Mantis shrimp adjusting nicely

[nmotz]

Peacocks are awesome once they warm up to their environment. I've had mine about a month now and just in the last few days he's changed completely. He's almost always halfway out of his burrow and as soon as I come near he'll start roaming around looking for food. He still stays near the back of the tank for the most part, but he's not nearly as reclusive.

I threw in some empty hermit crab shells yesterday and he came out and grabbed each one to check them out. I also fed him an emerald crab and that was a great fight. The crab pinched him on one of his legs and wouldn't let go but he eventually fought it off. The house was filled with loud cracks for the next hour or so. This morning he brought out the remains of the shell to show off. :hammer:

My other mantis, an N. Oerstedii, just molted. He had been closed up for a few days and today he was out discarding one of his old dactyls. It was a light blue color. His entire color scheme is slightly different now. He was slightly darker and had some faint stripes and spots before and now he's more of a solid pale green color. He weaves strands of chaeto in and out of the burrow to disguise it. I have a nice video I'll have to post.

 

[Hadla]

Glad to hear that! Roger is always perched halfway out of his burrow. I recently got some of those small black snails and added them in and he has killed a few so far. I still see 3 of them and it's nice that he can eat when he wants

 

[nmotz]

Yeah he's just awesome now. I watched him this morning before work for a long time. He was running around picking up different sized rocks and carrying them back to his burrow. He must like to feel the different shapes because he'll sit at the burrow entrance and just turn them over and over for a while. Then he goes to get another one!

 

[nmotz]

Here's a couple YouTube videos of Neptune that I just posted:

In this one he's just running around all over the place because he smells the pieces of krill that I put in the tank - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKF2PSLzgi8

Neptune will act aggressively towards certain objects/colors. He especially hates my algae scraper, which is a bold blue color. He also ddoesn't appear too happy with visitors he doesn't recognize. In this video he is threat posturing because I have the iPhone too close to the glass for his liking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00TpRGPY7NQ

 

[Hadla]

Lol roger does the same with the home screen on my iPhone! He doesn't bother if it's turned off

 

[nmotz]

Yeah he mostly just doesn't like the bright colors. He is by far the most active mantis shrimp I have ever owned. He even swims up into the water column sometimes just for fun. Really, really great personality.

 

[nmotz]

One of the things I've noticed is that my Peacock really likes having more than one burrow. He goes back and forth between his burrows a lot. One is just a little tunnel he dug out underneath a piece of LR. In the future I may place an additional PVC section somewhere else in the tank.

 

[carmelpi]

Mine just ventured over to the other side of her tank tonight! Snuck her another hermit crab and she's happily pounding away.

 

[nmotz]

Mine just ventured over to the other side of her tank tonight! Snuck her another hermit crab and she's happily pounding away.

How long have you had yours?

 

[carmelpi]

3-4 months. She was at the lfs for about 6 months

 

[nmotz]

3-4 months. She was at the lfs for about 6 months

I'm surprised a Peacock lasted 6 months at an LFS. First, because it didn't die, and second because nobody bought it sooner. Very peculiar.

 

[carmelpi]

My lfs guy is pretty good. Had her in a big tank by herself with minimal lighting and plenty of rock/rubble to burrow with. The guy he ordered her for backed out. He held her for me about four months so we could get her tank set up.

 

[nmotz]

Oh ok, normally when you see mantis shrimp at an LFS there is no suitable burrow or materials to build a burrow with and the tank is really small. That was nice of the owner to hold it for you like that. Sounds like you have a good LFS.

 

[carmelpi]

Yeah, he's pretty rad. Knows his stuff but is always open to learning.

 

[Calappidae]

Some employes at my LFS are either know-it-all careless money grabbers, while others are conversation worthy.

I'll never forget the time an employee tried selling me a tang that had fin rot, and after I told her about it she arrogantly said "You buying or not?"

I had that girl fired faster than my mantis snagging fish from the feeding stick.

Sometimes I think LFS just pick up these employees without even caring how experienced they are. If the LFS was closer to me, I'd volunteer.