Bad start with peacock mantis

[GoTRiCe19]

Well I purchased a female peacock around 4 inches from coral oasis. I had her shipped usps express overnight. Guarantee by 12 noon. Didn't happen. Never got delivered and no updates from usps. Called Ben over at coral oasis and he said he packed the peacock in a large styrofoam box with plenty air and water. Next morning on saturday got an update from usps. At least the package was in town. Kept updating the usps website and it was getting closer and closer. At 10am I was waiting outside for the mail lady. She came and said sorry for the delay and wish me the best since she knew it was live fish. Open the package and she is still moving. But water was cold. Did a slow acclimation over 2 hours and transfer her over. She retreat to a cave and stayed there. Decided to give her some uncooked shrimp. She strikes the feeding tongs but very weak hit. I knew she was tired and stressed. But she came back and took it and went back into the cave. She finished the meal by night time and sat in the cave and nothing else. I have a bunch of rubble in there for her but she didn't even cared.

This morning 2 days later I see she moved 2 rubble near the cave. Came home and she moved more. She is finally building where she is going to live. She almost done with one side. So far so good. Scary beginning with the 2 days in shipping but she is settling in.

 

[Fartin'Gary]

Lights are too bright. Peacocks should not have light. Anything strong enough to grow hammer coral is way to bright.

 

[GoTRiCe19]

Water quality before lighting. If you are thinking shell rot. Many people had success keeping peacock with sps. With good water and blackout during molting. No light for a mantis tank is or any tank is really useless of getting an animal. Low lighting is ideal right? I seen hammer survive in very low light. Plus shell rot don't mean its the end for a mantis shrimp. Just overfeed and water quality might help the diseases.

 

[Fartin'Gary]

To each his own. If no light is what Dr. Roy uses then that's good enough for me. If anything I would use a blue spectrum. Just have the lights on for feeding and viewing then turn them off the rest of the time. Shell rot is very hard on the animal. It goes below the shell and into the body if it gets too bad. It's like a person having a flesh eating virus.

 

[GoTRiCe19]

I totally understand shell rot. Its very hard on the animal and i do not wish to deal with it. But if i ever do i will be a little prepared. Im just a hobbyist enjoying these animal. I understand where they come from and what they need. Ill try my best to care for this animal while enjoying my hobby.

 

[Fartin'Gary]

Ok well I'm just trying to help you keep your peacock healthy. Having corals like hammers requires dosing the water with trace elements. That can be harmful or fatal to the mantis shrimp. Copper is a sure way to kill it.

 

[GoTRiCe19]

Thanks for your tips. Dosing a tank i believe is in a heavy sps dominated tank or wanting faster growth. With just 1 or 2 frags of lps. weekly water changes is more then enough to provide elements needed. My lighting is 2-3 hours on a day when i get home to feed and enjoy my tank. Then moonlights are on for an hour. Then 20 hours of no light and room light.

 

[GoTRiCe19]

Well this morning my mantis seems like its going to molt. Cave all blocked up. So that means my water change this week might be delayed. First molt since i got her so hopefully she comes out bigger, better and more badass.

 

[Kharn]

It is correct the way your thinking 'Water quality > Lighting' as far as shell rot priorities, it's just far more easier to maintain a healthy O.scyllarus with confidence in a dark tank.

Having said this the dire need of a good burrow/cavity which is utterly dark within and has good flow within is even more important in a 'lit' tank.

 

[Chad Vossen]

Ok well I'm just trying to help you keep your peacock healthy. Having corals like hammers requires dosing the water with trace elements. That can be harmful or fatal to the mantis shrimp. Copper is a sure way to kill it.

Dosing anything meant for corals should not in any way be harmful to a mantis shrimp. If it has enough copper to kill a shrimp, it'll kill corals too.

I can't imagine how dosing could be harmful, if used properly.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Dosing anything meant for corals should not in any way be harmful to a mantis shrimp. If it has enough copper to kill a shrimp, it'll kill corals too.

I can't imagine how dosing could be harmful, if used properly.

I would tend to agree. If it's OK for corals, it should be fine for other invertebrates.

Here's a weird thing... I also keep dwarf freshwater shrimp. Copper is equally bad for freshwater shrimp as it is for corals and saltwater inverts. However, the Hikari Shrimp Cuisine that I feed them specifically lists Copper Sulfate in the ingredient list. Apparently in a certain amount, copper is necessary for their health as their blood is copper based instead of iron based like ours is. I can't remember the specific details, but I found it fascinating that something that's considered poisonous is also necessary in their diet. Just like too much vitamin D, E or A is poisonous to us, but a deficiency is also bad.

 

[ladyshark]

So glad to hear she made it through the shipping fiasco!