is it nessecary to cycle...
- Thread starter tirtguyll
- Start date
goblinsharkman
New member
yes, theyre very hardy
cephalopoder
Premium Member
You shuld make sure a tank is cycled for any animal. Some species of stomatopods are more hardy than others. The species that are commonly found in shipments of live rock are the more hardy than lets say a peacock mantis that requre higher water quality. To cycle a tank you need to build up a waste load then let the bacteria build up so it can consume the waste load and bring your ammonia and nitrite levels down to zero. If you never had a aquarium before I would go to the newbie forum and do some serious reading. A good foundation of solid understanding on how aquariums cycles work will help you out a great deal in the long run. I hope this helps.
jchough79
New member
Tirt,
I would set the tank up with your live rock and substrate first and run it like this for at least a month with no livestock except a few hermit crabs. I would not put the hermits in for a couple weeks when your algae starts to take off. At this time you would do about a 1-2 gallon water change and let the tank continue to cycle. Being that it takes a while to get a Mantis Shrimp without ordering a large amount of LR from an online store I would not try cycling the tank with him in there. The Mantis will already be stressed from the move and the water flux that will take place will not help. I'm not saying it would not survive but I would not take the chance of loosing money and having an even longer wait on getting your mantis AGAIN. Do some reading on the New To Hobby forum and this will give you a start on the cycle process.
I would set the tank up with your live rock and substrate first and run it like this for at least a month with no livestock except a few hermit crabs. I would not put the hermits in for a couple weeks when your algae starts to take off. At this time you would do about a 1-2 gallon water change and let the tank continue to cycle. Being that it takes a while to get a Mantis Shrimp without ordering a large amount of LR from an online store I would not try cycling the tank with him in there. The Mantis will already be stressed from the move and the water flux that will take place will not help. I'm not saying it would not survive but I would not take the chance of loosing money and having an even longer wait on getting your mantis AGAIN. Do some reading on the New To Hobby forum and this will give you a start on the cycle process.
