Fish suggestions with Mantis

S

Shekki

New member
I'm ready to stock my 24 gallon Nanocube with a mantis and a fish or two. This tank is in my office and I only want fish so I can see some movement. My thoughts are small mean fish such as damsels or dottybacks (also inexpensive). Am I on the right track? How a bout a Saddled Toby?

Robb
 
I've heard good things about damsels and mantises. You want a fish that doesnt hang around the bottom ever and doesnt sleep in rockwork. Damsels fit that bill nicely
 
Just make sure that the mantis you have is a smasher (as opposed to a spearer). These guys will give a fish a better chance of survival because fish aren't their main prey.
 
I have a yellow coris wrasse with my mantis, and have also had a red velvet head wrasse with him and they were fine. They swim up high during the day, and at night since they sleep under the sand they are safe.
 
I have a yellow damsel with my O scyllarus (Peacock), and I had a domino damsel with my other one as well.

I keep a blue damsel with my G. smithii, never any problems with them.

as folks stated before, just go with fast and alert fish that know when to stay away from the mantis (And don't cost a fortune...just in case *ahem* ).

Good luck,

-Uriel
 
yeah cost should definitely be a consideration. there's really no such thing as a mantis-safe anything. they can eat blue-ring octopus. they can attack moray eels. Id be surprised if they didnt attack blue whales just for fun...
 
i have a wannerae in the same tank as a huge clarkii clown, a yellow tang, and a small spanish hogfish too small to eat the mantis. they all get along just fine
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9091058#post9091058 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinl
...I'd be surprised if they didn't attack blue whales just for fun...
Click to expand...

Yeah, Baron Münchhausen (My 2.5" G. viridis) was telling me a whopper of a tale, where he single-dactyledly bested 4 Grey Whales in an all out grudge match. He does seem to exaggerate a bit, but why shouldn't I believe him? I mean, he is a Baron and all...


-Ron
 
haha not even damsels are safe...my peacock is 4 for 5 on damsels...it is a scary thing to watch, she would wait and befriend them...and then when they time was right and they got too close WHACK another one bites the dust...possibly the most aggressive i have seen my peacock is when it didnt even club a damsel...just like a trap door spider she pounced out of her hole and grabbed a damsel with her maxillipeds and ate it alive
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9096346#post9096346 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mattyice
haha not even damsels are safe...my peacock is 4 for 5 on damsels...it is a scary thing to watch, she would wait and befriend them...and then when they time was right and they got too close WHACK another one bites the dust...possibly the most aggressive i have seen my peacock is when it didnt even club a damsel...just like a trap door spider she pounced out of her hole and grabbed a damsel with her maxillipeds and ate it alive
Click to expand...

*drools* I NEED to see that
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9114402#post9114402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thurge

Lions are right out.
Click to expand...

... lions are right out if they are bigger than the mantis. Although that depends on what you prefer in the tank. If you like the lion more, put in a lion thats about twice the size of the mantis. If you prefer the mantis (yay!) have the mantis about the same length as the lion or bigger. But no guarantees.
 
I had a Peacock with 10 damsels, then 8, then 6, then 3.... you get the idea...

He didn't eat the Black and White Striped ones though, very weird!

I've had a Tomato Clown with a P. Ciliata in a 24 gal Nano for some time now though with no problems! Except, if the Clown tries to take food from the mantis, he'll lunge out at the fish
 
It's a good thing damsels cost about the same as a snail (within a buck). I just put a damsel in my 24 nano and will get a mantis as soon as I can find one. A small dottyback would probably be ok, right? I have one in my 75 and he's a mean little sucker but I don't think he's big enough to take down a mantis that's fighting back.
 
believe me a dottyback will regret ever even trying to pick on a mantis, a mantis of the same size will destroy a fish like that, believe me...i hade a dwarf lion as big as my peacock...i said i give it 3 days...more like 3 hours and it was dead
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9127170#post9127170 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shekki
I just put a damsel in my 24 nano and will get a mantis as soon as I can find one.
Click to expand...

Personally I would do that the other way around. It's not a mandatory thing, a mantis will adapt faster to a new tank without a fairly aggressive tankmate like a damsel. And mantises, despite being pretty tough, can be a bit more finicky than a damsel, which are generally regarded as less important anyways in a mantis tank.
 
Personally I am not willing to try a Psuedochromis in with my mantis's, not with there pugnacious nature. I have a copy of "Pocket Guide to Marine Fishes" by Scott Michael, and most of the Pseudochromis species he profiles in the book are listed as Mantis shrimp predators. If that is only mantis that are smaller than they are I don't know, but I don't want to find out that they are skilled at taking down larger mantis the hard way.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9131693#post9131693 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thurge
Personally I am not willing to try a Psuedochromis in with my mantis's, not with there pugnacious nature. I have a copy of "Pocket Guide to Marine Fishes" by Scott Michael, and most of the Pseudochromis species he profiles in the book are listed as Mantis shrimp predators. If that is only mantis that are smaller than they are I don't know, but I don't want to find out that they are skilled at taking down larger mantis the hard way.
Click to expand...


Well, that explains why my mantis is always hiding. Another reason to never trust the LFS, even if they generally do know what they're talking about.
 
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