Has anyone actually tried...

[dbrooks1440]

keeping a mantis in a full blown reef tank?

There is a guy in San Diego that is giving away a N. wenneraes, but the only place I have for it is in my 125g reef that I have at home. I am willing sacrafice every snail and hermit that I have and just restock from time to time, but am a little worried about the "bigger picture".

The smithii that I have at work is a snail and hermit killing machine, but tends to leave the damsels and soft corals alone.

Anyone with experience having a mantis in a large, mature reef tank, please chime in and tell me how it's going (or, how it went...).

Thanks

Dave
San Diego

 

[mattyice]

i have heard of people doing that and just keeping the tank well fed (mostly the mantis) and they have turned out fine, you dont want to take it let me know but i will be more the happy to pay for it and shipping to ohio

 

[Altpers0na-old]

when (if) i get to move up out of the nanos, i fully intend to have a mantis in my reef.

i think the big problem would be with lights and O.s 's and G.Ten's(i think) , i dont think regular reef (mega) lighting will work for em...

i guess pulling uneaten molt parts out could be a problem, but not the end of the world.

 

[dbrooks1440]

I only run PC's so it should'nt be that big a deal re the lights.

Uneaten molt skin...? I never pull that out even in my small 20g at work. Believe me, a 125g can definitely put up with molt skin. That's the beauty of big tanks, the're bullet proof.

 

[Altpers0na-old]

no idea if pc's can be a shell disease problem or not, my guess is not...

ol doc roy says they can spike your phos, if i recall right..

 

[mattyice]

yes its like any other thing that is decomposing in your tank, also any light that is extremely bright and if there is no way for it to escape the light it can get shell disease if it is prone to it

 

[Diet Plain]

I have housed mantis' in my 72g reef before. They left everything alone, probably because of their size. I had 2 N.Wens in once, they were on opposite sides of the tank, and never, that I saw, had a confontation and attacked eachother. The other mantis I had was a small reddish gonodacyloid and did perfectly fine. I did use a feeding stick with krill to feed them.

 

[psychodave]

ive got a 30 gallon soft coral tank I plan on putting a Peacock in, I had a G. Chiragra in there, Mitch, but he died during a molt... 8( But the softies were in there with him and he didnt mess with them