Found a mantis, how do I care for him?

[ACBlinky]

Talk about an unexpected pet, I removed a coral from my 30g reef to frag it and out popped a cherry-red mantis! He's solid red, no spots or stripes, and about 1" long. Unfortunately my husband is away and has the camera so I couldn't get a picture.

After I got over the initial shock, I thought about what to do with him - he's probably been in the 30g for months and hasn't caused any trouble, so I think he deserves a home. Lucky for him, my 5.5g is fishless (had a clown goby but he died) and fully cycled so it's now his home for as long as it will suit.

Since I'm completely new to keeping a mantis, is there anything I need to do for him to make him happy? There are snails and small hermits in the tank, if he's the type that will eat them he's welcome to them, but is there something else specific he needs to eat?

Here are the tank specs just in case it's important:
5.5g, topless, 2 HOB filters for circulation
8lbs of LR
1.5" aragonite sand
Softies and LPS corals, a little Caulerpa
80W PC lighting
82F, NH/NO2 0, NO3 <5, PO4 <0.5, 8dKH, Ca 380ppm

Thanks for any tips

 

[Hutton]

sounds like a nice home for him!
the hermits and snail should be enough, ive seen my 1.5inch g.smithii just pick at pods for a whole day then move to hermits then pods. they also like mysis shrimp.

 

[ACBlinky]

Thanks for the reply
The tank is crawling with pods, both large and small, so if he'll eat pods he's in heaven

Here's a picture of his house, I'm not sure I'm ever going to see him in here!

 

[olivia640]

You're tank is very nice!

You might want to get a heater that isn't made of glass. Some mantis shrimp like to tap on things, heaters included, and there is a chance that they can break the heater if they tap to hard. I'm not sure if it's such a problem for you since your mantis is so small, but it's a good thing to look into.

Happy mantis keeping!

 

[ACBlinky]

I did read that, it's concerning me a bit along with the fact that the tank is glass.
I haven't seen the little guy since putting him in the tank either during the day or at night, should I worry?
None of the hermits or nassarius have gone missing, but I suppose he could be hiding away dining on pods. I'd like to get a closer look at him to try and find out if he's a 'spearer' or a 'smasher' and narrow down the species, but more than that I'd just like to know he's doing okay. Any thoughts on enticing him out, or will he just do it on his own after a while?

 

[Uriel]

The little ones don't break aquarium glass, so don't worry. The heater comment was a good one. As well, make sure that your thermometer isn't the glass/lead ball kind, as he may break something with glass that thin. I have lost 5 of these, before I finally switched to outside strips on all of my tanks.

You may be suprised when you actually see the little bugger. they get used to things when there aren't any large fish about (Things that might eat them), and he/she might just start exploring that new home and becoem an active, and interactive little monster. I would suggest some LR rubble, if you have any, or old bits of shells, as the like to play at being masons, and are constantly adding things to their burrows.

Good luck,

-Ron

PS:Have a name for it yet?