Mantis on Foster and Smith

This is going to make choosing a good tank size difficult until I actually recieve the mantis. I guess it's going into a holding tank for a while.
 
I finally got some good pics, however, I was unable to get any good pics of his telson. But the white meral spots are white, and this guy is definately a spearer! Lives with a little yellow tailed damsel...So far he has yet to take a swipe at her! (w/ ample oppurtunity!) I have fed krill and ghost shrimp, and he ate all the ghosts and only some of the krill.. we are going to try silversides next, hopefully more appropriate for a spearer. I think it is a ciliata, but it is not yellow, I have seen a pic of one of these guys before, but they always looked so small, this guy is decent size around three inches.

IMGP0459.jpg


IMGP0467.jpg


Can anyone get me a positive ID w/o the telson shot??? If not I am sure I can get, just takes some patience. BUT actually, this guy is extremely outgoing and personable. He will come all the way out and swim around when you come in the room... He hasnt been named yet...
 
Pseudosquilla ciliata. The pattern on the eyes is unique to this species. It always reminds me of a checker board pattern.

Roy
 
Rwhhunt, add another wow! to the wow list from me. I'm really glad he is so personable and I think he looks awesome.
I wish my little guy would come out more. Maybe after he gets bigger and used to me feeding him he will. Right now he is in a 29 gallon with a tank divider between him and the little yellow tail damsel murderess that has lived in this tank for 3 years. The one thing I have noticed is there are a bunch of those little bite sized snails all on the tank side with the damsel and hardly any with the mantis. I wonder if he is snacking in between meals or if the snails are staying away from the mantis side on purpose.
Have you noticed a difference in the way he kills his prey from your peacock?
 
The ciliata is at my friends house, so i can not monitor his activities all of the time... BUT, since it is a spearer, it does not attack any inverts. however, it did eat ghost shrimp upon their introduction... We are trying to start feeding silversides, and live fish prey. It has shown no interest in killing the yellow tailed damsel roomate., so I can only hope it would attack a fish like a molly or live feeder... I will be encouraging a diet of SW fish and occasional frozen invert...
 
Just got my peacock from them today and must admit I am extremelly happy with it. I will post some pics later. Had a tank custom made for him and everything.
 
yeah dudes i ordered the lime green mantis shrimp from livequaria.com and its really a neat and terrifying creature. You should order one from liveaquaria if you want, i think its a good investment because of how interesting the shrimp is.
 
well liveaquaria does have a spearer (its a lime green mantis like mine) or you can get the really pretty peacock/clown mantis (its a hammer though).
 
I got mine in on friday and it's a white and green smasher, ~3 inches long. It ate 2 ghost shrimp this weekend and I threw a few hitchhiking acro crabs in there for it's next meal. The tank is right by my bed, so it has gotten used to me pretty quickly and doesn't run and hide unless I make fast movements near the tank. I will try to get pictures soon.

Also I'm thinking about making the drive up to foster and smith's store this weekend to maybe pick through their selection personally and see if I can get a spearer or at least some other unusual specimen.
 
I think somewone should start an online mantis shrimp identification page or do it through lurkers, i know there is a basic one of grimreefers, but it would be really helpful to have a more descriptive, especially with the large influx of new mantis species that arent peacocks or N. wenns

PS: Dr. Roy, if i end up at Berkeley id gladly do it myself, with some collaboration from you, because you are one of the few people who can differentiate between most species
 
That P. Ciliata is the one rwhunt ordered for me and I love it. How can I sex this little creature? he/she is very friendly and getting used to it's new environment. I want to promote burrowing but I still want to see it regularly. If it burrows on it's own will I ever see it again?
 
sw65galma said:
whos got the link to the peacockmantis/clown.

I can't find it on thier site.
Click to expand...

Try this link http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1702

I just picked up a striking peacock/clown from our LFS that had it in a small container within a larger stock tank. They had it for over 4 months so I got it for a mere $15 it's about 4"
Here's a couple of picks though not good, he hasn't striked a pose for me yet.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=127393&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=127394&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500
 
I'm trying to revive a dying thread here...

I'm ordering a mantis shrimp soon and am trying to get an idea of what kind the LiveAquaria.com (Dr Foster & Smith) "Lime Green Mantis" shrimps look like. From reading this, it sounds like they have a good variety of species.

Any of you that have ordered a mantis from Live Aquaria, can you post what species you received and a picture of it? I think it would help me and others to see what the possibilities are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Q
Aquarium Chiller Compressor kicks on and back off
Replies
0
Views
244
Quiltalotyl
Q
Reefing102
Ecotech MP Knockoffs Released
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
MNtadpole
M
Z
New lps frags - 1 day not doing well
Replies
16
Views
912
Reefing102
Reefing102
M
Calling UK reefers – help shape the future of smart aquarium care
Replies
0
Views
55
Millsc
M
M
What’s your biggest headache in reef tank care?”
Replies
6
Views
718
game misconduct
G
Back
Top