It certainly won't take months. All you need is some bio material from an established tank. Thank you for the concern though.
Thanks for the couple of suggestions, to those that gave them, as well.
Very true and should be an instant cycle for you, verified with your test kit of course.
I too prefer live plants, but that can be easier said than done. What type of lighting do you have with this tank? It looks like the standard lower intensity LED hood you'd get with a tank kit? It might support lower light, rhizome plants like anubia or java fern. Both can be had at even the boxiest of box store pet shops. Regardless, plants are much better had through a fish group if you have any local. Problem with a 10g is, you don't have a lot of footprint to work with, so you need to take that into account with your plant choices.