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Yeah, test your nitrites and nitrates. It'll tell you how the cycle is going. Get more ammonia in there afterwards. When your system processes ammonia in 24 hours, you're cycled.
Water from another aquarium will do nothing, fish food and LR alone will not get it done either. You need to add a large ammonia source and get it above 4-5 ppm.
Not that. And I wouldn't do the pellets either as that will add a bunch of phosphates to the water as well. Which combined with elevated nitrate from cycling should fuel a pretty big algae bloom.
Just wait until you can get to the store to grab an uncooked shrimp. An while you cycle, just keep your lights off to avoid algae blooms from the increased nutrients that'll be there and you'll be removing with a big water change when the cycle is completed.
I would use an aquarium safe putty and super glue gel, it must be the gel with the active ingredient cyanoacriate (or something like that). I use loctite gel super glue. I would make a ball with the putty and put glue on both ends kind of twist when you push them together so it gets all in the crevices
Edit: cyanoacrylate