first mantis

[vezina345]

I just got a Zebra Mantis ( Lysiosquillina maculata ). He is about 2" long. So far so good but am looking for tips from anyone with experience.
So far he's in a 12g nano with a Black Danselfish named DAN ( Days Are Numbered ) but I will be moving him to a 75g once he gets bigger, I've read they get really big.
I have seen him eat a small feeder ( a rosie red, freshwater feeder ) but want to know if he will eventually eat non-living food because I would rather not feed him freshwater feeders and finding saltwater live feeders is actually dificult around here, at least very small ones . He hasn't eaten any dead food yet but has grabbed at it.
Again, any tips are welcome.

 

[richofoz]

I know it sounds a bit rough, but don't feed it for a week.
Offer it a small piece of food after a week and see how you go. If no luck wait another day or two and try again.

If that doesn't work (or you start to feel too bad about starving it like i did) the guy at my LFS helped me, I explained to him that I wanted small saltwater fish to feed my Lion fish and mantis' and he spent the time to catch the 3 smallest chromis in the tank, and then only charged my half price for them coz he knew they weren't going to last long!

Probably a lucky find on my behalf but it might be worth a try for you...

 

[justinl]

tip for L. mac: needs a deep sand bed. deep as in 1.5X the mantis' own body length. and keep your fingers out of his tank. not really much else to say i think.

a mantis will not starve itself if you offer food. they can go for long periods without food since they have such a low metabolism. so stick to rich's regime. eventually the mantis will take.

 

[vezina345]

He has eaten but I just don't know how much they usually eat. Since he ate that feeder I figured he'd be good for a few days.
I am planning on adding more sand into the tank when I get a chance, as I said earlier I hadn't planned on getting a spearer.
Thanks again for the advise.