Lime Green Mantis at Live Aquaria

[Shekki]

Anyone order a mantis from Liveaquaria.com? They have Lime Green Mantis in stock for $19.00. I have a 24Gallon nano in my office waiting for one as we speak.

Robb

 

[DanInSD]

For that size tank, I'd go to mknwaves.com where they apparently have Odontodactylus latirostris for sale.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Either O. latirostris or a gonodactylid can be housed in a Nano that size. However, you may want to consider how stable the system will be, will it receive daily care, etc. Gonodactylus are fairly hardy and can take fluctuation in temperature, salinity and oxygen. O. latirostris are sensitive to changing environmental conditions and from experience I can tell you it only takes one slip-up failing to remove a piece of food or a long three day weekend and you can easily lose one. Also, O. latirostris are jumpers. They can easily clear three inches of freeboard and I have seen them end up on the floor or in the filter compartment.

Roy

 

[mattyice]

i wish i could find some nice rare manits, im hopign that so called colored mantis is really an O. Japonicus, and i dont see an O. Latirostris on their website

 

[mattyice]

scratch that i found out thats it is an O. Latirostris

 

[DanInSD]

The problem with rare mantis is that they aren't very common.

 

[Carnivarious]

bluezooaquatics.com check it out you can request color of your mantis. Just found the place.. anyone know if its any good?

 

[Shekki]

The tank is stable. It only has some rock and a mean little damsel. I do go to my office every day and have ordered an ATO for the tank. The top is open so the Gonodactlyus is probably the way to go.

 

[mattyice]

haha thanks for the info dan, bluezooaquatics is a nice place i ordered alot of my stuff for my 125G from them and everything was packed nice and arrived within a week, if clamsdirect.com recommends them then they are a great place to deal with for livestock

 

[jcerdena]

Hey Shekki, are you in Salt Lake City? If so, you might check out Aquarium, they don't have any instock I don't think, but they have the mantis "sign up sheet". I had bought a mantis from them before and was looking for another one around November, but got sick of waiting on their list. I went ahead and bought a "lime green mantis" from Live Aquaria to see what they would send me. I am very happy with what Live Aquaria sent me, the mantis I received is alot bigger, more colorful and a lot more active than the mantis i bought locally. I think that this is a good option for anyone who doesn't really care what species of mantis they end up with. I'm also pretty sure that they would not send you anything that would be too big for (or out-grow)your 24g nano.

 

[Shekki]

Jcerdena, I go to the Aquarium every time I'm in Sandy. I love that place. Chris at Fish4U was going to order one for me but I think he got high and forgot. I ordered the one from L.A. and it'll be here tomorrow.

 

[jcerdena]

HAHA! - he definitely got high and forgot :smokin:

I live real close to fish 4 u so i go to them for just about everything, and they are always pretty cool. Good luck with your mantis.

 

[don-n-sa]

I bought this guy from liveaquaria about three years ago...he was very healthy on arrival and he is still doing great.

 

[rsteagall]

don-n-sa, thats a great looking mantis. What kind?

 

[mattyice]

that is a peacock...O. Scyllarus, in my opinion the most aggressive of the mantis shrimp, one of the largest smashers, and has the ability to crack and shatter probably up to 1/4" thick glass if it is really upset, i have personally seen the aggression in mine probably go up ten-fold in the past couple of days for some reason, i have seen mine split fish in two with a few strikes, she has also been on a constant construction mode and has decided to chip off a bunch of 1-3" pieces of LR to use for bricks, they are EXTREMELY active also, mine recently has actively been searching for food and more building materials, inspecting each piece before deciding where to put it and if it is suitable or not, VERY intelligent creatures also, problem solving for them is no problem also very smart hunters, i just love mine it has more personality then any other animal i have owned

 

[Gonodactylus]

What you are describing is classic pre-molt behavior. Most smashing gonodactylids dramatically increase their aggression and engage in more construction a few days prior to a molt. The reasons are fairly obvious. They need a secure, but slightly larger home in which to be protected during the molt and we have evidence that they actually "train" their neighbors to stay clear of them (based on individual recognition of odour as well as knowledge of the location of the burrow).

Actually, I do not consider O. scyllarus to be a particularly aggressive stomatopod. They are efficient and powerful predators, but when interacting with other stomatopods, they are pussycats. G. chiragra are far more aggressive and for their size, more powerful.

Roy

 

[mattyice]

so even though they are ***** cats it is still not safe to put another mantis in the same tank as them?

 

[Gonodactylus]

No, I've seen them catch and kill gonodactylids in the wild and they will do the same in the aquarium. Probably the only way you could keep another stomatopod in the same tank would be a small cavity occupying species like H. glyptocercus that had a very good cavity in a solid piece of rock. Even then, with nothing else to do, the O. s might try to chip it out.

My comments about "aggression" relate more to intraspecific attacks and the use of strikes vs threat and/or avoidance.

Roy

 

[mattyice]

well this is deff. a case of attacks and strikes, she is not happy with me anywhere near the tank, she has struck the tank multiple times and she has also shown multiple threats