wennerae mantis shrimp

[Dr.Brain Coral]

I am planning a 5.5 gallon mantis shrimp tank.how does my checklist look

Tank: 5.5 with built in refugium

lighting: Coral Compulsion 14W Par30 bulb

Filtration/Powerhead: Maxi jet 400

Heater: Ehiem jager(what wattage would be the best?)

Cuc: 5 dwarf cerith snai,2 nassarius,4 florida ceriths and 3 small nerites

Live rock:4 pounds

Live sand:4 pounds

Live stock: neogonodactylus wennerae,Blue leg hermit, pods, small cleaner shrimp, possibly a graceful anemone

Coral: zoas and mushrooms(i like acans but would they be fine with my lights?)

Testing equipment i need help with.

Refugium:chaeto live rock rubble

If i am missing anything tell me haha

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

Looks good, keep in mind the mantis will probably eat the cleaner shrimp which would be an expensive meal. The snails as well.

 

Acans will do great under that light, you could probably grow anything tbh.

 

Skip the rock rubble. Cheato won't do much either in such small amounts, I would do carbon and purigen. Get some poly fill too.

 

For heater, I would look at the Hydor Theo's, finnex, neo-therm, ect. Jagers are kind of huge.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

okay even if the shrimp is as large as the mantis?

[FlowerMama]

Even if the shrimp were larger than the mantis. Is has no wrecking balls attached to its body. That would be instant chaos and death in my opinion. How soon are you going to upgrade? I think an 8 or 10 gallon would be better for the cleanliness and the fact that they can dart out fast, jump. Needs some room.

[Tamberav]

okay even if the shrimp is as large as the mantis?

 

Would stand no chance.

[FlowerMama]

Read up some more on mantis shrimp, look in the mantis thread and watch some videos of mantis shrimp beating up other things.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

I have been reading for a while now and on place I read on the guy had a cleaner shrimp and it was bothered. I can leave it out. I am willing to do what ever to give the mantis the best possible home:)

[FlowerMama]

That's a wonderful and safe decision. I"m going to look into making a homemade skimmer for my girls. I think that would help them more.

[Tamberav]

Depends on the mantis.. some are really lazy and won't attack things when fed but it's not often that you find one you could keep shrimp with. It won't harm the mantis to try, you just may end up feeding an expensive meal at some point. They grow fairly rapidly and get more bolder with time.

 

I put some feeder shrimp in my mantis tank and it was a feeding frenzy lol

 

Honestly my sexy shrimp would stand a better chance than my cleaner. Those guys are lightening fast but theres not many places to run in a 5g

[Dr.Brain Coral]

sexys are cool and i have looked into them but i didnt want to senence them to death by mantis haha. i had looked at maxi mini carpets but i didnt know if they would sting a mantis. ill leave the cleaner out when i set the tank up. how often would i need to feed a hard shelled prey so there claws don't atrophy?

[Tamberav]

sexys are cool and i have looked into them but i didnt want to senence them to death by mantis haha. i had looked at maxi mini carpets but i didnt know if they would sting a mantis. ill leave the cleaner out when i set the tank up. how often would i need to feed a hard shelled prey so there claws don't atrophy?

 

I would feed every other day or every 2 days. As far as hard shell.. that depends.. I used to feed hermits/snails once a week but I don't anymore because she is happy to punch rocks and 'work out' all the time.

[FlowerMama]

Claws don't atrophy, when they molt every 3-4 wks they even molt that. They molt the whole body from head to toe. Mine are so small I haven't seen the molts from them yet even.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

i ahd read that if you dont feed them hard shelled things when they molt there claws will fall off.

[Maniu]

Don't put sexies with mantis. I know sexies can be ninja like and super fast but absolutely no match for mantis. XXL dry krill soaked in oyster feast and vitamins every day + cuc that gets picked off one by one when she feels like cracking some heads.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

ya i have heard of selcon.....what is it exactly

[FlowerMama]

Vitamins! But I also heard be careful how much you use or like anything you can pollute your water too much.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

okay just a quick dip? do you have any suggestions instead of a refugium and maxi jet for a filter? i have heard they like shrimp pellets and flake food what type would you recommend? i will feed him hard whenever i can and she can munch on the cuc when she is hungry. have been asking alot of questions and i want to thank you all for being so patient and answering the questions i have.

[Tamberav]

okay just a quick dip? do you have any suggestions instead of a refugium and maxi jet for a filter? i have heard they like shrimp pellets and flake food what type would you recommend? i will feed him hard whenever i can and she can munch on the cuc when she is hungry. have been asking alot of questions and i want to thank you all for being so patient and answering the questions i have.

 

 

By refugium do you mean an AIO?

 

Feed them meaty foods like krill, silversides, clam, ect. Soak in Selcon and tank water until thawed.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

i mean refugium as in a place with live rock rubble and chaeto where pods can breed and a natural filter

[Tamberav]

i mean refugium as in a place with live rock rubble and chaeto where pods can breed and a natural filter

 

Oh I mean is it going to be in a back chamber/divided? I use a maxijet on my AIO and it works well for moving the water. I would never put one in the display though.. so ugly!

[Maniu]

If it is AIO (all in one) tank with back filtration compartment than implementing that space as a refugium might not suffice. Keep in mind that refugium as effective as it can be, depends greatly on volume of the surface for bacteria to grow in proportional ratio to bio-load produced by your livestock. Chaeto helps in nutrients transport but as beneficial as it can be, volume of filtration compartment in such a small tank might be somewhat limiting. Even if you decided to keep chaeto in the back compartment, it might prove to be a tricky venture (needs good flow, light and room to grow). Perhaps other macro algae options in display tank could be more suitable option..... and it can look really cool. It can provide your new mantis with some shaded areas as well, which could encourage her to stay more in the open. As to mantis diet, all advice you received is great and from guys with experience with this great pets. You will learn as you go what is best for your new mantis as these guys are kind of picky when it comes to food they prefer. Some will take only certain kind of food (krill, oysters, table shrimp etc) & others with settle on variety of diet fed by their owners without any complaints. But most if not all, love live food of some sort.

[Maniu]

P.S I would not limit myself to just bio-filtration with such a small tank. It might work but more aggressive, chemical filtration wouldn't hurt. Mantis shrimps love food and can produce quite a bio-load. Depending on its size and tank volume, you should plan for filtration adequate for the job.

[Dr.Brain Coral]

okay thank you it would be separate from the main tank but i might just leave it out and do macros in the display instead. what filters would you recommend?

[Dr.Brain Coral]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1265768 i don't know if this worked but here is a link to the tank i am basing mine off of

[jedimasterben]

I would recommend an algae scrubber in combination with activated carbon for some of the most efficient nutrient removal, and it's fairly easy to set up in the back chamber of an AiO. Excellent, inexpensive filtration.