Bin Weed Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Hello i jut got my rock and with it came about a one inch mantis... i was really hoping for one so i could make a mantis tank. IM just wonderin what they require to keep. I also got about 5 little red crabs with fuzzy legs... ive seen them but never in a reef tank before. Should they stay or go? Yeah little red crabs thats really weak/vague ill post a pic as soon as i find my digital camera. P.S. i bought the rock from www.liverocks.com its wonderful rock i recomend to everyone, thanks for your help and please dont call me a tard for not knowing about the little red crabs Ben Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Your mantis could live in a 5.5 for a while and i'd leave the crabs with the mantis=cheap live food! Link to comment
MKramer Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Mantis are pretty non-picky. As deac says, around 5g is good, and it should be acryllic. If you have the option, I'd find something with more horizontal space, avoiding taller tanks. As for food, that too depends on the mantis. Odds are you got one with a hammer/club claw. Hammer types predate primarily crustateans. Your red crabs would be wonderful. Here in SoCal, you can grab tidal pool crabs by the handful, and they love 'em. So you should be able to pick up crabs and snails as feeders. Most mantis will still take soft-flesh animals as food when really hungry, so you can also feed them mollies (although you should acclimate the fish to saltware first). While mantis will survive in unfiltered, rarely changes, unheated tanks, it does cause more stress, will hinder molting, and can even lead to the loss of appendages. So I'd suggest changing 25-50% of the water monthly. Heaters are a challenge, since you don't want them cracked. But there are ways to protect them. They do like to hide, and play in the rocks. Put a good amount of liverock rubble in the tank, you'll probably see it constantly rearranging the rocks. They can be shy, picky eaters at first, but will warm up over time. Link to comment
Dingo Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 I thought they ate the blood and souls of reefers. I stand corrected. Link to comment
rehren Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 why is it bad to have them in a glass tank? Link to comment
brahm Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 i think they can break the glass. Link to comment
rehren Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 i think they can break the glass hmm... i thought that was a different kind of shrimp that does the glass breaking... Link to comment
MKramer Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 The mantis shrimp can break glass. It usually only happens with the larger species (4" or more) with hammer appendages. But when talking about such small tanks, the glass is usually quite thin, so better safe than sorry. Heaters are a real problem because of how fragile the glass is. Link to comment
Bin Weed Posted November 6, 2003 Author Share Posted November 6, 2003 i saw a show on sea creatures and they had the mantis shrimp. They say it strikes with the same impact as a 22 cal. bullet... it was the science chanel and i dont think it was bogus. Link to comment
mattie Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 hey I saw that just last week. and they had him going after an emerald crab but sheilded the crab with a glass I years ago though a mantis shrimp would be a cool addition to my first mini reef and after the first day I never saw him again but every week a fish would disapear even damsels. I was stumped no dead bodies no carpet surfers but then one day I saw him eating a fish in the back and I got so mad I stabed him with a cabob stick and ran him thru the garbage disposal. the effr ate 6 six fish inlcluding two damsels and a needle nose hawk. so yo can feed em anything. but just know anything in there with him will become food over night. Link to comment
567a Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Hey Bin The most important thing a mantis needs is an owner that wants to keep it. Otherwise they seem pretty darn hardy. My two mantis shrimps both take shrimp with gusto, I just cut a hunk off an uncooked frozen shrimp thaw and spot feed the shrimp. I use a chopstick with a pin in the end to hold the food - the mantis comes out looks around grabs the food and heads back into whatever hole it is hiding in. FWIW both of mine have actually colored up nicely - they aren't peacocks but they aren't just the red/brown they were when they arrived from liverocks.com Link to comment
rehren Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I got so mad I stabed him with a cabob stick and ran him thru the garbage disposal you know, you could have just returned him to a store... mine hasn't eaten anything live yet. i love his coloring... Link to comment
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