Old too
I watched Howdy Doody when it was on live and TV went to a test pattern with a Indian on it. They weren't "native Americans" yet.

Anyway, the glop in your filter gives you an instant cycle. I once started up a 300 gallon system using the filter goop from my feeder guppy tank. I added 1000 Malaysian Prawn juvies the same day. No issues. In a large system the bacteria can multiply to meet the needs long before the system goes toxic.