Quick question for a friend

[KJones90s]

Hey guys, a friend of mine is setting up a tank to house a mantis peacock shrimp.
The animal is going to be at his house Friday.
He has not yet set up his aquarium to house the pet and is planning to do so tomorrow.
My concern is that the tank still needs to cycle before adding the animal and I’m not sure that he has enough time to do that. He’s starting his tank with boiled live rock and premixed RODI water purchased from a lfs.
Being that the way I set up my tank is different (dry rock,RODI water mixed at home), it took my tank weeks to cycle.
My question to you is, does live rock have an effect on the cycling process and is it likely the tank is going to be ready by the end of the week? It is a 30 gallon bow front aquarium with a hob filter and a small power head from petsmart for flow and gas exchange.
Please no bashing guys, I just wanna help my buddy out and help him keep his animal alive.
He’s new to the hobby and I’m worried he jumped the gun, I don’t want him to kill the animal and turn from the it.
Any advice helps, I’m not in the position to home the animal for him as we reside in different states btw.

 

[F i s h y]

I would say IMO that your friend has "jumped the gun". I dont see how the tank can be cycled fast enough and ready for something like a mantis. The only advice I can really give is to see if the purchase can be canceled so that the tank can be correctly cycled. Otherwise I think the odds of success are very low.

Edit* I have never kept a mantis. I could be off base, but would fully expect an established tank to be a requirement to house one. Hopefully others with experience with the shrimp will chime in...

 

[Sosuke]

I would say IMO that your friend has "jumped the gun". I dont see how the tank can be cycled fast enough and ready for something like a mantis. The only advice I can really give is to see if the purchase can be canceled so that the tank can be correctly cycled. Otherwise I think the odds of success are very low.

Edit* I have never kept a mantis. I could be off base, but would fully expect an established tank to be a requirement to house one. Hopefully others with experience with the shrimp will chime in...

+1 Maybe he could add biospira to the tank to not shock the shrimp

 

[KJones90s]

I would say IMO that your friend has "jumped the gun". I dont see how the tank can be cycled fast enough and ready for something like a mantis. The only advice I can really give is to see if the purchase can be canceled so that the tank can be correctly cycled. Otherwise I think the odds of success are very low.

Edit* I have never kept a mantis. I could be off base, but would fully expect an established tank to be a requirement to house one. Hopefully others with experience with the shrimp will chime in...

I was afraid you were going to say that, I though being relatively new to the saltwater game myself thought that the addition of live rock might effect the nitrogen cycle happens and if using live rock contributes to the “maturity” of a tank.

 

[Auquanut]

When you say the live rock is boiled, do you mean "cooked" in a bucket of SW and a pump, or literally boiled? If it's the latter, the rock is no longer "live" and there's no chance of jump starting the cycle. Either way, I don't know of any way to ensure the tank will be anywhere ready in time. If he can postpone the delivery, I would counsel him to do it.

 

[KJones90s]

When you say the live rock is boiled, do you mean "cooked" in a bucket of SW and a pump, or literally boiled? If it's the latter, the rock is no longer "live" and there's no chance of jump starting the cycle. Either way, I don't know of any way to ensure the tank will be anywhere ready in time. If he can postpone the delivery, I would counsel him to do it.

Boiled...I’m getting more pessimistic by the moment, I think I should try to talk him into postponing, afraid I won’t be able to.

 

[F i s h y]

I think that is the best course of action. Almost certain failure if they don't postpone....

 

[KJones90s]

He’s now thinking about using dr Tim’s to jump start the nitrifying process but I’m still concerned he doesn’t have enough time to let nature take its course.
He saw some video on YouTube about cycling a tank in 48 hours and wants to try that.
I think it’s a load of crap though.

 

[Sosuke]

He should cancel the order IMO if you do use something like that you still should let the tank cycle a bit. The mantis will most likely not survive in an unstable tank

 

[homer1475]

And this is why people get in, and out of the hobby so fast.

Real live rock, will help skip the cycle of the tank, but anything that was live, is now dead once he boiled it.

FYI you should never boil live rock, it's how people die from palytoxin.

 

[code4]

If he can't postpone is there a chance that you have some sponge that has been in your tank for a long period of time? He could put it into his HOB and hope that the bacteria could help with the cycle. Also check ammonia daily and be ready to do large water changes. Not the best course of action either way. But a sponge can help.

 

[KJones90s]

If he can't postpone is there a chance that you have some sponge that has been in your tank for a long period of time? He could put it into his HOB and hope that the bacteria could help with the cycle. Also check ammonia daily and be ready to do large water changes. Not the best course of action either way. But a sponge can help.

I live in Michigan, he’s located in Denver, CO. So unfortunately not...

 

[KJones90s]

And this is why people get in, and out of the hobby so fast.

Real live rock, will help skip the cycle of the tank, but anything that was live, is now dead once he boiled it.

FYI you should never boil live rock, it's how people die from palytoxin.

So apparently it is dry rock.
For some confusing reason the lfs employee told him to boil it anyway....I’m as confused as you guys are they they can be so irresponsible.
I’m trying to talk him into giving the animal to a lfs to care for until he can get his tank up and running the right way because I don’t want him to stray from the hobby.
He just started
I sent him the 52 weeks of reefing series on YouTube to hopefully educate him a little bit.