I have never used fish of any type to cycle other than my first fish when I had no idea what I was doing or that there was a cycle to begin with. I simply did daily water changes by pure accident as I was afraid it would stink otherwise. The quickest and easiest way that I know of is the pure ammonia cycle with no fish at all, other than to purchase a very expensive product or the one from drsfostersmith.com that advertises that you can add fish immediately. The problem is that the product needs to be shipped refrigerated and that is the expense there. It is expensive but your fish can be added immediately and the cycle is more or less complete at once. The trick is not to be freaked out by the "ammonia" readings that you will get as they are false readings indicating that the filter is establishing itself. The product works but patience is needed during the first week to 10 days and I recommend anyone using it not to do the daily testing.

For beginners I usually recommend highly the ammonia method since it is quicker and leaves the tank very clean as opposed to the other fishless methods. Any method using fish is a great deal of work and water changes to keep the fish alive and takes 4 to 6 weeks to do. Sometimes even longer.

Ammonia method: (in order to do this it is important to have the liquid reageant tests not the strips for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates as you need accurate results for sure)

Day 1: get Pure ammonia probably from a hardware store (Ace Hardware is where I found mine) It cannot be colored or have additives. Also if you do not have one get an eyedropper or something that measures in drops.

The tank can be set up and the filter must be running and the water filled to the level you want it. All decor and plants can be in the tank everything BUT the fish.

Drop in 7 drops of ammonia for every 10 gallons of water capacity at a time that you can do this every day. (for 55 gallons it would be 39 drops)

Day 2 through 7- in the morning test with your test kit according to directions for Ammonia only

At the appointed time that you set feed the tank with the 7 drops of ammonia for each 10 gallons of water.

Day 8 through 10 - in the morning you start by testing for both Ammonia and Nitrite and continue with the rest of the day as before.

Day 11 through 14 - in the morning you test for all the parameters Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates. continue with the additions of the ammonia as before.

When you begin to see Nitrates you watch for the following:

The morning tests should be:

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates Present at any level (may be high at this point)

Do a 40 - 50% water change and your cycle is complete. Test for Nitrates to make sure they are below 20 the next morning and you are ready for a fish.

You will need to put a fish in very soon to sustain the cycle and you will not be able to load the tank heavily but since you have said you only anticipate one fish, it should be no problem.

That is my preferred method if you do not use one of the more expensive methods of instant cycle.

Rose

I am sorry to disagree ,but I think stressing a fish purposely for any reason is not to its advantage. I have known of people who have had bettas in community tanks but on the whole I do not believe them to be community fish. They have definite natures and personalities and most who have owned them have told me it definitely depends on the betta. Some do well and others do not tolerate other fish at all. You roll the dice and take a chance and there is just no way of knowing by looking at them if they will tolerate others or not. I choose to err on the side of caution but others are free to try the other way if they choose. It is always wise to have a back up plan in case it does not work though as there can be a disaster and someone may have to be removed.
I do not think it hurts to allow a betta to see himself but my guy sees himself in reflections in the tank walls and gets to flare and do his prancing and he does not need the extra stimulus of being forced to flare when I want him to do it.