You absolutely can start the cycle using a bare 10 gallon tank. It's also true that a filter that can handle 5 ppm ammonia in a small tank won't be able to process that much in a 100 gallon tank.
It all comes down to how much ammonia the bioload will produce and whether the filter will be able to handle it. A biofilter than can process waste from 3 goldfish will be able to do so on a 10 gallon tank or a 100 gallon tank.
If you want to get a big jump on cycling the large tank, put the filter on the 10 gallon tank and follow normal fishless cycling procedures (i.e., dosing daily to 5 ppm ammonia). When the tank is cycled (when ammonia/nitrite are zero 24 hours after dosing) start increasing the amount of ammonia added daily (either by boosting the concentration of a single dosing or by adding ammonia more than once a day). You can gradually increase the biofilter's capacity, while on the 10 gallon tank, so that it can handle a full bioload in the larger tank. You just want to avoid extremely high concentrations of ammonia because there is strong anecdotal evidence that high ammonia levels inhibit the nitrite-eating bacteria.
Hope this helps,
Jim
