Bad tank mates for Mantis?

[Darth Chingas]

I've had a few mantises the past few years and currently house a 6" Peacock in a 40 gallon breeder with lots of live rock. He's always running around the bottom digging new tunnels under the rock and is very interactive.

He has two tank mates, a velvet damsel and percula clownfish that for the most part he leaves alone. The only time he is really aggressive toward them is when they are going to the same bits of frozen food as he is. My last peacock was less interactive yet more aggressive. He was housed with a coral beauty angel (which he left alone) and some blue eye cardinals which he blasted and ate.

As the velvet is getting pretty big, he seems less intimidated by the mantis and worry that he may damage his eyes or something. I saw a video on YouTube of a BIG puffer chasing down and eating a mantis so it got me to wondering what kinds of fish would be dangerous to the mantis?????

 

[Maleci]

Most things that would be a serious risk to a 6 inch peacock aren't really things that should be housed in a 40b anyways. "Less intimidated" doesn't mean much O. scyllarus are pretty fast, smart, and well armed I guess it could possibly get lucky (for the velvet) and injure it but more than likely if the peacock feels threatened he would just kill the velvet or stay away from it.

 

[Kharn]

In short, nothing.

your always going to get the most out of your stomatopods if you just dedicate a tank to each individual.

 

[Islandoftiki]

My female peacock lives with a blue damsel fish that it mostly ignores, except at feeding time and then it becomes a bit of a hassle because they both go after the same food. I feed the damsel pellet food first, but no matter how much you feed the damsel, it always goes after the piece of krill for the mantis, which ends up in a big melee of chasing and other silliness.

I'm thinking about taking the damsel to the LFS. I wouldn't have put it in there in the first place. It came with the mantis and the tank when the whole setup was given to me.

I don't have any problem with the fish in my G. Ternatensis tank though. They eat their own food and leave the krill alone.

 

[spsfreak1977]

My 2 mantis shrimp in are in 40 breeders with some reef chromis

 

[simonedi]

Tbh, pretty much anything you can keep in a tank that size may become a meal for the mantis if it really feels like it... keeping it well fed will reduce the risk a lot but i would say nothing is certain

 

[Islandoftiki]

Damsels seem to be the least palatable to smashers. Or they just know how to stay away from the business end of the mantis.

 

[Kharn]

There is no guarantees irregardless... I had fiah for months close to a year then 1 day...gone.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Indeed.

Rule of thumb: Fish are usually ok with a smasher mantis until they aren't. Then you need a new fish.

 

[Darth Chingas]

I am pretty much thinking that fish that are high in the water column are ok to keep with a mantis but I am looking more for what is dangerous to him. He is a cool dude with a great personality and I would hate for him to get hurt or lose him altogether. I am just looking for something to spice up the tank with a little more color and movement....

 

[Kharn]

I am pretty much thinking that fish that are high in the water column are ok....

Nothing is "O.K." everything is "FAIR GAME" to the stomatopod, I've seen my O.scyllarus out swim fish to catch them, I've seen fish live peacefully with a stomatopod for MONTHS (almost a year) then poof gone.

Your going to get more out of your stomatopod if you simply just give it the tank with no other inhabitants like fish.

The only things safe will be to large or aggressive and likely try to kill and eat the stomatopod, even then there is no guarantees...I think Dr.Caldwell mentioned a while ago how he put a X species of stomatopod into a tank with triggers, the stomatopod killed 8 triggerfish...

 

[Darth Chingas]

Nothing is "O.K." everything is "FAIR GAME" to the stomatopod, .

The only things safe will be to large or aggressive and likely try to kill and eat the stomatopod, even then there is no guarantees...

The post has evolved into what is likely to get eaten by the mantis and there are plenty of other posts for that. To get back in track, I am looking for what is dangerous TO the mantis.

 

[Kharn]

The post has evolved into what is likely to get eaten by the mantis and there are plenty of other posts for that. To get back in track, I am looking for what is dangerous TO the mantis.

Any predator significantly larger then the stomatopod poses a threat.

 

[peasofme]

i wouldn't trust anything but small fish. i've seen an angel fish tear off the claws of a huge freshwater lobster and then kill it. fish can definitely injure/kill tough inverts. damsels are terrors. i've seen small damsels beat up/kill much larger damsels than itself.