly or at every water change. "Cycle" claims to contain nitrosomonas and nitrobacter strains, perhaps it does. It also claims to contain heterotrophic bacteria such as Bacillus mentioned above. 

 

I think that Instant Ocean's "Bio Spira" and Tetra's "Safe Start" are the same product in different bottles and while you do see positive reviews of both, I've never read a believable account (from a trustworthy source) of their cycling a tank "instantly", or even any quicker than is possible without them. It seems likely that all such products on the market are virtually (or completely) identical.