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Calling all mantis shrimp experts


dixie reefer

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Oops. You aren't supposed to feed spearers by hand? I figured them to be safer to hand feed than smashers. It's a good way to make them not afraid of you if they know you bring food. Mine has already stopped hiding when I walk into the room

 

It doesn't make a huge amount of difference if it's a spearer or a smasher since the smashers can unfold their dactyls into a needle sharp spear and stab you right to the bone... and cause a nasty deep tissue infection.

 

If you want to know about mantis related injuries, here's Dr. Caldwell's recent statement on the Reef Central mantis forum.

 

I quit hand feeding my O. Scyllarus.

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Oops. You aren't supposed to feed spearers by hand? I figured them to be safer to hand feed than smashers. It's a good way to make them not afraid of you if they know you bring food. Mine has already stopped hiding when I walk into the room

 

Spearers are a lot slower than smashers at least you might see it coming :) You can ofc feed them by hand if you want. It is your hand. hehe. Some mantis are a lot more laid back. I would love to see someone try to hand feed Ivy. lol

 

Smashers actually have spears/spikes too and thats the dangerous part. All that strike power and they can unfold it and stab ya too... right into the bone... eeeek!

 

Found some images on google since this is the mantis education thread. lol

 

Smithi smasher closed:

IMG_0310.jpg

 

Unfolds into a spear :D

IMG_0308.jpg

 

Peacock mantis spear (looks scary):

 

DSC_0013.jpg

 

 

 

Normal spearer for comparison. Has those nice "grabby" spikes but lacks the fast firing mechanism of a smasher:

 

spearerrap.jpg

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I was able to get away with it for about 6 months after Betty lost one of her raptorial appendages a couple molts after losing the other one. So, she only had one rap at the time and it was only about 2/3 of it's normal size. Now that one is full sized and the other one is 2/3 sized. She got some serious firepower now and regularly strikes the feeding forceps. It was fun while it lasted.

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It doesn't make a huge amount of difference if it's a spearer or a smasher since the smashers can unfold their dactyls into a needle sharp spear and stab you right to the bone... and cause a nasty deep tissue infection.

 

If you want to know about mantis related injuries, here's Dr. Caldwell's recent statement on the Reef Central mantis forum.

 

I quit hand feeding my O. Scyllarus.

 

Oh cool, I remember reading that but I didn't remember the part about the smithii's being prone to stab. Ahh... my naughty little smithi. :P

 

I guess in the end.. they are animals. Like those people with pet tigers that they can cuddle/pet/walk on a leash and then one day it attacks them. Instinct is a strong force.

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Nice price but who really wants a damaged Peacock ? Especially the tail by which I assume they mean the Telson although they do not specify, and at that size it is not going to molt often and end up with an undamaged one .. just saying ...

 

Between the true facts video and http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp , I think it must have had an encounter with Chuck Norris or something. Surely nothing else could damage a mantis shrimp.

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NirvanaandTool

Wow. Dr. Roy's hands have been through a beating!

 

I almost got popped by my G. Viridis when moving him and his tank to a new apartment. He came close when he exited his burrow but I got my hand away just in the nick of time. And he was only a small 3" long mantis. I'd hate to be popped by a full grown Peacock or L. Mac!

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Yeah, I keep my hand far away from my guy. When he clipped the net while he was in the acclimation bucket...it sounded like a mousetrap hitting the plastic.

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Yeah, Pennywise definitely has the most respect of any animal I've ever kept. Lionfish, small and large snakes, all sorts of large (several feet) lizards, blah blah.

 

I can't imagine how strong the snap would be once it's full grown.

 

 

 

 

For the 40 breeder upgrade I'm considering doing a very custom aquascape. I've seen a couple of tanks where they used cement to create lots of pillars and caves. I'm thinking I could do a couple of pillars supporting a large shelf of cement. Underneath that I would do a big pile of LR and deep sand. This would give him plenty of shade and I would probably build in some areas to let him dig further into the rock.

 

With a shelf blocking the light I might feel comfortable putting some intense light on the tank and growing some simple corals on the shelf top. I would do a sketch but I'm pretty sure my mantis can draw better than I can.

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I think the shelf idea is neat. Instead of cement I would recommend live rock + shelf rock (the flat pieces) and using some acrylic rods to drill holes and attach the rock together with epoxy+rods.

 

I think that will give it a much more natural look.

 

You can also make it more sturdy by having the whole thing anchored to a base of some sort (maybe some thick acrylic you will have on the bottom of the tank anyways) to make it so it can't tip and hit the glass.

 

I then would take a chili coral frag (they need to grow upside down) and mount it under the shelf :) If it wasn't for the fact that you need to keep the water really clean... it would make for a pretty cool NPS + SPS tank. I've thought about doing something like this myself to give my NPS a shaded area (but not for a mantis tank).

 

 

Yeah, Pennywise definitely has the most respect of any animal I've ever kept. Lionfish, small and large snakes, all sorts of large (several feet) lizards, blah blah.

 

I can't imagine how strong the snap would be once it's full grown.

 

 

 

 

For the 40 breeder upgrade I'm considering doing a very custom aquascape. I've seen a couple of tanks where they used cement to create lots of pillars and caves. I'm thinking I could do a couple of pillars supporting a large shelf of cement. Underneath that I would do a big pile of LR and deep sand. This would give him plenty of shade and I would probably build in some areas to let him dig further into the rock.

 

With a shelf blocking the light I might feel comfortable putting some intense light on the tank and growing some simple corals on the shelf top. I would do a sketch but I'm pretty sure my mantis can draw better than I can.

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It is pretty sturdy if you do it right. If I go that route there would be a PVC structure underneath it all.

 

I think the shelf idea is neat. Instead of cement I would recommend live rock + shelf rock (the flat pieces) and using some acrylic rods to drill holes and attach the rock together with epoxy+rods.

 

I think that will give it a much more natural look.

 

You can also make it more sturdy by having the whole thing anchored to a base of some sort (maybe some thick acrylic you will have on the bottom of the tank anyways) to make it so it can't tip and hit the glass.

 

I then would take a chili coral frag (they need to grow upside down) and mount it under the shelf :) If it wasn't for the fact that you need to keep the water really clean... it would make for a pretty cool NPS + SPS tank. I've thought about doing something like this myself to give my NPS a shaded area (but not for a mantis tank).

 

 

I will have to see what my options are for dry shelf rock. I've used a ton of rock from reef cleaners but its more chunky pieces. My cube's scape is held together by putty and coat hangers.

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Wow. Dr. Roy's hands have been through a beating!

 

I almost got popped by my G. Viridis when moving him and his tank to a new apartment. He came close when he exited his burrow but I got my hand away just in the nick of time. And he was only a small 3" long mantis. I'd hate to be popped by a full grown Peacock or L. Mac!

 

Yes they sure have and I think that he only relates a little of what really happened to him over the years in that short article on RC ...

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NirvanaandTool

Yes they sure have and I think that he only relates a little of what really happened to him over the years in that short article on RC ...

 

Yea I'm sure he could write a book about all his encounters with mantis shrimp. Heck, I'd buy it!

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Yea I'm sure he could write a book about all his encounters with mantis shrimp. Heck, I'd buy it!

 

You bet .... and he did write a lot of Academic and Scientific Articles with others who are specialists in Mantis Shrimp and have studied them for years e.g. Dr. Patek, and a number of others

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Found these gems at a lfs. No need for them to be thrown out. I boiled them in ro water, set them out in the sun for a few days, then boiled them again. I think they'll make good decor for the tank.

 

0119141230d_zps66c2c246.jpg

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ugh i've been lurking this thread and it makes me want one! cant though no room for anything bigger than my 3g.

 

Cant wait to see this play out!

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You probably saw that clip but maybe you did not.

 

I am actually getting one for my new mentis only 16G tank. I will follow your journey :)

 

Oh wow, haven't seen this one. At 2:02 the chiragra, the big green one w/ the blue wrecking balls. Just beating the living daylights out of it. Do they always hit w/ both a the same time I wonder? They seem to in this collection. Crab meat anyone?

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