Since you said you were new, I am making the assumption that you are new to fish keeping. Please excuse me if you already know some or all of the stuff I am posting.
First, just a very simple explanation on the nitrogen process: Fish, emit ammonia via pee or poo. Once your tank is cycled, there will be bacteria that transforms ammonia, a toxic substance to fish, into nitrite (with an I). There will also be bacteria that transforms nitrite, also a toxic substance to fish, into nitrate (with an A). Nitrate then is used by plants or algae as food. The only way to remove nitrate from your water if you don't have plants to use it is with water changes. Nitrate is also a toxic substance but not nearly as much so as ammonia or nitrite. Proper levels in a tank for ammonia and nitrite are zero. Anything higher is a sign of a problem. Nitrate should be kept no higher than 40 ppm but probably less than 20 ppm if possible.
To do a true fishless cycle, you are probably looking at between 2 weeks (extremely fast) to 6 weeks (extremely slow). Most of the time it takes 3 to 4 weeks. A true fishless cycle means no fish until the tank is completely cycled but it also means that once you are done, you can add all your fish at once. Here is what you do:
Now, to cycle. Set the tank up with everything you will have in it once the fish are added except possibly live plants (will get to those later). Turn the heater up to the mid to upper 80s and add an airstone to give you plenty of aeration. If you don't want to buy one, you can just leave the water level down slightly so that the water from the filter splashes into the tank creating as much aeration as possible. Buy yourself a Master Test Kit so you can test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Add enough PURE ammonia (fish food will work OK if you can't find ammonia but ammonia is better) to raise the ammonia level to 4 to 6 ppm and then start researching the fish you want to get.
Test the ammonia daily to see if it has changed. Once you see a drop in the ammonia, test the nitrite. You should have at least a low reading. During all this you don't need to add any ammonia or fish food because it is already there. Continue to test daily until the ammonia level finally drops to zero. Your nitrites should be getting pretty high by now.
Once the ammonia hits zero, add enough ammonia again to bring the level up to about 1 ppm. Test both the ammonia and nitrite daily. Every time it drops to zero, raise it back to 1 ppm. The nitrite reading will get so high that it is probably off the measuring chart you have. That's not a problem since you don't have fish.
You should also start checking for nitrates during this time. As soon as you start seeing nitrates, you know that you are developing the bacteria that processes nitrite. The nitrite spike takes the longest to drop, probably about twice as long as the ammonia. Keep adding ammonia and testing. Once the nitrite drops to zero which will almost literally happen over night, do a 75% water change and you are done. Now all you have to do is add fish.
If for some reason, you can't get to the LFS for a few days, just keep adding ammonia daily to raise the level to around 1 ppm. You have to keep the bacteria fed until you add the fish.
I mentioned plants earlier. You can add them during the cycling but they may consume part of the ammonia and slow the cycling process. Also they will get covered in brown algae which is a side product of all the nutrients (nitrate) that are being created by the nitrifying process.
On the other hand, if you plan to have a heavily planted tank, you can almost skip the cycling process as the plants will be able to process the waste until your bacteria form.
Sorry this is so long. Hope it helps.
