Jump to content
Coral Vue Hydros

The Mantis Shrimp Guide Thread


travisurfer

Recommended Posts

BustytheSnowMaam
Then I suppose my goal is accomplished. We need more people to care for mantids than those who simply flush them down the toilet.

 

Yes! If you got your LR through Tampa Bay Saltwater or SeaLife, chances are you have an N. wennerae, and it's not the end of the world- it's a great find. I keep mine with fish and other inverts and the only thing it bothers are the small snails I raise to feed it- it has never bothered any of the astrea or cerith snails in the tank.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

First Post but its time to stop being a lurker....

 

I'm setting up my first Nano Saltwater(5 gallon). And this morning when I woke up and turned on the tank light I saw something very quickly move back into the LR. I can't 100% identify it yet but I'm pretty sure its a mantis. the LR came from my LFS and was already cured. The rock itself came from Indonesia. What Mantis come from there?

 

(also it appears he survived the cycle, which just ended)

Link to comment
TheUnfocusedOne
First Post but its time to stop being a lurker....

 

I'm setting up my first Nano Saltwater(5 gallon). And this morning when I woke up and turned on the tank light I saw something very quickly move back into the LR. I can't 100% identify it yet but I'm pretty sure its a mantis. the LR came from my LFS and was already cured. The rock itself came from Indonesia. What Mantis come from there?

 

(also it appears he survived the cycle, which just ended)

 

 

could be alot of things, check roy's list

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/cr...traca/royslist/

 

first dibs if you dont want it!

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
travisurfer
Yea I intend to find out what it is, I haven't decided if I'm going to keep him I am interested in mantis but a 5 gallon tank might be too small. But if I don't want him, I will let you know.

You can always try baiting him out with some shrimp or krill. Shining a flashlight into the tank at night is another good way of seeing inverts. Until you get an ID, be careful with your hands in the tank due to a few species being quite aggressive. Good luck. :)

Link to comment
You can always try baiting him out with some shrimp or krill. Shining a flashlight into the tank at night is another good way of seeing inverts. Until you get an ID, be careful with your hands in the tank due to a few species being quite aggressive. Good luck. :)

 

it wasn't a mantis it was a pistol, hard to ID when all you see is it moving at night I did mange to get it out and move it into another safer home away from the mantis that I did end up getting and putting in there(the one with the wood/coral now attached to one of its feet)

 

Yea I'm very careful when I reach into the tank, the mantis has not made an aggresive move towards my hand yet.

Edited by Eilelwen
Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Hello :)

I've got a ~4cm O.Sycllarus in a 50L tank. This tank is halfway through the nitrogen cycle, this is about the 4th week now. Nitrites are at 2ppm and have stabilised there a while.. hopefully about to drop but i'm not sure.

Can I get some info on how tolerant / intolerant this species is to nitrites / ammonia? The mantis seems to be behaving alright. It hides a lot but it is reasonably active moving pebbles around inside its hole and it molted about a week ago.

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

Awesome video. I know haven't been around for awhile due to being in college and not currently having a reef, but I do try to check nano-reef every once in awhile to answer questions on this thread. If anyone would like any input or advice I'm still happy to help. :)

Link to comment
TheUnfocusedLove

I'm mantis-sitting at the moment and thought I should share a few pictures. He belongs to my boyfriend and I am just holding onto him until he has his tank at school with him. We found him at my LFS who was going to flush him :angry:. Instead, he became my boyfriends birthday present - for a dollar. We think he is a Haptosquilla something (there are two species that are black), but aren't 100% sure, as these are pretty rare. He is probably less than an inch right now.

 

First day, acclimating (8/30)

Mantis1.jpg

 

Feeding time (9/8)

MS1-1.jpg

 

MS2.jpg

 

Any ideas as to species?

Edited by TheUnfocusedLove
Link to comment

Nice pictures; however, I'm definitely not good enough to ID from them. Check out Roy's List of Stomatopods and hopefully you'll be able to find a more accurate ID yourself.

Link to comment
TheUnfocusedLove
Nice pictures; however, I'm definitely not good enough to ID from them. Check out Roy's List of Stomatopods and hopefully you'll be able to find a more accurate ID yourself.

 

Thanks. From Roy's list we have narrowed it down to the Haptosquilla, unless when it molts it changes color. Which is quite possible. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Link to comment
Thanks. From Roy's list we have narrowed it down to the Haptosquilla, unless when it molts it changes color. Which is quite possible. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Awesome, good luck with the ID.

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...

So I'm 90% sure I have a mantis in my tank for the last 3 months clicking everynight only about 4 snails and crabs killed at the most but ive never seen it just 2 eyes for 1 sec and when i added small blue leg hermits in the other day i was watching tv and out of the coner of my eye i saw the herrmit falling down form 10" high in the water and i think i saw i the mantis hide back in the lr but i want to get it out cant take out the lr and it is shy since i never saw it in 3-4 months so what the best way to catch then ill give it away to whoever just pay shipping or pickup local.... do those traps work tha i can buy for 10$ i just dont think i will be able to catch it but i hope ok thx's all brian

Link to comment

Well Here is My Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

I call him Cassius

 

Cassius.jpg

Have had him for about a year now He was 2 inches when i got him he is now about four wich is full grown for these guys.

Keep him in my 29 Gallon biocube

Link to comment
So I'm 90% sure I have a mantis in my tank for the last 3 months clicking everynight only about 4 snails and crabs killed at the most but ive never seen it just 2 eyes for 1 sec and when i added small blue leg hermits in the other day i was watching tv and out of the coner of my eye i saw the herrmit falling down form 10" high in the water and i think i saw i the mantis hide back in the lr but i want to get it out cant take out the lr and it is shy since i never saw it in 3-4 months so what the best way to catch then ill give it away to whoever just pay shipping or pickup local.... do those traps work tha i can buy for 10$ i just dont think i will be able to catch it but i hope ok thx's all brian

That certainly sounds like a mantis. One of the best methods that I've heard of is to find out which piece of liverock it's in and place it in a bucket with water. When the mantis comes out, you can remove the rock. There are some harsher methods involving boiling water and seltzer, but I would consider those much less humane. I haven't had to actually catch a mantis out of a tank myself so I can only relate to you what I've read elsewhere. This would actually be a good topic to include in the first post. When I get some time, I'll try to work it in and update the thread. Anyway, have you considered keeping him yourself? They can be extremely entertaining.

 

Well Here is My Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

I call him Cassius

He looks awesome. :)

Link to comment

I've made tons of edits and changes to make this guide much more comprehensive. Let me know if there is anything else that you would like to have clarified or changed. Thanks! :)

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for posting this. I've been fascinated with mantis shrimp for about six months and finally decided to take the plunge and get one. I just put a down payment on a juvenile G. glabrous and am making arrangements to have an acrylic tank custom-built for him/her (I'm not worried about tank breakage--I just like the look of all-in-one systems and it was cheaper than buying a Biocube the same size). I'm really looking forward to bringing my new beastie home! :happy:

 

My new glab is only about 1.5" long--too small to be sexed. I know Dr. Clarkson says that glabrous are sexually dimorphic in color. Do you know if this is something that only applies to sexually mature individuals? (Mine is greenish in color, but not very dark.)

Link to comment

From, Roy's List:

Color: Sexually color dimorphic; males dark green with blue antennal scales, pleopods and uropods; females light green, yellow or orange with yellow and red on their antennal scales, pleopods and uropods; meral spot orange

 

Aside from the above description, you would have to look for gonads to determine the sex of the mantis. HTH.

Link to comment

Thanks, travisurfer. What I was wondering is, how old does the mantis have to be in order for the sexually dimorphic characteristics (aside from gonads) to apply? I don't know if, for example, a juvenile male might have the same coloring as an adult female, as in so many animal species. It's apparently too young to detect gonads yet. It's not really important, just wondering. Thanks!

Link to comment
Thanks, travisurfer. What I was wondering is, how old does the mantis have to be in order for the sexually dimorphic characteristics (aside from gonads) to apply? I don't know if, for example, a juvenile male might have the same coloring as an adult female, as in so many animal species. It's apparently too young to detect gonads yet. It's not really important, just wondering. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

Hey guys well I bought a mantis shrimp from a guy and I haven't seen it ececpt for when I pulled it out of the rock that was his home now my mantis has been though slot of crap like swiching tanks and being out of the water awhile. Now the thing is that I havnt tired to feed him yet and it's been 2-3 weeks (can he live of Copepods also he is a mantis that's all black with white dots on the side he is around 1in long)

Did he live of stuff in the tank ? And I don't think he is dead because I havnt had a amonia spike.

If he isn't dead how can I catch him and put him in another tank.

 

Also I might just leave him in that tank because this type of mantis only gets 1in

 

And if he stays in that tank what type of mantis for a 5.5 gal? Also where do I get one ?

Link to comment
i'm sure this has been brought up, but what species available to the hobby are the smallest? 3" or less.

I've heard of G. affinis popping up in the aquarium trade from time to time. As far as tank sizes are concerned,many have kept N. wennerae in 5g nanos with success on this website.

 

Thanks, travisurfer. What I was wondering is, how old does the mantis have to be in order for the sexually dimorphic characteristics (aside from gonads) to apply? I don't know if, for example, a juvenile male might have the same coloring as an adult female, as in so many animal species. It's apparently too young to detect gonads yet. It's not really important, just wondering. Thanks!

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea. ;) Maybe a google search would turn up something?

 

Hey guys well I bought a mantis shrimp from a guy and I haven't seen it ececpt for when I pulled it out of the rock that was his home now my mantis has been though slot of crap like swiching tanks and being out of the water awhile. Now the thing is that I havnt tired to feed him yet and it's been 2-3 weeks (can he live of Copepods also he is a mantis that's all black with white dots on the side he is around 1in long)

Did he live of stuff in the tank ? And I don't think he is dead because I havnt had a amonia spike.

If he isn't dead how can I catch him and put him in another tank.

 

Also I might just leave him in that tank because this type of mantis only gets 1in

 

And if he stays in that tank what type of mantis for a 5.5 gal? Also where do I get one ?

See the first post for feeding and trapping info.

 

I can't say that the mantis will only reach 1" in length but odds are that it will grow larger.

 

N. wennerae have been kept in 5.5g nanos. They can be obtained for $50 shipped from tampabaysaltwater.com

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...