Mantis good for a first timer?

[folkform]

Hello everyone,

I want to set up my first salt water tank and get a Mantis shrimp. I have read everything available on the net (forums, faqs, web sites, Dr. Caldwell's site, and anything else I could find) and decided that I would like to try and keep one of these guys. Still, the info that I've seen seems to be written by people who already have salt water aquarium experience. So I looked up all the info for starting my first salt water tank, and found that the info didn't seem particularly focused on the Mantis shrimp, so I have a few questions that I hope are not too basic.

1. Is a mantis a good way to start? I had a limited amount of experience when I was very young with fresh water, but I always wanted to try a salt water tank. I know that they are relatively easy to take care of, but should I start out with something easier?

2. I want to get a smaller tank, 5-10 gal, and make it only for the mantis. How much in terms of cost would a setup be? How much is a monthly maintenance cost? I know there is a wide variety of setups, but I would like to know what people spend on their Mantis' generally. (I am a student at Berkeley now, so I am wondering if I should hold off until I get a job.)

3. How much daily maintenance does a Mantis require? Believe me, I don't want a Mantis just so I don't have to take care of him, but I do want to know how much time one requires.

Thanks alot everyone!

James Byun

 

[Docbones]

The smaller the tank you have the harder it is. Ina 5-10 gallon tank it takes very little to lower the water quality, so you must be religous about doing your water changes, i do about 1 1/2 gallons a wk on my 10 gallon.

As far as the setup i have a 10 gallon tank with a crappy hood and flourescent , a HoB filter with all the filters removed and replaced with live rock rubble and a heater. In the Tank i have 1 large piece of rock he lives under a couple smaller pieces and some rubble.

As far as daily maintenance , in the morning i throw in some Mysis shrimp when i turn on the light and top off every few days.

 

[Altpers0na-old]

Im very new to salt, I had fresh for a couple years, till the last fish went surfing...

I have a 10g tank, 20lb of LS, 8lb of LR and 8 lb of dead rock.

I let the water, rock, and sand settle for a week then put my mantis in... along with snails and crabs.. after about a month iv added yellow polyps, curly q anems and macro algea.

I set this tank up the first week of Feb. so far the only casualties are snails n crabs due to the mantis, and a damsel that i guess wasnt as water tolerant as the inverts...

So far I have probably done 30 gallons in water changes trying to get the initial water chemistry to settle out... 0 on trites, trates, and ammonia. That only happend 2 days ago.

I have bought all types of stuff to try and feed the mantis. raw shrimp, dry krill, some sort of pellet, and ghost shrimp. I have had 3 kinds of snails, Nas, margarita, and something else, turbos maybe... not sure... the crabs in there are all blue legs.

Snails i pay 1 to 3 dollars for , the crabs are 1 dollar... Rounded up the shrimp might take a dollar a day in food (would be alot less if i didnt provide so much live food), he will eat from a stick if he is in the mood... or hunt if he gets tired of shrimp.

as far as total cost to start up.

Tank: 10g walmart special. If i were doing this again and not planning on upgrading i would go with one of walmarts bow fronts, there way cheaper than at the LFS. Dont forget a light.

sand: 1 bag from the LFS, forgot what that cost.

LR: 6 bucks a pound i think.

Dead rock, 2 dollars per lb.

rock w/ the polyps on it: 35 dollars.

bag of sea salt from LFS: forgot how much..

1 mini skimmer :30?

2 other power heads : 50 total.

2 5g bucketts, 10 bucks from hardware store.

assorted plastic implements, hoses, buckets and stuff: 20

timer for tank lights: 10 at Radio shack.

bottle of declorinator: 2

heater: smallest i could find, dunno what it cost.

Now that my basic chemicals have settled my daily maint should go down drasticaly, and i plan on 1 - 2 gallons wather changes per week. And adding new menu items as required.

My mantis is a 3in N. Wenn

Im terrible at photography but here is my tank before the last reorganization.

[http://www.altpersona.net/_mgxroot/images.html]

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so far my only regret is not going straight for the 200+ gallon tanks... no hippo tangs for me.... yet

 

[Altpers0na-old]

drat, i knew i would botch that link

http://www.altpersona.net/_mgxroot/100_6129.JPG is a pic of the tank, as it used to be.

the other an index.

 

[Uriel]

Firstly, welcome to the Mantis Forums!

Secondly, I started the exact same way less than two years ago, so here goes.

I started with an Eclipse 6 gallon acrylic tank, a visi-therm 'Stealth' heater,
10 pound bag of sand, 10 pounds of LR or so,some caulerpa...


I bought from Octopus Garden in Berkeley, though, if you are on a budget, it is VERY worth it to drive/BART over to 6th Ave Aquarium (Here in SF), as they sell the Eclipse 6's for 36.99, as oppossed to O.G.'s 70 bucks or so.
Honestly, O.G. is pretty pricey overall.

If you want a no fuss set-up, Eclipse is the way to go, unless you want corals, as they have limited lighting options, and a 13w 50/50 is about as good as they get.
50/50 light, about 14 bucks...

Caulerpa are macro algaes that help maintain water quality, and give the mantis something to swim through, etc...
You shouldn't pay for this, and if anyone tries to sell it to you, just get some from me (Or someone over in Berkeley, if you know someone). Grape Caulerpa is great for this, and I have tons.

I highly suggest a water testing kit, I bought onw that tests PH,Ammonia,Nitrates and Nitrites. About 30 bucks, but you could probably get it cheaper online.

Ask the LFS is they have any rubble liverock, as they often
sell smaller pieces cheaper, and Mantis love/need things to build with.

Don't get a glass thermometer, use a stick-on one. I had 4 broken ones before I learned my lesson.

Mantis: This depends on what is available from the stores. 6th Ave has a 2.5-3" Gonodactylus chiraga right now for 20 bucks, I think.
Not sure what the other local stores have, as I rarely leave SF for LFS.G. chiraga aren't they most outgoing mantis, however. I have two and they rarely come out.


Water: LFs sell water, and (If you are just going to have a mantis), it is far easier than trying to play alchemist and make your own.
A 5 gallon jug for salt, a gallon or two for RO/DI fresh.
Change 20% per week or so (This is 4 dips of a quart jar for my 5-6 gallon tanks, about 2 minutes a week, no biggie).
get a hydrometer, to check evaporation/salinity:they are 5-6 bucks.


Hope some of that helped.

Recap

Tank (clipse has built in lights, and filter/water movement)
Sand
Some rock (Ask for rubble as well)
Caulerpa
Water testing kit
Heater (Not glass)
Thermometer (Not glass)
Hydrometer for checking salinity/evaporation
Keep some RO/DI water and salt around, just in case.
You are probably good with one 5 gallon jug of salt, and a gallon or two of fresh as a backup, for top offs and changes.



-Ron

 

[folkform]

Thanks for the help. I will keep people updated.

-ff