breeding mantis
- Thread starter Shia
- Start date
KenT
New member
I just got a 1" mantis with an order of LR and it is loaded with eggs. It is now in a container in the main tank to protect it from amonia spike. The LR is curing in a 180 gal tank that I will be using as a refugium. Once the rock is cured I plan on putting the shrimp back in. Without predators and pumps/powerheads in the tank what are the chances of survival of the eggs?
Thanks.
Thanks.
cephalopoder
Premium Member
I recently bought a book called How To Raise & Train your Peppermint Shrimp. It's a step by step guide on how to raise them from egg to adult. It is a great book for the money. I do vary my procedures from the book though. I also feed in addition brine shrimp nauplii a product called Golden Pearls that the little ones seem to like. I wonder if it is possible to use the same methods to rear young mantis shrimp just out of the egg?
-chris
-chris
My understanding is that each individual will need to be in a separate cantainer. Feeding and water quality would be dificult at best. Dr. Roy only had limited success in a lab environment, therefore I bet my chances of success using cereal bowls in the kitchen are slim to none.
And assuming you could raise them to adulthood, what the heck would you do with them all?
And assuming you could raise them to adulthood, what the heck would you do with them all?
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
Rearing young isn't impossible, but it is very, very difficult. Cannibalism is certainly a major problem, but so are disease and food. People have had the greatest success with gonodactylids. They start out relatively large when hatched (a little over a mm) and stay in the plankton for only three to four weeks. When they settle as postlarvae, they will be 6-8 mm total length. Brine shrimp naupli are NOT an adequate food. I have had some success treating brine shrimp naupli with additives such as Selco, but you probably should have other food available as well. Rotifers (for the first couple of stages) and larvae from cleaner shrimp are useful.
My only success came trying to rear young of Gonodactylus chiragra. We isolated 100 larvae the day after they became free swiming (fourth stadium) place each in a 250 ml beaker, provided food and changed the water daily, and after a month, two postlarve settled. All of the others had died.
My guess is that a large "edgeless" rearing tank similar to those used for cleaner shrimp might work if the proper food were available, but mortality from cannibalism would be very high.
Small egged species with long planktonic periods would seem to me to be nearly impossible. These would include Odontodactylids, Pseudosquillids, Squillid, and some Lysiosquillids. If you must have a go at it, stick with gonodactylids.
Roy
My only success came trying to rear young of Gonodactylus chiragra. We isolated 100 larvae the day after they became free swiming (fourth stadium) place each in a 250 ml beaker, provided food and changed the water daily, and after a month, two postlarve settled. All of the others had died.
My guess is that a large "edgeless" rearing tank similar to those used for cleaner shrimp might work if the proper food were available, but mortality from cannibalism would be very high.
Small egged species with long planktonic periods would seem to me to be nearly impossible. These would include Odontodactylids, Pseudosquillids, Squillid, and some Lysiosquillids. If you must have a go at it, stick with gonodactylids.
Roy
Dexter1334
Premium Member
My green mantis and red mantis from TBS just had babies in their ten gallon tank a few days ago. There must have been 200 babies swimming around. They looked like small brine shrimp. The parents have been in the tank about two months and I feed them raw shrimp and fish. After three days I only see a few left. I don't really plan on raising them but it will be interesting to see how many survive if any.
I saw someone else post pictures of a pair of TBS mantis mating and they had one green and one red also. Does anyone know if this is a sex difference?
I still have several smaller mantis in my 120 and one in my 40. They haven't caused anyproblems yet.
I saw someone else post pictures of a pair of TBS mantis mating and they had one green and one red also. Does anyone know if this is a sex difference?
I still have several smaller mantis in my 120 and one in my 40. They haven't caused anyproblems yet.
