Help...found mantis...now what?

[Hvy_Dty]

So...a few weeks ago I discovered a Mantis Shrimp in my tank. I tried to catch him, but no luck...I would catch my dumb cleaners or peppermint shrimp instead. I got lucky and was watching my tank one day and saw the mantis burrough into a piece of rock. I have a 20l that I put that rock in with a heater and a powerhead. I've tried to trap him but haven't had success. I know he's still in there because I hear him click clacking on the rock and glass. What would I need to have if I wanted to keep him in the tank? Substrate, filtration, etc? My LFS store said it would buy him, but I may just want to keep it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I don't know much about them.

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[Hvy_Dty]

Help! I'm hoping someone out there can at least tell me where I can do some reading to find out what is necessary to keep Mr. Mantis.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Volcom]

I don't know I think it really just depends on how much money they are willing to pay. If you do not want to keep him in a 20l you can always get a smaller tank like a 10 gallon.

 

[jjrock]

You don't need much to keep a Mantis happy. Please see the comments from other reefers in this post for some ideas for cheap setups:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=294170

That should help a bit.

The bottom line is, if you want to go cheap you don't need a powerhead, or heater (assuming you don't live in the Arctic) to keep a Mantis Shrimip. Anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of argonite or sand on the bottom will do, you'll need a bunch of rocks and pebbles (for "construction"), and if you really want to splurge I recommend one large rock weighing about 1 lb per gallon of tank (i.e. for a 10 gallon tank get one nice big 10 pound rock with lots of tunnels/caves/holes etc, for a three gallon get a three pound rock --this is just a rough general rule since it has worked wonders for me).

The rock itself will be the "castle", if you will, for your creature and he will behave more like a Mantis Shrimip should if he has one. If you just have a bunch of small rocks and nowhere for him to hole up he will get "squirrely" and just try and hide all the time. With a proper dwelling he should "come into his own" and start developing his own unique personality (which you will marvel over in time), and act according more naturally that he would otherwise.

Hope that helps.

JJ.

 

[Isaari]

Agreed, a simple setup is fine. You're looking at about 1/2 gallon with 1.5 lbs live rock, 1/2"-1" fine sand, 50/50 JBJ and a 73gph micro-jet to move the water.

The pump keeps the water warm and has some mesh behind it which I've adapted as some basic mechanical filtration. The shrimp has been thriving in it since February 2003 and I've recently added a rock crab as a companion and to take care of the algea since the hermits and snails became food for my boy "gator".

 

[jjrock]

Nice setup.

Rock crabs do not get eaten? How big are they. Perhaps I should pick one up myself.

JJ.

 

[Isaari]

The rock crab is as large as the mantis, but true to his name, he's solid. The mantis has tried for several days to crack him open to no avail.

It's funny because the crab will sometimes bury itself in the sand during the day, and the mantis will dig him out just to deliver some shots. The crabs defense it to tuck everything in and ride it out. Eventually, the mantis tires of it and moves on.

The crab is quickly removing all my hair algae which was my original intention. He's now found a place under the rocks to hide out during the day. Overnight he eats and when I get back in the morning, another large patch of green is gone.

 

[jjrock]

I have some great video footage of a my mantis shrimp Ghengis battling it out with a banded corral shrimp. It's hilarous, and violent, and quick.

I'll post them after work tonite.

JJ.

 

[Hvy_Dty]

Cool info. I really appreciate your replies. Right now I just have a piece of LR (that I caught the mantis in) and 2 pieces of base rock in the 20L. I also have a heater and MJ900 in there for circulation. I'll go pick up some sand tonight and put about 4" in the bottom of the tank. I'll also take out the pieces of base rock and get another piece or two of LR and some rubble. It sounds like I won't need anything else for right now, correct? One other question...what does your mantis like to eat?

Thanks again! Later on I'll take a pic of the tank and let me know if you guys approve of the setup.

 

[Isaari]

I feed mine freeze dried krill. Since day one he's been crazy for it.

I'd like to do more live foods, but with my limited size, I don't want to pollute the water.

 

[badgerdognut]

I have a mantis in my tank and I feed him raw shrimp on a regular basis. He's really cool, when I tap on the glass he peeks out of his hole and waits for me to give him a piece of shrimp.

 

[Rebels23]

I think I might have just found a mantis shrimp in my tank. That video footage would be really cool!

 

[mx250]

Keeping mantis

Keeping mantis

I removed three mantis from my main tank shortly after setting it up with live rock (hickhikers). All three went into a 30 gallon section of my sump. One mantis was killed by another, but the remaining two have been getting along for over a year (even sharing "homes").

They are now about 2.5" long, smashers, from Florida. I don't know exactly what type.

I also had some other "undesireables" in the sump with them - large crabs. One had claw arms the length of the maintis shrimp (a body 3" across). It lived with them for a year with no damage except one small leg "knocked off". Eariler this week I went down to find the crab dead, with multiple holes punched through it's claws and body (my bad - this isn't their first kill). This is with the mantis being fed frozen shrimp and and scallops every other day! I also once made the mistake of putting a snail in there to help control algea - they smashed it within 12 hours!

I'm down to one large crab in there with them - it buries itself in the sand so I guess it has escaped the mantis' wrath so far. I think I need to move it because as the last non-mantis resident, I'm sure it is next, but it can't go into the main tank as it is too "mean".

So, they are really cool, but don't expect to keep them with any other "meaty" animals - they will eventually kill them, and (probably) eat them, unless they are MUCH larger then the mantis.