mantis and corals
- Thread starter cjm033
- Start date
Hey Chris,
I just set up a nano reef with a 4 inch smasher for a buddy, he doesnt harm any of the corals so far. I gave him frags of discosoma,sinularias,etc. All softies though. The only thing he will smash is pretty much anything that enters his layer. Other than that he has been a perfect resident. The biggest problem I can foresee is that he is a tunneler and likes to dig out his layer causing avalanches. My friend just fixes the rock and repositions the coral and its business as usual. If you are considering setting something like this up, I highly recommend it. What a cool little fishtank. He did beat the crap out of a damsel, I was there and witnessed it. Totally cool. I am anti-damsel and it was nice to see them get theirs for once. It was a blue devil. LOL. The mantis popped him twice right in front of us and up floated the damsel.
Mantis shrimp get a bad rap, I think they are fascinating in a species reef tank. My friend feeds him krill,etc. daily. And so far so good on the hermits and snails. No casualties. I bet if you starved him though they would all disappear.
Paul
I just set up a nano reef with a 4 inch smasher for a buddy, he doesnt harm any of the corals so far. I gave him frags of discosoma,sinularias,etc. All softies though. The only thing he will smash is pretty much anything that enters his layer. Other than that he has been a perfect resident. The biggest problem I can foresee is that he is a tunneler and likes to dig out his layer causing avalanches. My friend just fixes the rock and repositions the coral and its business as usual. If you are considering setting something like this up, I highly recommend it. What a cool little fishtank. He did beat the crap out of a damsel, I was there and witnessed it. Totally cool. I am anti-damsel and it was nice to see them get theirs for once. It was a blue devil. LOL. The mantis popped him twice right in front of us and up floated the damsel.
Mantis shrimp get a bad rap, I think they are fascinating in a species reef tank. My friend feeds him krill,etc. daily. And so far so good on the hermits and snails. No casualties. I bet if you starved him though they would all disappear.
Paul
LilShrimpChik
New member
PHP:
i got curious today and was thinking if a small mantis was the only inhabitant in a tank and there were corals if it would harm them?As far as I know and have observed (my friend has a mantis or two *teehee) - he won't ruin the coral, if anything he'll probably use it to make his home ...
Ive witnessed a mantis's ability to build a home first hand ... coral could be on one side of the tank and a day or two later the smart lil bugger has moved it to the other side of the tank, :eek2: made a cave out of it and dug completely to the other side and to the bottom ...
I wouldnt worry too much.
Kime`
lilswanwillow
New member
i have some funky LPS that I got as a hitchhicker (no, i didn't buy some YET>>> I think its gonna eventually be a lps tank)
anywho... the only harm that has come of it so far is that one of them he walks over alot... as in, every day. That one is now hard to feed like the others cause of this... whenever it feels something, it closes.
i'm hoping that when i get new light it'll beable to liv off of that
anywho... the only harm that has come of it so far is that one of them he walks over alot... as in, every day. That one is now hard to feed like the others cause of this... whenever it feels something, it closes.
i'm hoping that when i get new light it'll beable to liv off of that
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
Typically, the only damage that stomatopods do to live coral is chip away at the entrance of a cavity in the coral to enlarge it. Most species do not like living in live coral, so this is only a problem with a few species such a Gonodactylus smithii. Even then, they will only try enlarging an existing cavity and then expand the entrance a few millimeters.
I have seen animals break away a branch or nubben of coral that is too close to the entrance of their cavity - particularly if it blocks their view.
A real problem comes from some of the more insistant burrowers. They will bury coral that rests on sand. If there isn't a deep sand bed or the live coral is up off the substrate, you won't have a problem.
There is one case that I know of where a stomatopod does damage coral. Gonodactylaceus ternatensis in the field seems to specialize living in Pocillopora damicornis, a highly branched species of coral. Large G. ternatensis (3 to 4 inches) chip a tunnel into the center of the coral head and then hollow out a cavity which they live in. This doesn't seem to kill the coral - it is more like pruning a hedge to a particularl shape. In fact, the coral probably gains some protection from coral eating species of fish and might be driven off my the resident stomatopod.
Roy
I have seen animals break away a branch or nubben of coral that is too close to the entrance of their cavity - particularly if it blocks their view.
A real problem comes from some of the more insistant burrowers. They will bury coral that rests on sand. If there isn't a deep sand bed or the live coral is up off the substrate, you won't have a problem.
There is one case that I know of where a stomatopod does damage coral. Gonodactylaceus ternatensis in the field seems to specialize living in Pocillopora damicornis, a highly branched species of coral. Large G. ternatensis (3 to 4 inches) chip a tunnel into the center of the coral head and then hollow out a cavity which they live in. This doesn't seem to kill the coral - it is more like pruning a hedge to a particularl shape. In fact, the coral probably gains some protection from coral eating species of fish and might be driven off my the resident stomatopod.
Roy
lilswanwillow
New member
that is SO cool!!!
