Howdy fellow aquarists!

[Myraan]

I did cycle my tank without fish. This is an established tank that I crashed by removing too much bacteria at once and I'm trying to restart the cycle while keeping my buddies as stress free as possible.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I just meant yes it will probably take a while because when you do all the water changes to protect the fish, you are removing the bacteria's food supply. And you will likely have to go through whole thing every time stocking is increased.

If you are lucky plants will make it all easier and faster.