I'm not sure they require soaking. I sowed some Xmas cactus seed last week, no soaking involved.

I haven't sown other cactus seeds, but have for Hoyas & I always do it in covered container. I believe they'll dry out too soon otherwise.

I think 65 is too cool. And what type of light source in the basement? Some cacti need bright light/sun to germinate and I think Golden Barrel is one of them. You could probably get away without soaking them as long as you keep the soil moist.

Just sowed them tonight. I used a 72 cell liner, with a bottom heat mat. They are covered. They are under a 6' double flouresent strip light. I used reg pot. soil mixed with sand. I barely covered them and pressed them into the mixture. I misted them very well. I just did not want to soak them cuz they are so tiny. They were very fresh from phoenix, lets hope their up in a couple weeks. I put about 3-4 seeds in the middle of each cell, so hopefully, i wont have to repot/move them. I love golden barrel cacti, just dont love handling any cactus. Wish me luck. I also used captan45 fungicide for damping off as a soil treatment. I think i have done everything right, it was not easy, let's see if they really are "easy" to grow!