What's the fastest way to cycle a tank

[arnald]

Ok so first off thanks for all the advise guys but I'm just wondering this cause last tank that I set up was a 40g with 25g sump and I got all the rocks from my friend that had it sitting in the backyard for over 2 years. He said put it in your tank and add livestock after 3 weeks. That's exactly what I did and nothing died. I had that set up for just over a year. Is trying to do all this extra stuff really necessary or did I just get lucky somehow. I'm kind of lost. I already put all the rocks in amd tank has been running for a week now. I was planning on doing water changes foe the next 3 weeks and check the ammonia levels before I add fish