mantis tankmates

[overflowin]

i am trying to think up an interesting and suitable stocklist to go with a mantis. i am hoping to get either a n. wennerae or g. smithii eventually and would like to keep a fish or two with it.

would a jawfish be at risk of being a meal with either of these species? also, would the fish cause inactivity, keeping the mantis holed up most of the time? i know that a friend of mine had a wrasse in the tank with his and the mantis stayed in his burrow most of the time. now that the wrasse has been removed, the mantis is active again.

thanks
donnie

 

[New_Noob]

it will mostlikely catch ANY gobies/blennys you put in there, but fast fish like damsels will work out good, their cheap also if they die

 

[jchough79]

I house my N W with a tomato clown. The clown hangs out in his anenome and I have not had a problem one.

 

[DensityMan]

it will mostlikely catch ANY gobies/blennys you put in there, but fast fish like damsels will work out good, their cheap also if they die

If it is a piercer or perhaps a starved smasher then perhaps. More often then not the mantis will hide from fish tankmate (IME and from what I have read from other sources). I have kept an "Atlantic sailin blenny," a scooter blenny (dragonette), a wrasse and a "dottyback/soapfish" with my G. smithii. I can't vouch for what happened to the "dottyback" (because it was nocturnal and shy... in the two weeks I was able to keep track of it it was too terrified from any movement or light that it wouldn't come out to eat), but the rest survived for periods of at least one month before being transferred out (save for the scooter who died from complications after a heater-popping event).

 

[overflowin]

So DM, you think a couple yellow headed jawfish would be ok with a small, well fed n wennerae or g. smithii? i am considering using my 29 for this purpose...it has enough height to it that i could do a 6-8" sand bed for the jawfish and still have enough water column to be aesthetically pleasing...

donnie

 

[DensityMan]

Personally I think that display would be cool. The jawfish shouldn't spook the mantis by swimming too near and the mantis (evolved with clubs to smashopen and eat snails and clams and crustaceans-in-general) should leave the fish (which he isn't built to eat) alone. All of that is assuming a small mantis species, not a 'peacock' or one of the larger mantids that may lash out in an efort to protect their territory (i.e. - I have no idea on the larger mantids, all my 'experience' is with smaller hitchhikers).

 

[Hwarang]

My N. Wennerae is housed with an astrea snail and a electric blue leg hermit crab. Both are large enough that she leaves them alone.

 

[overflowin]

well, i got myself a 2-3" g. smitii at the frag swap on saturday...so far she has taken out at least one cerith and eagerly accepted a small hunk of salmon on saturday evening. so far the plan for her is to get her own 15 gallon palace that will also be my upstream fuge...then after that maybe a 29 with a couple room mates.

as soon as i can get her out of her apartment long enought to snap a pic i'll post up. beautiful coloration, mean as hell, and has both her eyes....

donnie

 

[DensityMan]

Tim has officially taken you off of his "People not to eat because I like them" list for the crack about having both eyes.

 

[tonyh67]

I have a 2" TBS mantis in a tank of his...or her own. What are the chances of a 2"(leg tip to leg tip) red mithrax surviving?

 

[mx250]

tonyh - In time, it'll have no chance at all (I have direct experience). It'll bash off it's claws and legs and put a hole through it's shell...

 

[KingfishJohn]

This is going to sound weird but I have possibly the most docile Peacock ever. It just kind of stays in it's home and doesn't bother anything but the occasional snail. It prefers however eating krill because I think it's lazy . Anyway right now it lives in a 20 gallon stocked to the brim with coral, a large emerald crab, a lawnmower blenny and a firefish, a peppermint shrimp, and various snails and hermits. I thought that all of this would be tempting to it but only time will tell I guess. Oh and I forgot to mention, it's a little under 6 inches long!

 

[pisces77]

I am wondering about a Fu Manchu lion and a 4" smasher in a 20 with a disposable clean-up crew. Anyone tried that? I figure it is a very inactive fish and not very territorial.

 

[sdm]

How about a Fu Manchu lion and a 1 1/2" smasher (hitchhiker from TBS-think someone said N. wennerae-look at this thread for details) in a 30g long? It (the tank) is approximately 3' long, 1' wide and 1'4" tall. Also, (while we're on the subject) would a red serpent seastar be ok, or would the mantis attack him? I've seen mantises in tanks with them, but read threads in which starfish were found dead (I have yet to be convinced that one can tell if a starfish was killed or died of natural causes, since so few people appreciate/understand their needs-especially because at least 80% of the time it was a sand-sifting starfish, which, as far as I can tell, are the least understood of the starfish), with laceration marks and pieces missing. Thanks in advance!

 

[Fuegofish777]

i have a choc chip starfish in with my mantis....he has attacked the starfish a couple times...but i think he was just messin with it....it was crawling across his cave entrance and the mantis just snapped it a couple times...nothing happedn to the starfish

 

[sdm]

Anyone else?

 

[sdm]

What about the Fu manchu?

 

[EzRida206]

I recently took the plunge and am housing my 3" M.Wennerae with a damsel (I believe a blue devil) and its been fine for the last 2 weeks or so... so far. My mantis seems to quickly take care of any snails or hermits I throw in there. Larger hermits definitely survive a lot longer, but they all meet their doom in the end. I'd be nervous about keeping a slow fish or a bottom dweller with my mantis.

 

[MantisDude]

a blue devil??? I feel sorry for the mantis

 

[Limbo]

I've just removed the blue devil I had in with my Mantis. The blue devil was a real devil. Lived with the Mantis for about 2 weeks. Now been out about 1 week.

It would grab onto the rock with it's mouth and fan sand into the Mantis lair with it's tail. Like kicking sand in its face.

We didn't see the Mantis much when the damsel was in there, now he's never in his lair.