A few questions I coulden't find really good explanations to

[tprize]

Now I understand that most answers will depend on the breed. But hopefully I can get a few generic answers taken care of.

First I am looking at getting a 10G All-Glass aquarium for a small species of mantis like
Chorisquilla hystrix
Chorisquilla tweediei
Gonodactylellus viridis
Gonodactylus smithii
Do I have to worry about using an all-glass aqaurium. I understand that placing strips of acrylic below the sand bed in the corners is a good idea, but would this be neccasary for these species.

How often do they make loud noises, because I live in an apartment I don't want gun shots going off all the time every night.

From what I can understand I should make a very thick sand bed, put a piece of PVC in it and then place live rock and some rubble around it, is this correct?

Lastly what are special handleing instructions for a mantis both for my and his safetly?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and answer, I understand you guys hear these questions a lot, but I want to make sure that my animal has the highest quality of care possible.

 

[psychodave]

For a small species you dont need to reinforce the tank with any acrylic or plexi glass. I have a G. Smithii in a 10 gallon and hes never even struck the glass. The sound of the strike isnt that loud. Its just a pop noise that you cant really hear if your not in the same room as the tank. The frequency of the noise has to do with how they make their burro...some species like to smash away at the rock to dig a cave, some like to move live rock rubble and construct their own cave. The other factor is what you feed them, if its snails and hermits it will be more frequent than if your feeding krill and silversides or other soft fleshy foods. You dont necissarily need to put pvc in the tank, more often than not the animal wont use it. I had a peacock in a 30 gallon with pvc and it never even entered the bvc, he just burrowed under it. I would suggedt an inch and a half of sand...thats what I have in my tanks, though the smithii has excivated his cave down to the glass. As far as handeling the mantis....DONT. Once you acclimate him for the tank take whatever container its in and dump it into a net and place the animal in the tank from there. Never ever handle the mantis with your hands!

Hopefully that helps

 

[tprize]

Ok what about moving a mantis tank, that is my last question, I am in college and I have to move in 6 months, so I want to make sure that I can move the mantis and the tank. My plan would be to drain out half of the 10 gallon and then move him out in the tank.

 

[justinl]

It's nice to hear that you'll take good care of your mantis and so it's my pleasure to help. Your first two picks aren't very likely finds. You'll have more luck with the viridis or smithii (this ones the cream of the crop). Another small one you could consider is N. wennerae which is another fave of mantis lovers. for some species specific info check out this site...
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/
I wouldn't be overly worried with a glass aquarium with these guys. I would place the strips though just because it is a fairly cheap precaution.
how loud it's gonna be depends on size, species, and what kind of burrow the individual wants... in other words random. Small guys shouldnt be too loud though i think (definitely not like a gunshot). At the start the pops may be often as he will be making a burrow. It's a good idea to make a burrow for him before throwing him in. A mantis will redecorate and rennovate a burrow often but won't be as loud as if he had to start from scratch. Smashers don't need deep sand beds, 2 inches will do fine. Live rock with some rubble is basically a must, shells are a good idea too. low flow is something i would do but others would disagree.
handling: don't. Dave had it right: don't use your hands. Small ones can't cause a lot of damage but can still make you wish you hadn't tested that theory too. if you're as paranoid as i am, I wouldn't use a net because their dactyls ("arms") may get stuck and ripped off. Not permanent damage to them but no fun either. Rigid containers work well, strainers (like a kitchen colander) if you want to add the mantis but no water into the display tank.
food: dave had it right there too. although i would soak the frozen food in selcon or something once in a while too. Live shelled foods like snails/hermits/crabs are important for keeping it active and the dactyls in good shape.
last advice: read research and read.

 

[justinl]

hey don't be afraid of asking questions. it's better to ask than to screw up.
moving a mantis: If you can manage to get the guy out by himself or in a piece of rock he's holed up in, you can ship him separately in a small cooler with heat packs. If you can't get him out, your current plan should work fine.

 

[deboM3]

Adding to the question about moving the tank... once you get the peacock out, how do you transport the live rock and sand without killing the bacteria? Im in the same boat as tprize as once this school year is over, ill be transporting the mantis and his tank 4 hours.

Thanks

 

[Altpers0na-old]

four hours shouldnt kill the bactieria. the stuff the lfs gets is a day old in a cardboard box....

of a trip of a few hours, i think you could 5 gal bucket with heat packs (depending on the weather) should be all you would need.

and a portable airator for your critters....

 

[justinl]

yeah i don't think a few hours would cause any significant die off. If your tank isn't too big to be carried, you could just empty it out a bit and move it like that if you can manage (so basically tprize's plan). that way the rock/sand is never even exposed to air. This is an especially good method if you have a sponge or something that won't survive any exposure to open air... although you could just ship those out separately. just make sure that when moving a fullish tank, try to carry/transport it using the max bottom surface area. like using a rigid stretcher or something. hope that made sense.

 

[deboM3]

Yeah thanks that did make sense. So just drain the water most of the way, and the fill it up with new water once i get it home? THe tank i have is a 30 gal cube, but it is really heavy, especially with 50 llbs sand and rock.

Thanks for the advice, and sorry for the thread hijack.

 

[tprize]

Thanks guys for all the info keep it coming, I love salt water, and I used to have a coral tank, but it's just to expensive. I think a mantis tank will be great all I have to buy is snails, and frozen food. It not only gives me an amazing creature to watch grow, but it will also make it so I only have to pay for maintenance.

 

[justinl]

yeah debo, bingo. You can thing of it as a water change if you want, lol.

I agree tprize, setting one up certainly is hella expensive, but well worth it. On the plus side you managed to pick one of the best low maintenance type saltwater tanks around (other than an empty!). the great thing about mantises is the cheapish upkeep (depending on how often you give live feed) and their resistance to bad water quality. they're not invincible but they do have a reputation for being hard to kill. plus their behaviour is really cool once they're comfortable... some of them study you as you watch them... intelligently... almost too intelligently.

 

[tprize]

So what is the aclimation for one of these gorgous little guys?

 

[30mini]

drip..... drip...... drip...... drip

 

[justinl]

drip would work fine. My routine is to use a rigid closed container... like a thick tupperware or thick goldfish bowl or something. Dump the mantis with the store water in the bowl and drop the whole thing into the display tank. Make sure no bowl water enters the display tank and that the bowl won't tip over... a bit of tape or a clamp holding the bowl's rim to the edge of the display tank rim works well. A lid is also a good idea as these guys can jump. Let it sit for an hour to get the right temperature. After that, every 15 minutes add a quarter cup of display tank water and remove quarter cup of the old store water. Do that for a couple of hours.

This routine as well as the drip is probably overkill as the mantis is typically pretty good with water conditions/changes but it doesn't hurt to be nice.

 

[tprize]

Well since you guys are so helpfull I might as well continue to ask question.
1. Could someone talk about feeding habits, how often how much and what should he eat.

2. How do I clean the tank, since from what I have read he will kill anything that I put in there.

3. What type of gloves do you guys wear so as not to get smashed or stabbed when you stick your hands in the tank.

4. In most nano's a skimmer can be bad by removing trace elements nessacary to the sytem, is this the case with mantis tanks or would a skimmer be good becasue it would help remove broken down waste.

 

[Pea-brain]

I don't know how much one could eat in a sitting but if you want I've read of people feeding between once every day to 2 times a week. Food should be frozen shrimp or squid, occasionally soaked in selcon or other food additives, and live food to keep it in shape such as snails and crabs. You don't have to give Live food to often though. If you are feeding them frozen shrimp 1/2-1 shrimp a feeding should be good depending on size of shrimp and how long between feedings.

Some people have had success with cleaning crews consisting of sand stars and urchins, though they should be mixed with caution as nothing is truly safe with mantis shrimp. A mag float can scrape glass, and macro algae can be used to cut down nutrients for normal algae.

I think Aqua gloves would be good enough for smaller ones, but I have no experience (It would probly still sting, but not too much) Or, a much safer bet is aquascaping tongs.

I have not heard of trace elements being removed by protien skimmers at all, but I just got into SW so I don't know. My guess would be that good definately outweighs the bad. Plus, I don't think these trace elements are as necessary to mantis shrimp as they would be for corals, fish, and shrimp. But don't count on anything I say without backup. I'm a noob (<-----I should make that my sig so i don't have to keep typing it. )

 

[earlnewt]

I don't have any mantis here, yet, but I would like to comment on how awesome and charasmatic they are. It is great to see people ask thoughtful questions like these. Thanks

 

[Altpers0na-old]

iv tried and tried to run my nano with out a skimmer, i cant keep the nitrates low enough without one...

id get a scrapper on a stick to clean the glass with...

and i would try to keep some sort of cleaner crew in the tank, just dont name em or get attached...

if you keep your mantis full with steak it might not go after neighbors... but it might..

also, and i might be wrong, but if your cleaners are big enough you might be able to keep em longer with a smaller species of mantis.. might.... in particular im thinking about large snails...

i believe i read that a large or large ish mantis, can have a stomach the size of a sugar cube... which should indicate the max it could eat in a short period of time... but i think they also said it can fill up a couple times aday if they felt like it...

iv seen people say they feed everything from pellets and flakes to live animals and frozen shrimp... i think part of the treat is finding what yours is going to like ... i think the what does it eat question (which i had ask) is comparible to ' what do you feed a lion' if it can , it will consider eating it.

if you keep your ear to the ground you may be able to keep in good supply of unwanted hitchhiker foods... no one wants coral eating crabs... or the like...

in particular i would not try to keep one with a lion fish , seems to be a favorite treat, based on posts here... and no octo's... unless you film it and post on youtube....

iv seen several people say that their mantis's have been seen 'feeding' starfish... i dont recall seing anyone mention that thier mantis ate a starfish, but with a little butter i think it could happen...

 

[justinl]

hands: try not to. I definitely recommend thick aqua gloves if you have to though... not sure if a small mantis could pierce it... probably not. tongs and small DIY projects like algae scrapers with long handles work great too.

skimmer: if you can, do it. Don't worry about the trace elements, normal salt water has plenty to support a mantis. IMO worrying about it is reserved for corals which shouldn't be in a mantis tank anyways.

food: live food whenever you can. that means snails hermits and crabs. The only mantises that will consistently go after thick shelled food would be a big peacock or something. not the small guys usually. Starfish seem to fare better but no guarantee. urchins fare better than hermits but less so than stars.

I would feed a small one once a day to once every two days... only feed as much as you think it eats (warning: some like to hoard food in their burrows). variety is good too. frozens include silversides, squid, krill, mysids, that kinda thing. you can save cash here by buying fresh shrimp from the store or something. I would also soak the frozens in a supplement like selcon once a week or so.

 

[justinl]

oh i should add that there is a rumour that you should add iodine to a tank to help a mantis molt... it doesn't help. In fact, it forces a mantis to molt which is the opposite of help because before shedding an exoskeleton, there are things a mantis must do like start growing a new one underneath. if a molt is forced, you will end up with a weak and unhappy mantis. there is be no reason to add iodine.