You guys are making this all far more complicated than it has to be.
Take a little jar with you to the petshop. On second thought, make it a big jar. Get the shopkeeper to help you squeeze a bunch of filterpads out into your jar. Don't squeeze too hard, but fill your jar with yucky brown watery slurry from as many filters as you can.
When you get back home, pour the stuff into your turned-OFF filter. Let it sit & soak for about a half-hour, then turn the filter ON.
The next day, your tank will be ready for a few fish. Never add more than 2-3 small fish at a time, and always at least 10 days apart. You'll pretty much never have to even consider that cycling exists. Do not overfeed, and do a 1/4 waterchange weekly without touching the gravel. After six weeks you'll be fully established.
By the way, and this is important, if you add a bunch of bacteria to the tank, whatever the source, it will all starve & die if it doesn't have food. Unless you use "Stability" or "Bio-Spira" you won't be able to make your tank instantly cycled. Alas, you can't get these in Canada for some reason as I understand it, so you might as well resign yourself to the fact that you're going to have to add your fish over time instead of all at once.
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