Yes you can leave it fishless and let it cycle on it´s own, your tank already has what it needs in order to cycle, but that doesn´t mean that after cycling on it´s own you will be able to stock it full abruptly. Here´s the catch, in order for your tank to "cycle" you have to seed it with nitrifying bacteria ( from another tank or purchased in freeze dried or liquid form ), that original bacteria pupulation you added will remain dormant until the conditions allow them to become active, that is, until they have "food" ( nitrogenous compounds ) that "food" can be given in several ways, with ammonium ( fishless cycling ) or by adding fish and/or fish food, once the bacteria have something to chew on they will begin multiplying, as they begin to mutiply they will begin breaking down and transforming the ammonia into nitrites and later into nitrates, this process will go on until all the ammonia is consumed ( the levels drop to zero ), then until the nitrites are gone ( the levels drop to zero ) and the only remaining part left are the nitrates. Depending upon how much food the bacteria were supplied with the population will grow to a certain level. You have X ammount of bacteria to methabolize X ammount of fish waste. Everytime you add fish the ammount of waste increases, so new bacteria have to develop to take care of that increase in the waste levels, if you exceed the carrying capacity of the tank that balance collapses and again new tank syndrome appears ( high levels of ammonia, high levels of nitrites ). The way the system protects itself is by eliminating the cause of the unbalance ---> killing fish until the balance is restored to acceptable levels. Some fish are more resistant to increased ammonia and nitrite levels than others, those fish are the ones that survive the meleè, the others don´t. Don´t feel dissapointed, most of us fish keepers learned the lesson the hard way just like you. Did you purchase the tank in an aquarium store ? Most aquarium owners are or have been hobbyists and most offer technical advice when setting up your first tank, the mentality of them is different they in it not for the money ( few get rich selling tropical fish for exception of the dealers and breeders ), they are in it because they love the hobby and what could be better than make a decent living doing what you love ?, on the other hand chainstores and pet stores only see you as a sign of money and the people that work in them is by far well qualified. You say you have a filter with two different kinds of "filters" in it, brand & model ? more specific details are needed, "two" filters tell me nothing.

Get a soil test done at your local Agricultural center. They are University based and do intensive studies. Please don't buy any kind of meter for soil test or moisture. They are inaccurate . It only cost 7 bucks here for the test. I have to send it in and pay postage. Some states you just have to take soil samples in and they will test it right there in the office. It will tell you what you need and don't need.

I think the FAQ on this method that I linked below will answer all your questions. Soil - any good quality soil-less potting mix. Seed starting mix is fine and you do not fertilize just germinated seedlings. Only feed and then only in a well diluted amount after the seedling develops 1-2 sets of true leaves. Dave PS: also review the How to grow tomatoes from seed FAQ on this forum. Here is a link that might be useful: The baggie method FAQ

Some people love toploaders and curse front loaders. Some people love frontloaders and curse top loaders. Some people wouldn't have a machine without a heater and some don't care. Personally, I look for what cycles the heater works. Often they only work on a cycle or two and that would not justify the cost to me. Some have physical issues with bending and yes, even sitting to do laundry. I solved my dryer issue with some cement blocks and a homemade pallet. Raised the dryer up 14" and I have a nice table now with the hamper door. (I have the 7.4 cf Whirlpool dryer. Beats the daylights out of the previous Frigidaire and yes, even the Maytag dependable care dryer I had) Some are sold on brand name. That's foolish IMO. Many times you don't know where or by whom they're built. What should be important? IMO your budget is the #1 consideration. Always. Then consider any preferences, how much laundry you do, what features you find important and the other things. There's a bunch of threads here addressing this topic. Seems like this question is asked many times a month and often gets the same people arguing the same points. FWIW, my sister bought a Cabrio unit a couple months ago. I tried to convince her to go with the heater but she is old-world, haven't had one - no need for one... She couldn't be happier with her Cabrio. She decided (and rightly so IMO) to repair her dryer rather than buy a new one. Dryers are pretty basic all in all. There's pros and cons to everything. I don't care what brand you take for example every brand will have people who have had bad luck with it somewhere, sometime. For my money, they're all pretty much the same reliability-wise when you factor price into the equation and sometimes the cheaper units are more cost-effective. High end unit owners will scream theirs is so much better and 10 times the price. To compare to what I have, they'd need to last 300+ years to be comparable in service. I haven't seen one go that long yet. How often you wash, how big a loads you wash, what wash habits you have, can all factor in too. Generally, FL take longer to wash. Some units with heaters can take upward of 3-4 hours to do a load. If you're a person who does one (or maybe 2) loads every day, this isn't an issue. If you're one who wants to wash 10 loads on a Saturday, this will make a difference. If you're used to one technology, a different one will have a learning curve. If you don't like to learn new things, then factor that in too. How big a laundraholic/laundromaniac are you? If you get into technical details, you might like new gadgets. If you want clean clothes, a rock and a river or a tub and washboard will do the job. Many people bring on their own troubles by not learning how to use their machines properly. There's a lot of info on here, I highly recommend reading through the threads. Yes, it'll take some time and there's a variety of opinions and disagreements. See where you weigh in on the controversies! Happy hunting.