Mantis shrimps and tankmates?

[Argent]

I have a nice big 6 gallon eclipse tank I am putting together for one of my recent mantis aquisitions - but seeing as they are so small I was thinking the tank could probably use some other inhabitants.

Any suggestions as to what I could keep?

 

[Dave Legacy]

6G is pretty small to begin with. I think you'll find trouble finding tankmates that are small enough for a 6 yet big enough to not become prey.

 

[Argent]

What about a pair of peppermint shrimp? My mantis is small species (under 2") and I'd hate to have my poor guy harassed but I'd like to put something else in the tank. What about corals? maybe some GSP or something simple like that?

 

[Frostyeel]

Corals would do fine as long as you have sufficient lighting, the only issue is the mantis moving the rock the coral is on. Pepermint shrimp would be toast though, there isn't really any crustaceans that could co-exist with your mantis.

 

[Thurge]

Don't tell that to the trio that live in Squirtle's tank. I have had the peppermint shrimp for probably 6 months. During the day they chill behind my skimmer and then come out at night. When i had Mjollnir, I had a pair for quite a while and they didn't have a skimmer to hide behind.

 

[Gonodactylus]

The species and size of the animal will determine what is possible. Corals may be O.K., but not all species of stomatopod will tolerate the light levels needed to support the corals. It is important to know what species you have to determine what conditions it will tolerate.

And yes, peppermint shrimp can get along with some stomatopods for a while, but all stomatopods are predators. Being a predator means that you occasionally eat other animals. What am I missing here? I have no more attachment to a peppermint shrimp than I do to a stomatopod. Whatever happens will happen. I can predict the outcome, but if you are willing to see the shrimp become dinner, so be it. It happens in nature so why not in your tank - economics be damned.

 

[Argent]

Hmm I'm aware of the potential meals the peppermints could become - but since this mantis is only like 3/4" long and 1/4" wide I figured the peppermints would be too big for him to attack for now. The mantis is possibly a G. affinis but until I can get better pics it's hard to say.

Thanks for everyones input so far - just hate having a tank that 'looks' empty. As far as corals I was just thinking GSP or maybe some zoas which should be fine under the lighting the tank has stock but not too bright for the mantis.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Gonodactylellus affinis is a deeper water species that would not be happy with bright light and which requires a decent cavity. They typically do not feed on larger prey, but hawk small items out of the water columb. We feed ours live adult brine shrimp. They are not likely to try to feed on an adult peppermint shrimp, but they might strike defensively and even a 20 mm G. a is quite capable of knocking off a shrimp's claw or leg.

Roy

 

[Argent]

The LR I have in this tank has quite a few nice caves for him to hide in - I think I may try a couple peppermints knowing well enough that they may take battle damage, or even become mantis food in the future. The other mantis I have I believe is a Haptosquilla trispinosa - and he's in a smaller tank with a few hermits and snails that I'm not worried about if he decides to eat them (he's only about 1.5" at the moment) and he loves to sit in his rock and stare at me.

http://www.dodgemotorsports.com/images/paul/aquarium/PicoReef/Picture 691 (Medium).jpg

 

[Danyull]

I have an O. scyllarus that is cohabiting with 3 blue damsels and he pretty much leaves them alone. But I think if it was a smaller tank it would be a different story.