food for a mantis?

[OrangeKoi]

So there are smashers and grabbers?

What exactly do they eat? (besides fish, snails and hermit crabs)

 

[Pea-brain]

Smashers eat snails and hermits, spearers eat fish and shrimp. In captivity we feed them raw shrimp, raw squid, raw fish and other raw seafood untreated with preservitives, chemicals etc. and freeze dried krill works good. It is a good practice to soak food in selcon once a week or so.

 

[justinl]

when feeding frozens, an important thing is variety. try cycle between three different frozens.

 

[Ab3]

Could I keep a horned blenny with a mantis that was like 3-4"??

 

[Diet Plain]

If the blenny was quick MAYBE. I wouldn't try a blenny though, damsels have been my best bet with smashers, no fish at all with spearer cept for my sailfin im testing out with my pseudosquilla.

 

[Ab3]

K

 

[OrangeKoi]

So those who feed their mantis live foods only what do you feed them?

 

[Hutton]

I feed my Little guy pods i find in my ten gallon since he cant kill hermits yet. I usualy feed any mantis i have blue legs(89cents here) and cerith snails since ceriths multiply fast in my tank.

 

[OrangeKoi]

Ah, so that's what those are for. Hermits could get expensive? How often do you feed them?

 

[tangyreefer05]

I wouldn't recommend only feeding live, will get costly, and the mantis might not take frozen food period. I'de mix it up.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1097600

 

[justinl]

if you can afford to stay with live, then by all means do it though. no frozen food can compare really.

most of us just supplement with live though. once a month at least. i throw in five blue legs at least once a month.

 

[OrangeKoi]

Well that's not so unreasonable, though I'd feel terrible if Mr. Blue knees got eaten(my daughter's pet hermit). But I suppose there's no help if you've got one of those creatures in your tank.

What do you feed it if it's only, say, 3/4 inch long and isn't eating the creatures that run around(snails and hermits).

I'm a little confused as to what I've got. I had a hitch hicker on a rock that looked fleshy but was too closed up to identify. I suspect it was a beautiful mushroom or maybe an anemonea of some sort. It is mysteriously GONE. But that's the only thing missing. So far.

 

[OrangeKoi]

I added a couple more snails and a few reef safe crabs. Nothing came up missing for a week. I got a blue watchman goby today. I hope it's a pistol.