I think the discussion has turned in the wrong direction. I don't see any mention of cycling in Tropica's article. I'm pretty sure that the balance they are referring to at the 90 day mark is the balance established when your plants have reached a mature stage in the tank and are in balance with the amount of fertilizer you are adding (and CO2, lighting etc).
I did follow Tropica's strategy somewhat for my main tank. I added the algae eaters first and no other fish for about 45 days or so. I also slowly ramped up my fertilizer levels as plants got larger. I can't say that there was a noticeable difference between that setup and my other planted tanks where I just added plants, fertilizer and a few fish immediately.
I knew someone would come along and understand what I was talking about
I agree when you say that the mentioning of the 90 day cycling period is more so to do with being balanced for optimal plant growth, not balanced as in "time to add fish".
When you say that you followed the strategy a bit, did you also do the large 50% water changes for the first couple weeks and then cut down to the 30% or do you have your own method?
Also, Do you believe that the use of potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, trace, and iron are all essential as liquid ferts even if you have a substrate which provides all elements besides potassium ?
