See if any of your LFS will give you a squeezing of their filter floss---that is how I got my tank going (As long as they have a healthy fish system it is the best way to cycle a tank, IMO)
They are actually selling 'kleen off' on a few aquarium websites for the purpose of 'fishless cycling'...
I bought it from a hardware store for like €3 but instead of using it im just using fish food...I really dont fancy messing around with chemicals in my tank..