Dr. Caldwell, How many Shrimp in a 30?

[ADHybrid]

Hey Dr. Caldwell,

I am upgrading my reef to a 120 so I will have a 30 gallon hex pretty much empty. I want my G. Smithii (Max) to have a bigger home so I will be moving him into the 30 after the upgrade. I was wondering if I could put another mantis in there with him if I have TONS of rocks and plenty of caves built for them. If so, does it matter what kind of mantis or should I stick with another G. Smithii. Also, how many would you recommend to be safe? Sorry for all the questions, I just dont want to have any animals killed because of my mistakes.


-Chris

 

[Gonodactylus]

Any time you put two stomatopods into a tank together - no matter what the size, you are risking one killing the other. These animals are predators. That said, if there are lots of holes of different sizes, two or three animals can usually coexist. The trick is to have them different sizes so that the smaller one, particularly when it molts, can hide in a cavity that the larger one can not enter. When a 2 inch gonodactylus molts, a 1 inch animal won't be able to kill it and when the one inch guy molts the 2 inch one won't be able to get into its cavity.

Species that spend most of their time in their cavities are probably best. Haptosquillas and small gonodactylids would be my recommendation. A reasonably large Pseudosquilla might also work. It will burrow and if it is larger enough to be able to defend itself from the gonodactylid, it should be o.k.

Still, there is ALWAYS as risk.

Roy