Mantis food

[kgoldy]

Apparently the mantis I got from you likes live food (my CUC) more than anything else I've offered him. I kind of don't mind much, since I'd rather him be stimulated by the hunt than be fat and lazy like the rest of my pets, haha.

 

Though I think most of the snails I've got are a little tough for him to crack... I see him beating up on the Florida Ceriths nightly, but am yet to see him crack a shell. He's managed to beat the hell out of and eat the 5 HH hermits that were wearing cerith shells- but again, no cracked shells.

 

I think the Nerites might still be a little big for him, and they tend to stay up and away from his den anyway.

 

That got me thinking about other live food items that might be good for him... Maybe clams that live in the sandbed? Up here in NY we have a variety of mollusks that are pretty easy to collect, so I'm assuming you'd be able to come up with something similar (from tropical waters) that I could stock my mantis' home with.

 

I kind of think burrowing clams would be a pretty cool oddball thing to have either way.

 

Got any suggestions? I'm not looking to buy a bunch of minthrax crabs or anything that would be pricey just to get them eaten... Or anything with claws that could potentially fight back against the mantis or take advantage of it when it's soft after a molt.

 

 

Also- I could really use something to stir up the sandbed in the new big HOB style mangrove fuge I built. Getting some nasty cyano mats here and there, as the water flow is pretty slow between the mangrove shoots. What should I get for that?

[kgoldy]

Anything?

[johnmaloney]

Oh hey sorry for the delay I missed this somehow. Ziz zag periwinkles have a thinner shell and are easy to feed, their tendency to sit at the water line keeps them safe from the mantis until you are ready to toss him some. We have a few customers that use them for mantis food with success. Small crabs might work, and or small feeder shrimp. The burrowing venus clams have fairly thick and strong shells. They are the shells you often see in asphalt, the white ridged shells that are about the size of a quarter...very strong shell.

[Neya]

Anything?

 

Have you thought about trying ghost/feeder shrimp?

[kgoldy]

Have you thought about trying ghost/feeder shrimp?

 

 

I'm looking for something I could put a bunch of in the tank and have the mantis hunt when it gets hungry... Wouldn't work with ghost shrimp since they're a fresh water species.

 

 

Hey John, any oddballs you can recommend to keep the sand clean (without killing sandbed fauna) in my HOB fuge with the deep sandbed? The florida fighting conches I got from you are too big to fit between all the mangrove shoots.

 

And are there any salt water feeder shrimp/crabs you could get me for the mantis?

[johnmaloney]

common shore shrimp are a good marine substitute. They would clean yoru sand bed, so would FL ceriths

[21093r53]

cleaner shrimp and small expensive fish are the best...

[kgoldy]

common shore shrimp are a good marine substitute. They would clean yoru sand bed, so would FL ceriths

 

 

I'm going to be looking to order this week if delivery on Thursday is possible... How much would a few of these guys run me?

[skimlessinseattle]

I feed my mantis margarita snails. It has no problem cracking them.

[johnmaloney]

I can get you a bunch. It would depend on shipping cost b/c of the water weight. I think they would run about $1 each, figuring 5 per .75 pound bag.

 

cleaner shrimp and small expensive fish are the best...

 

This little guy would have trouble cracking that shell.

[steviejitsu]

Mantis have the fastest clocked striking speed. It can have an impact of a .22 caliber bullet.

 

I learned that this weekend.

[kgoldy]

Mantis have the fastest clocked striking speed. It can have an impact of a .22 caliber bullet.

 

I learned that this weekend.

 

You watch the TED talk video on mantis? Pretty freakin impressive. It's one of the things I use to show people why I'm so passionate about my reef system.

 

 

John, check your email, I'm going to send a request for a custom order since I'm a huge pain in the butt kind of customer. I'm taking off work on Thursday- so if you can arrange for delivery on that day, I'll be using a different address than usual.

[johnmaloney]

Got it, thanks Kris, sorry we couldn't get it out today but we are all set for tomorrow. I haven't seen that video, (unless it is about their speed, and or the one about plasma TV technology based on their vision), but I have found out about a particular clam species that lives commensally with some larger mantis species around here. I still haven't found them though... I did find a mud brittle star today, that was a long one coming, just one though for my display.

[kgoldy]

Got it, thanks Kris, sorry we couldn't get it out today but we are all set for tomorrow. I haven't seen that video, (unless it is about their speed, and or the one about plasma TV technology based on their vision), but I have found out about a particular clam species that lives commensally with some larger mantis species around here. I still haven't found them though... I did find a mud brittle star today, that was a long one coming, just one though for my display.

 

 

Don't be afraid to ship out any other strange thing you find. Haha.

 

I've gotta say- those "bring-me-back-a- souvenir" snails you sent me from your diving trip are awesome. They're cleaning machines (on rocks and glass), are prettier than ceriths by far, and somehow have made it to every nook and cranny between my display and the mangrove thing that they started in. If you could figure out a way to harvest them steadily, I imagine they would be a best seller.

 

 

Here's the TED video I was talking about (yeah, it's the speed one). http://www.ted.com/talks/sheila_patek_cloc...st_animals.html

[johnmaloney]

That is good to know you liked them. I am trying to find more, but they are every so often around here. There are a few other species, but not enough time... lol.

 

I have seen that one actually. It is pretty cool though. I will try to find the link about their vision, it is an interesting article, apparently they see more colors than we do. Odd for such a small invert.

[kgoldy]

Those little feeder shrimp you sent me are pretty cool- impossible for me to catch in my mantis tank with my forceps to see if the little guy wants to eat one... They even jump straight up and out of the water when they're spooked... oops. Haha.

 

They're pretty active and fun to watch- a welcome part of my CUC until the mantis gradually picks them all off. I'll totally be ordering a bunch more when the numbers dwindle down.

[johnmaloney]

Lol...yeah, they will go to far lengths to escape predation.

 

I found a new species of shrimp today too, well not new to science probably but new to me. Tiny little things, I saw a lot of pregnant ones at less than dwarf cerith size so they must stay pretty small. Nice green color, a cool shrimp for sure.

 

Glad you like the little guys, I will probably make them a regular item I think. What do you say now that you have seen them? Interesting behavior and movement even if they are a bit dull colored is my opinion..

[kgoldy]

Yes, they're dull colored, especially in my mantis tank with the brown/black aragonite... But I like em anyway.

 

They're pretty interesting to watch, their behavior seems to be pretty random... Some chill up in the chaeto (far from my mantis den)... Some bounce around the substrate... and I've seen a few partially bury themselves in a really cool way. They basically sit in one spot, and appear to vibrate until the sand below them just swallows them up. Once their backs are at the level of the surface of the substrate, they dig around for food.

 

I would say about 5 of the 20 you sent me were gravid, which is awesome, because I'm all about having natural planktonic food sources in my system.

 

Totally think you should make them a regular item to sell, I'd buy them in bulk as CUC members because they're a hell of a lot more interesting to look at than ceriths. I'm interested to see if they can successfully reproduce in my system- I'm sure the wrasses (and every other fish) would love hunting these things down.

[Euphyllia]

Yeah, like others have said. Boil on high for 10 minutes in chicken broth with garlic and basil. Just peel back the "shell" and eat the meat.

[kgoldy]

Yeah, like others have said. Boil on high for 10 minutes in chicken broth with garlic and basil. Just peel back the "shell" and eat the meat.

 

 

10 minutes? Tisk tisk. Try 30 seconds, it'll change your life.

[Euphyllia]

10 minutes? Tisk tisk. Try 30 seconds, it'll change your life.

 

I like my meat well done. 10 minutes is adjustable. If you want your mantis a little more "pinchy" you could do just a dip. Serve with mild Kinder BBQ sauce.

[johnmaloney]

Kinder BBQ? What are we missing here on the other side of the equator?

[kgoldy]

So... Turns out my mantis is a total sadist. I go and lay on the ground and stare at my display fuge for a few minutes the other night to check him out... He usually eyes me up, waves hi to let me know he's doing alright, then goes back into his rock... This time he comes out, walks over to my fighting conch, karate chops his mouth (the elephant trunk) thing completely off, and returns to his burrow... Then just sat in the dark and watched the cleaner shrimp and zombie snails devour the still-alive conch. What an evil bastard... Hahah.

[johnmaloney]

..........partial to conchs. He is a mean one, he always put his claws up like he wanted to fight when I came to the tank, he didn't try to hide in the back...and he did eventually get me, that little F#())#

[kgoldy]

..........partial to conchs. He is a mean one, he always put his claws up like he wanted to fight when I came to the tank, he didn't try to hide in the back...and he did eventually get me, that little F#())#

 

 

Yeah, that was the better looking conch of the two you sent me too... I thought it was way big for the mantis to mess with it- since he has a huge variety of stuff to eat in the tank now. But I guess the mantis is just plain evil.