Hey guys let me start out by saying im new to the forum and after hearing about mantis shrimp on a poker forum I have become very interested in purchasing one for a small 10-15g tank that I would also have to purchae. However, I have no idea where to begin to reach this goal as I know nothing about setting up a saltwater tank. I do have experience with FW tanks having a tank with african cichlids atm. Can anyone give me a tutorial or link somewhere that will guide me in purchasing a tank and everything else I will need and setting up/maintaining said tank that will house a mantis shrimp, hopefully a smithii or a wennerae.
Help starting a mantis tank
- Thread starter Lehman
- Start date
gemini aquarius(t)
Always Learning
this is the best web site ever! for a ten gallon it depends on if the mantis is going to be the only thing in the tank or if you want a reef tank. if its just going to be the mantis and its prey then i would reccommend about 5-10 pounds of cured used (preferably) and get as much water from the person you ge the rock from so go to reef central local reef clubs and look for your city's club and ask around for live rock it will run you about 7 bucks a pound at a fish store and about 2 for better stuff on here so just ask and you will probably recieve unless you live in the middle of nowwhere then you might have to ship rock and go through a cycle(not all that bad but the first method is much easier)
so depending on who you ge tthe rock from if the tank is big then just ask for about 5 gallons of their water (not the crappy water from the bottom of their tank either) After the possible mini cycle wait at least a week for it unless you get all the water for your tank from the owner of the rocks tank
get me so far???
ok then for sand there are probably people in your area selling that also but if you need just get some dry (or live but that might put your tank through a cycle also) sand the grade is your choice and depending on the species of mantis you choose
for lighting this is a highly debateable subject but i would go regular Normal Output Florecent lights if you only have rock and the mantis if you want to get coral but want to limit it to soft corals only even down the road i would get a 96watt powerquad from coralife or the 2x 40 watt power compact (PC=Power Compact)
then for a filter just get a little hang on the back filter such as a whisper or a aquaclear or you could go the better method and get a protien skimmer and for that you can probably find a really cheap prizm skimmer (they have a bad reputation but they work just not as well as the more expensive ones)
then a little 50 watt "stealth" heater will stand up to the mantis.
a tiny powerhead might be in order depending on what filtration method you choose if there isnt enough flow i would get a small maxi jet 400 or maybe the 600 but mantis' dont like high flow from what i hear
hope this helps(hth)
also for acronyms check out the home page theres a link to all the common used acronyms sor the reef hobby and this site
HTH
xavier
so depending on who you ge tthe rock from if the tank is big then just ask for about 5 gallons of their water (not the crappy water from the bottom of their tank either) After the possible mini cycle wait at least a week for it unless you get all the water for your tank from the owner of the rocks tank
get me so far???
ok then for sand there are probably people in your area selling that also but if you need just get some dry (or live but that might put your tank through a cycle also) sand the grade is your choice and depending on the species of mantis you choose
for lighting this is a highly debateable subject but i would go regular Normal Output Florecent lights if you only have rock and the mantis if you want to get coral but want to limit it to soft corals only even down the road i would get a 96watt powerquad from coralife or the 2x 40 watt power compact (PC=Power Compact)
then for a filter just get a little hang on the back filter such as a whisper or a aquaclear or you could go the better method and get a protien skimmer and for that you can probably find a really cheap prizm skimmer (they have a bad reputation but they work just not as well as the more expensive ones)
then a little 50 watt "stealth" heater will stand up to the mantis.
a tiny powerhead might be in order depending on what filtration method you choose if there isnt enough flow i would get a small maxi jet 400 or maybe the 600 but mantis' dont like high flow from what i hear
hope this helps(hth)
also for acronyms check out the home page theres a link to all the common used acronyms sor the reef hobby and this site
HTH
xavier
Hey thanks for the reply. Yeh for now until I gain some more knowledge on marine tanks I was planning on just having the mantis, live rock, sand , and his prey. I was looking at something along these lines of a JBJ nanocube. http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=JB7133
So besides the sand and live rock is there any additional purchases I would need to make for the mantis if I went with this type of setup?
So besides the sand and live rock is there any additional purchases I would need to make for the mantis if I went with this type of setup?
youd also want a protein skimmer because these guy s are messy eaters and will foul a small 10 gal pretty fast.
other than that, heater (80degF) and powerhead for water movement.
for the tank, bigger is better. bigger is also easier to maintain. For which mantises can go in what volume tank check out Dr. roy's ID site... it was stickyed.
in general mantises prefer lower lighting, and low to moderately high flow. Im a fan of oolitic (sugar sized) sand. rougher is okay, if you go too fine then your tank could get cloudy.
other than that, heater (80degF) and powerhead for water movement.
for the tank, bigger is better. bigger is also easier to maintain. For which mantises can go in what volume tank check out Dr. roy's ID site... it was stickyed.
in general mantises prefer lower lighting, and low to moderately high flow. Im a fan of oolitic (sugar sized) sand. rougher is okay, if you go too fine then your tank could get cloudy.
