Compatible Tank Mates?

[gussy]

I'm about to get a Peacock Mantis and was wondering if anybody has ever kept those with the following:

1. Chocolate Chip Starfish
2. Pencil Urchin
3. Calico Crab <--- mine is really big but stays buried in substrate and never bothers my small hermits or snails.
4. Queen Conch
5. Zoanthus Polyps
6. Condi Anemone

If the Peacock Mantis is not a good idea, I'm willing to get another kind of mantis as long as it's not one of those expensive rare kinds. However, I'm not allowed to have a tank with only one visible livestock.

Thanks!

 

[EMG]

Its all trial and error and really depends on the size of your tank and how many places there are for others to hide. I have a N. Wenn Mantis and he doesn't bother my other tankmates except the occasional hermit crab or his favorite ghost shrimp.

Peacocks get big and are quite aggressive. You can get some nice N. Wenn's or other LR hitchhikers dirt cheap and they will probably be a bit more reef friendly.... My N. Wenn is about 2 inches long and I'll bet he only grows another inch.

Peacocks really belong in their own tanks.

 

[DJW1705]

I have a 5 inch Peacock, and she lives with a purple linkia starfish and a lionfish. When the lionfish settles at the bottom of the tank on the sand, my mantis will come out and sit next to the lion. It's cool to see that they are buddies. However, I do not think this may be the case all the time.

 

[Gonodactylus]

The conch would definitely be a potential prey item and I have seen O. s. kill several species of urchin although I can't remember keeping one with a pencil urchin. Still, I think it risky.

 

[gussy]

Are corals okay then?

 

[biomekanic]

I think the only problem with a coral would be if the frag was:
-small enough to be good burrow building material
-not attached to the LR
and
-easily hauled off to the burrow.

I've had several mantises, none have bothered any coral I've ever owned.

 

[pisces77]

if you do the chocolate chip star make sure it is big enough to withstand a few whacks. I have a huge pincushion in with a 4" ternatensis and it gets a warning strike of 2 if it gets too close to the borrow.

 

[Uriel]

Where were you going to get your mantis from?
I am also in SF, and i was wondering what store(s) you shopped at.


-Ron
3 Mantis and counting...

 

[gussy]

At a wholesaler in East Bay. I'm starting a business actually, but I won't be able to get the Mantis until I purchase my for sale livestock as there is a minimum. However, 6th Avenue has it every now and then. I've seen it a few times. The price is $19.99 but the quality if livestock are famous for being the worst.

 

[gussy]

And it's $40...wholesale price. But it's really nice and I would pay that than pay $19.99 at 6th Avenue...who are notorious for suplying cyanide caught fish.

 

[Uriel]

At a wholesaler in East Bay. I'm starting a business actually, but I won't be able to get the Mantis until I purchase my for sale livestock as there is a minimum. However, 6th Avenue has it every now and then. I've seen it a few times. The price is $19.99 but the quality if livestock are famous for being the worst.

Would you be oppossed to PMing me the wholesaler's ID/location? I have heard several folks mention a wholesaler somewhere in the East Bay.

I bought 2 of my mantis from 6th ave, and they are doing great, btw...


-Ron

 

[Uriel]

And it's $40...wholesale price. But it's really nice and I would pay that than pay $19.99 at 6th Avenue...who are notorious for suplying cyanide caught fish.

Just so ypu know, the guys at Nippon Goldfish quoted me at 30 bucks for a Peacock. Their rep is a bit better than 6th ave.