mantis food?

[mrjayjay13]

hie i just have a mantis and i m so so happy

he s so hot

ibut how often do you feed them?

i try with brine shrimp,he doesn t like it so i buy him some ghost shrimp it tokk least than ten minutes before he killed eveybody!!

thanks

[05XRunner]

I feed mine every other day..I buy 2 large uncooked frozen shrimp at grocery store..cost 56cents.

Then i cut a nice sliver off and put it on a feeding stick. takes it within 5sec. and that amount of shrimp will last me a few weeks of feeding.

 

OHH why is it in trading section.

[Kirin1]

Mine will go for Ghost Shrimp as well, but seems to prefer Molusks so he can get in a good smash.

 

Cool thing about a Mantis, you can stock the tank with Live Foods like snails, and he'll eat when he's hungry, like a normal predator. Just restock the tank once they're all depleted. If you're gonna stick to Ghost Shrimp (much cheaper than snails from most LFS) I'd think a time or two a week would do, but I'd like to hear from some of the Mantis Cult Elders on this one, as I'm new to Stomatopods.

 

I've also discovered a special treat for my Mantis (Jefe). I recently moved my 5.5 into my new BC14. That tank has a breeding population of Stomatella snails (renewable live food source, hitch-hiked in w/my LR), and I found some eggs while cleaning out the old fuge. I dropped them into Jefe's 2.5 and he swam out and snapped them up before they hit bottom. Tasty!

[mrjayjay13]

you never feed him with livestock?

[05XRunner]

you never feed him with livestock?

I started off trying..he wouldnt go after it. But as soon as I put the shrimp in he takes it off the stick in seconds.

[Kirin1]

I started off trying..he wouldnt go after it.

 

What kind of live food were you trying?

[05XRunner]

fish..he is a spearing type..not a smasher.

 

Guess he is tame.

When he comes to take the food. he isnt aggressive about it. He takes it off the stick with manners and very nicely..Then he runs in his hole and eats it up.

 

There is a snail and hermit that has lived in that tank since day he went in as well..never touches them.

[Kirin1]

fish..he is a spearing type..not a smasher.

 

Guess he is tame.

When he comes to take the food. he isnt aggressive about it. He takes it off the stick with manners and very nicely..Then he runs in his hole and eats it up.

 

There is a snail and hermit that has lived in that tank since day he went in as well..never touches them.

 

Ah. Spearer vs Smasher type is an important difference when it comes to feeding---they have entirely different diets.

[justinl]

the only difference with spearer vs smasher diest is the live food portion. For you spearer you could supply a damsel or two once a moth... or less. doesn't really matter. Spearers are also capable of killing crabs but the live portion of the diet is not nearly as important to a spearer as a smasher.

 

FW live food is no good. They're okay for a cheap show off to friends but FW stuff does not have the right nutritional value for marine organisms. Its like marine junk food. okay once in a while but don't over do it. at most once every two weeks i think. If you do give like freshwater stuff, pick something with no long flowing fins like mollies. goldfish have too many scales and fins that will cover your tank bottom.

 

Your staple diet should consist of varied frozens. I stick to shrimp and squid, both of which i can find at the grocery. Just be sure it's uncooked and unflavoured. I cut chunks about 1/4 inch long (my mantis is about 2.5 inches) and feed once every two to three days. I don't fret if I miss a feeding. a soaking of the frozen in a supplement like selcon is a good idea.

[proraptor2]

Id feed it silversides