Interested in a Mantis Shrimp

[Calymene]

Hello.

I've been lurking in this forum like a creepy stalker and finally decided that it's time to join the ranks. Although I primarily specialize in keeping rats as pets, I've decided to broaden my horizon to another hobby that's always fascinated me since I was a kid. This will be my first time setting up a saltwater aquarium and although it seems complicated, I'm willing to learn.

I'm looking into getting a mantis shrimp, given that they're my favorite aquatic invertebrate right after cephalopods (which I was told by my lfs would be too difficult for a newbie like me to keep). My lfs has a special love for the "badass" mantis shrimps and always tries to have a few on stock; mostly they have Peacocks but occasionally get one of the other species. Due to the ready availability of the former, I'm thinking of getting a Peacock.

I have yet to buy any actual supplies, so I'm wide open for suggestions. Right now, I'm on the hunt for a 30-40g tank and will probably line the bottom with acrylic. I guess my first question is, since these tanks seem to come in many different shapes and sizes, what dimensions would you recommend for a 30 g (that's the smallest tank I'm willing to go for this species)?

I'll be having live rock in there (no coral) and possibly a PVC for the den. Aragonite sand will be used with a 3-4" sandbed. No lights outside of regular room lighting will be used so as not to contribute to shell rot. I'll be getting a Power Filter rated higher than the actual size usage (e.g. 75g filter rather than the 30-40g). Should I do the same for the heater as well, or stay within the sizes advertised?

The tank will also house a single damselfish (indecisive of the species at the moment, any suggestions?) and possibly some blue leg hermits, turbo snails, and emerald crabs for clean up (but I fully expect them all to be eaten). I was told to cycle with the damsel for 6-8 weeks, after which, my lfs is willing to test the water for me before allowing me to bring a mantis home (they refuse to let you take one of their beloved stomatopods home until the water is perfect). Given their seemingly strong attachments to their mantis shrimps, would any of you say that any advice they give me is viable? In most pet communities (or at least the pet rat community where I come from), they view pet stores as the plague and given my newbie status, I'm not sure who's trustworthy in this hobby.

Anyway, I'm probably making this more complicated than it needs to be (a common habit of mine), and I guess I'm asking if I'm doing good with these preparations. Any further advice or suggestions will be readily welcomed.

Thank you.

 

[Islandoftiki]

A couple of things that come to mind that I think are really important.

Get a decent skimmer. There are a number of available good nano skimmers that would work well for not much more than $100.00. The amount of junk that my skimmer pulls out of my O. Scyllarus tank is pretty impressive. This is nasty gunk that won't turn into nitrates. Especially at molt time (right now), I'm having to empty the skimmer cup every day.

The type of tank you get will dictate what supporting equipment you get.

As for your heater, get two heaters rated at half the wattage you need, or get a tank controller. Heaters are notoriously unreliable, so you need some level of safety net when one of the thermostats eventually fail. My preference is a tank controller like a Reefkeeper or an Apex. A lot of it depends on your budget.

And +1 on the PVC burrow. I'd consider it mandatory. Cover it in epoxy, sand and rocks to disguise it.

As far as pet stores go, it's a rare place that will talk you out of a purchase that they know is wrong for your situation. I've only ever experienced one that does this on a regular basis.

As far as tank size goes, I have an IM Nuvo 30, and that's the smallest you'd ever want to go. Consider something like the Nuvo 38 if you like all-in-one type tanks. You can cram plenty filtration and other necessary equipment into these tanks and keep it out of the main display. There are tons of other good options depending on your budget.

 

[Calappidae]

40g is prefered for O. scyllarus (peacock mantis shrimp)

Make sure your lfs is getting in O. scyllarus and NOT G. ternatensis (orange spot mantis shrimp).. lfs 90% of the time confuse the species and G. tern happens to be very common. See a few images of the two and the difference is easy to tell. As far as care and housing.. G. ternatensis is a very big threat to reefs during collection as diver's destroy live coral heads they live in. G. tern stays smaller, and I refuse to provide more info to prevent influence in the species.

Tbh, cycling with a damsel is a terrible idea... but not in this case. Damsels occasionally live with stomatopods, not sure why exactly.. but they seem to get along the most.. all depends on the indivigual stomatopod's personallity. Damsel species is your choice, just research which ones will outgrow the tank or not

What I mean by cycling with a damsel is bad.. I ment in general.. like if you were to setup a tank that isn't housing a mantis.. a damsel can be pretty mean themselves and terrorize the other fish.. and trust me they're not fun to catch.. damsel won't terrorize a mantis so it's perfectly fine in this situation.. just gotta hope vice versa

Laying acrylic on the bottom is a good idea, silicone it with stuff from the LFS or if a homedepot/lowes sells something that clearly says aquarium safe that'll work too. Need to avoid dirt and debris buildup under there becoming a nutrient factory.

For shell rot.. it depends on water quality. If you're up-to-scratch put it in a tank full of sps corals and metal halides for all it cares.. shell rot isn't going to grow on a healthy specimen with good water parameters. For starting out as O. scyllarus isn't exactly the hardiest stomatopod for a beginner.. keeping lights off until you get the hang of it might not be a bad idea.

Other than that I personally think you're good to go! Careful taking advice from the lfs about stomatopods tho.. lfs can be unknowledgable no matter how advanced they are in reefs with mantis shrimp.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/

 

[snorvich]

Although I do not keep Mantis Shrimp, they are fascinating animals. I have spent a lot of time underwater observing them. Good advice from Joe above.

 

[Calymene]

I went to the lfs in question today to check out their shrimp firsthand; it was a lot smaller than I expected and didn't look like much on the outside compared to Petco and Petsmart. Well, it turns out they sell other small mammals, reptiles, and arthropods as well. They even have a tiny pig and rooster free roaming the store, a monitor lizard spending time out of its tank on a leash, pet rats also spending time outside their cage sitting on the cashier's shoulder (an added bonus as most pet stores neglect their rats). It was amazing and I got to hold a lot of their rats, lizards, and snakes, each well-socialized and healthy! Very rare indeed! I attribute this to being a private company that selectively breeds and cares for most of their animals.

Impressed, I went to the saltwater fish section to check out their mantis shrimps. They had two Peacocks and a currently unidentified specimen. The Peacocks seemed very interested in me, staring at me and wandering to the glass to check me out. I couldn't see any hint of shell rot. The much smaller, unknown one was chilling out by its den, watching me, and I could only make out his face and part of his cephalothorax. From what I can see, he was a light brown color with vague darker stripes going down that part of his body. I unfortunately couldn't get my phone's camera at the right angle to photograph it. Would've been blurry anyway, my phone's camera doesn't have good quality. *stares disappointed at the Peacock pictures I snapped*

This one's incredibly blurry but its the best quality I have. Apologies.

Maybe I should invest in a new camera too...

Whilst I was wandering about, I found several 40g tanks within my price range today. Just have to wait for my family to give me a ride (I ride the bus and a big tank will be a hassle to carry around), then I can grab one!

Get a decent skimmer. There are a number of available good nano skimmers that would work well for not much more than $100.00. The amount of junk that my skimmer pulls out of my O. Scyllarus tank is pretty impressive. This is nasty gunk that won't turn into nitrates. Especially at molt time (right now), I'm having to empty the skimmer cup every day.

Ah, noted. I was previously under the impression that skimmers were for aquariums housing tons of little critters. I've added that on the list and spotted a few under $60.

I also spotted this gravel pump stuff for 'vacuuming' the bed. Would that work on sand and would you guys recommend I get it?

Looking at all these equipment, I just hope the mantis won't try to break any of it...

 

[Calappidae]

That Lfs sounds awesome!

Looks like a pretty healthy O. scyllarus to me in that pic.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Ah, noted. I was previously under the impression that skimmers were for aquariums housing tons of little critters. I've added that on the list and spotted a few under $60.

A skimmer isn't absolutely mandatory, you could get by with more frequent water changes and monitoring your water quality more often. If you saw how much crud my skimmer pulled out right after my O. scyllarus molted, you'd probably want one. Some of them will bury food, too. As the food breaks down, the skimmer will pull the gunk out before it can turn into nitrates. All in all, it will help in maintaining more stable water quality, which as we know is of paramount importance with O. Scyllarus. That's just my opinion, there are lots of ways to successfully run a saltwater tank, but for me, I run skimmers on my 25 and 30 gallon tanks and they are pretty low bioload tanks, but I'm a stickler for water quality.

 

[Calymene]

That Lfs sounds awesome!

Ikr! It's like an interactive zoo! I wonder if all the stores in that chain are like that. Anyone else been to a Pet Kingdom before? Is it the same as it is here in California?

Looks like a pretty healthy O. scyllarus to me in that pic.

That's good. Hopefully mine would be healthy too when the time comes to pick it up.

On another note, going through Roy's list, I think the unidentified shrimp at the store might be a N. Wennerae, but I can't be sure...

A skimmer isn't absolutely mandatory, you could get by with more frequent water changes and monitoring your water quality more often. If you saw how much crud my skimmer pulled out right after my O. scyllarus molted, you'd probably want one. Some of them will bury food, too. As the food breaks down, the skimmer will pull the gunk out before it can turn into nitrates. All in all, it will help in maintaining more stable water quality, which as we know is of paramount importance with O. Scyllarus. That's just my opinion, there are lots of ways to successfully run a saltwater tank, but for me, I run skimmers on my 25 and 30 gallon tanks and they are pretty low bioload tanks, but I'm a stickler for water quality.

I will get a skimmer; it's good to be as prepared as possible and I'm willing to make any investment for my mantis shrimp. That said, does anyone know what the next $ per gallon sale might be at Petco? That way I can get a big ol' tank (maybe even a 55g!) for my mantis to explore whilst not making myself broke!

Another thing that's confusing me (sorry for all the questions, I just want there to be no mistakes) is WC and this RO/DI thing. If I get saltwater directly from my lfs rather than tap water for changing, do I have to worry about that stuff?

 

[Kharn]

Skimmers aren't necessary but they certainly take a load off the shoulders xD...

Personally...I won't keep an O.scyllarus again without a Skimmer in the system, I think it's vital for longevity its very easy for us to become lazy or start to "lax" in time, letting our confidence get the best of us.

Skimmers aren't much for good ones these days.

 

[Kharn]

Tap Water is generally poor quality for aquariums and can contain hidden toxins that whilst are not harmful to humans can be lethal to Stomatopods & other aquarium animals.

If you buy water from a LFS you won't have to worry about "things" but it can be a lot easier to buy an RO/DI unit.

 

[Calappidae]

Tap Water is generally poor quality for aquariums and can contain hidden toxins that whilst are not harmful to humans can be lethal to Stomatopods & other aquarium animals.

If you buy water from a LFS you won't have to worry about "things" but it can be a lot easier to buy an RO/DI unit.

Oi +111111111...

Trust me buying an RO pays for itself. Even if the lfs wants a dollar per gallon you'll go broke.. trust me been there done that with .88 cent distilled water.. switched to RO..

Besides.. you never truely know what their water source is

N. wennerae or maybe G. chiragra? If you saw it's meral spots that'd be some good info to start for an id.

 

[Kharn]

Oi +111111111...

Trust me buying an RO pays for itself. Even if the lfs wants a dollar per gallon you'll go broke.. trust me been there done that with .88 cent distilled water.. switched to RO..

Besides.. you never truely know what their water source is

N. wennerae or maybe G. chiragra? If you saw it's meral spots that'd be some good info to start for an id.

Although I plan on setting up an RO/DI unit itself in the near future, I am actually going to be bulk buying my water from a LFS the way I have my water storage system planned out I should only need to top IT up hopefully once or twice a year.

The LFS sells water out at 0.25c / liter once you purchase over 100L and I'll be getting between 500L-1000L so it will likely be even less per liter.

 

[Calymene]

Tap Water is generally poor quality for aquariums and can contain hidden toxins that whilst are not harmful to humans can be lethal to Stomatopods & other aquarium animals.

If you buy water from a LFS you won't have to worry about "things" but it can be a lot easier to buy an RO/DI unit.

Okay. *adds it to the list* I was just reading about WC last night and when they mentioned using tap water, I got worried since the water here has a bunch of calcium in it and the RO/DI concept was foreign to me. That's why I asked if getting it from a lfs was better.

I hear some filters come with the RO built in. Maybe I should look into that while I'm searching.

Trust me buying an RO pays for itself. Even if the lfs wants a dollar per gallon you'll go broke.. trust me been there done that with .88 cent distilled water.. switched to RO..

Besides.. you never truely know what their water source is

True, very true.

N. wennerae or maybe G. chiragra? If you saw it's meral spots that'd be some good info to start for an id.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really see the little guy's meral spots as most of its body was blocked from view, and I'm going by guess work from its small size and what I was able to see. When I return to the lfs on my next day off in search for the RO stuff, I'll see if it's in a more visible position.