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The Mantis Shrimp Guide Thread


travisurfer

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hi, new here! I just started a 10g salt water mantis shrimp aquarium. I have had a 30g freshwater for a while and always thought these guys were cool so i finally got one. Ive had him for a couple days and he seems quite friendly but i have not once heard any popping sounds. I know for sure that he is a smasher, I do trust the local fish place. Not quite sure how to place the live rock either, and i have seen others use pvc pipe as a hideout for theirs. Any info would be great!

 

ps, mine curls up like a ball quite often too. he looks so cute like that!

yeah they are really cool critters! They are kind of cute.

 

btw :welcome: to nanoreef! you should make a tank thread

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captainbastard
yeah they are really cool critters! They are kind of cute.

 

btw :welcome: to nanoreef! you should make a tank thread

 

Haha ill try, the tank is just beginning right now. I actually moved the rocks around today and that seemed to scare him a little. I can see him peeking out from them with the piece of shrimp in his mouth just looking at me :lol: . He is kinda camera shy too so if i can ill snap some shots. The funny thing is when i first got him i wasnt sure what to feed him because he wasnt really going for the snails/crabs. I tossed a little bit of crab pellets in front of what he was using for a home at the time and the lil bugger ran up and pushed them right back at me. Sand and pellets went everywhere, he is the funniest little guy! :D

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What's that one site surfer? Stomatopod something. All I know is they have a very nice Mantis selection, giving you more options than Neondactylus Wennerae and Odondactylus...Sylarus?...other common mantis shrimp.

Edited by Psychosis
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My mantis only lived 12 hours! Must of been something wrong with my water. Very upset. I have let tank just be for the past 6 weeks and it was home to a Chocolate Chip Star. I plan to get another one but want to find the perfect mantis!

 

Sucked, he was so cool for the first 12 hours then just started to look like junk. I tested water and everything was fine, who knows :mellow:

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captainbastard
My mantis only lived 12 hours! Must of been something wrong with my water. Very upset. I have let tank just be for the past 6 weeks and it was home to a Chocolate Chip Star. I plan to get another one but want to find the perfect mantis!

 

Sucked, he was so cool for the first 12 hours then just started to look like junk. I tested water and everything was fine, who knows :mellow:

 

maybe he was sick to start off with? was there any other fish that died?

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captainbastard

Ok so after work im going to the fish place to get some new water and live rock. Wanted something else to put in the tank with the mantis, any ideas?

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Shady1984slm
My mantis only lived 12 hours! Must of been something wrong with my water. Very upset. I have let tank just be for the past 6 weeks and it was home to a Chocolate Chip Star. I plan to get another one but want to find the perfect mantis!

 

Sucked, he was so cool for the first 12 hours then just started to look like junk. I tested water and everything was fine, who knows :mellow:

 

Drcooper: This was a mantis you ordered from Blue Zoo Aquatics?

 

thx

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travisurfer
Donate one? LOL :lol:

Sorry, can't do that ;)

 

me get one for my tank I have setup for one hehe

It depends what kind you want but N. wennerae are very accessible.

 

What's that one site surfer? Stomatopod something. All I know is they have a very nice Mantis selection, giving you more options than Neondactylus Wennerae and Odondactylus...Sylarus?...other common mantis shrimp.

http://www.stomatopod.com/

 

(It looks like they have a G. smitthi right now!!!)

 

anyone ever purchased mantis from blue zoo aquatics online?

 

Thanks

I haven't heard of anyone who has.

 

My mantis only lived 12 hours! Must of been something wrong with my water. Very upset. I have let tank just be for the past 6 weeks and it was home to a Chocolate Chip Star. I plan to get another one but want to find the perfect mantis!

 

Sucked, he was so cool for the first 12 hours then just started to look like junk. I tested water and everything was fine, who knows :mellow:

It could be the acclimation, airborne chemicals, or he may have just had issues before you got him.

 

Ok so after work im going to the fish place to get some new water and live rock. Wanted something else to put in the tank with the mantis, any ideas?

In general, things that are either fast moving or that can live undetected are your best bet. There aren't really any guarantees though.

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captainbastard
In general, things that are either fast moving or that can live undetected are your best bet. There aren't really any guarantees though.

 

 

I was thinking more along the line of stuff to put on the live rock. I put a damsel fish in there and it disappeared over night.

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travisurfer
I was thinking more along the line of stuff to put on the live rock. I put a damsel fish in there and it disappeared over night.

I'm surprised, damsels often do quite well with mantids unless your mantis is a spearer, the damsel still had some acclimation sickness, or you were just unlucky. As far as the rock, any kind of corals or whatever should be fine. The one issue you might find is that the mantis will knock the rock around and unintentionally mess up the coral. If you glue down the rock, the corals should be fine. I have had a mantis burrow through a rock and invariably through an anemone on the other side though. ;) Does that help?

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captainbastard
I'm surprised, damsels often do quite well with mantids unless your mantis is a spearer, the damsel still had some acclimation sickness, or you were just unlucky. As far as the rock, any kind of corals or whatever should be fine. The one issue you might find is that the mantis will knock the rock around and unintentionally mess up the coral. If you glue down the rock, the corals should be fine. I have had a mantis burrow through a rock and invariably through an anemone on the other side though. ;) Does that help?

 

Yea that helps. My mantis is very shy during the day but as soon as the lights go out and im asleep it will hunt down and eat everything in the tank. It hasnt done much as far as rock burrowing, although it did knock a small piece of LR off on the left. It mainly just moves sand around to block holes in its little cave i made for it. Ill try that coral trick when i pick some up next time, thanks

 

ps, Yes i know it is a smasher b/c yesterday it ran out and smacked a snail that was on the acrylic. It was so loud i jumped lol. Snail was fine though

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travisurfer
Got it from LFS

i called them and they are like "it was doing great here for a while, sorry"

Wow, that really sucks :(

 

Yea that helps. My mantis is very shy during the day but as soon as the lights go out and im asleep it will hunt down and eat everything in the tank. It hasnt done much as far as rock burrowing, although it did knock a small piece of LR off on the left. It mainly just moves sand around to block holes in its little cave i made for it. Ill try that coral trick when i pick some up next time, thanks

 

ps, Yes i know it is a smasher b/c yesterday it ran out and smacked a snail that was on the acrylic. It was so loud i jumped lol. Snail was fine though

Just out of curiosity, how strong are the lights? Sometimes mantids won't come out as much during the day if the lights are too strong. Other species are just primarily nocturnal though.

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captainbastard

This is the type of light in there now:

Lightning Rod

Ultimate Reef

14watt T6 15"

 

I tried to get a pic of him but hes too fast for my crappy point and shoot! The fish place tagged him as a peacock mantis but he is semi dark green and doesnt look like the normal peacock mantis shrimp. Ill try to get a pic soon.

Edited by captainbastard
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travisurfer
This is the type of light in there now:

Lightning Rod

Ultimate Reef

14watt T6 15"

 

I tried to get a pic of him but hes too fast for my crappy point and shoot! The fish place tagged him as a peacock mantis but he is semi dark green and doesnt look like the normal peacock mantis shrimp. Ill try to get a pic soon.

That shouldn't be too bright at all. Pics could definitely help with ID. You can also check here to help ID it yourself.

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captainbastard
That shouldn't be too bright at all. Pics could definitely help with ID. You can also check here to help ID it yourself.

 

Finally got a pic of him peekin out!

 

post-44075-1240364907_thumb.jpg

Edited by captainbastard
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travisurfer
Finally got a pic of him peekin out!

 

post-44075-1240364907_thumb.jpg

Looks nice but I am definitely not good enough to guess an id from a pic like that. Do you know where you got him?

 

Can you keep a Mantis in a JBJ Picotope?

There are a few extremely small species that are doable on the long term and I have heard of a few people keeping mantids in smaller tanks like the Picotope for periods of time, but, in general, I wouldn't recommend it.

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captainbastard
Looks nice but I am definitely not good enough to guess an id from a pic like that. Do you know where you got him?

 

 

There are a few extremely small species that are doable on the long term and I have heard of a few people keeping mantids in smaller tanks like the Picotope for periods of time, but, in general, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Got him from here: http://king-aquarium.com/

 

They had him and a smaller one. Advertised as a Peacock Mantis

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