My little aggressive tank

[Recty]

I figure you guys can appreciate an aggressive shrimp as much as anyone

This is my new little tank, several orders of magnitude smaller than any fishtank I've had in the last couple years. And the star of it is my G. smithii, a little 2" shrimp with an attitude.

At the end, I feed him a small piece of shrimp. This was my first time trying to feed him, and I used the feeding stick recommended at Lionfish Lair, it sure worked well

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[LisaD]

Hey, Recty,

I love the mantis! I have wanted to keep one of the smaller mantises for a long time. What's your tank size and set-up?

I pared down to one tank in October when we moved, but I think the number is going to be creeping up again.

Lisa

 

[TitanTV]

I love the roll he does when he rolls under the rock

 

[Recty]

I love the roll he does when he rolls under the rock

I agree, it's pretty sweet how flexible they are compared to an actual shrimp. Multiple sectioned carapace lets them flex a LOT.

Hey, Recty,

I love the mantis! I have wanted to keep one of the smaller mantises for a long time. What's your tank size and set-up?

I pared down to one tank in October when we moved, but I think the number is going to be creeping up again.

Lisa

The tank is a 14g Biocube. Set up is completely stock, for now. Right now the tank is fluctuating between 78.6 to 82.8 every day, 4 degrees. G. smithii are tide pool dwellers, or can be anyway, so they can handle temp swings but I'd rather get it more steady. I think I'll get rid of the CF lights which put off quite a bit of heat and put in LED stunner strips. Quite a few people have done that mod, it looks good, provides plenty of light and shimmer and best of all, puts out like 2% of the heat of the CF bulbs

If you're looking for more tanks, I definitely like this little Biocube. It's super easy to set up and has everything you need except a heater. It looks very nice too, I have this at my office and its way better than the original idea I had of just setting up a standard AllGlass 10g.

 

[Sonicblast12]

I know you are already, but watch the temps. The one thing I don't like about my biocube is that the water really does run hot if it's closed the way it is designed. Bathwater. A good 10-12 degrees warmer than my other tanks.

 

[Recty]

Yeah. Mine is raising to right under 83 degrees every day, dropping back down a little over 4 degrees at night.

I hooked a 12v power supply to a computer fan and was thinking about trying out some evaporative cooling but dang that fan is loud. I think I'll be better served by replacing the CF with LEDs.

 

[rpjaws74]

nice mantis..

 

[fish stalker]

Snap same mantis and tank. I'm running mine without lights right now because of the heat issue. It gets some natural light being in a bright room but viewing is still less than favourable so will also be retro fitting LEDs. Good luck with yours mantis keeping is addictive .........

 

[Mental1]

I so miss my mantis shrimps. I had several as hitchhikers on Florida rock. I caught them and they lived in my sump until I found someone who would give them a real home. I miss them so much. The most amazingly smart and tough animals in the sea I think!

 

[Mr.Tan]

beautiful mantis! would love to set up a tank specifically for one some day

 

[Recty]

nice mantis..

Mucho Thanko.

Snap same mantis and tank. I'm running mine without lights right now because of the heat issue. It gets some natural light being in a bright room but viewing is still less than favourable so will also be retro fitting LEDs. Good luck with yours mantis keeping is addictive .........

I cant really run without lights, I've got some button polyps in there and plan on having more corals as time goes on. The rock with the button polyps all over it is the one he calls home, he smashed up rocks and made a cave entrance, so I'd hate to have to take that out. I think turning the lights off and just letting the polyps dissolve isnt a good solution

So right now, since G. smithii supposedly tolerates temp and salinity swings and other stuff associated with being tide pool type critters, I think I'll keep running my lights. I need to get the LEDs up soon.

I so miss my mantis shrimps. I had several as hitchhikers on Florida rock. I caught them and they lived in my sump until I found someone who would give them a real home. I miss them so much. The most amazingly smart and tough animals in the sea I think!

Yep, I got rock from florida and had 3 small green mantis over the next year. I set up a little 2g tank for one and fed it freshwater snails from my cichlid tank, but it was hard to maintain a 2g saltwater tank, one drop of water evaporates and the salinity jumps a point. I eventually gave all the mantis, once I caught the crafty little beasts, to the LFS which they then turned around and sold for a hefty profit. Quite the racket

beautiful mantis! would love to set up a tank specifically for one some day

The cool thing is mantis are easy, smart and fun to watch. Smaller ones like this G. smithii are actually pretty interactive, I can wave my finger around and he threatens me, heheheheh. I dont mind when I'm outside the tank but if I stick my hand in there to clean, I'm going to be keeping a very watchful eye on him.

Anyway, a mantis tank can be really simple and small for a smaller mantis, and so far is a great source of enjoyment. I have mine at my office and it fills a perfect spot on my desk plus gives me something to look at when I need to quit staring at my computer screens for a second.

 

[Mental1]

When we were trying to catch one it went after my husband's hand. Absolutely fearless little creatures. I am pondering one of those Fluval Edge 11 12 gallon tanks ... hmmmm.

 

[Recty]

I have no direct experience with this happening, but I've been told mantis shrimp can and will "climb" the glass walls at night and jump out of rimless tanks, so take that advice into consideration when planning a mantis tank. It would suck to lose the star of your show!

 

[Mental1]

That's a strange one -- I never heard that! I had several in a 20g sump for quite a while and that never happened. But the cool thing about the fluval is that it is all sealed in. I really like the look of your mantis -- very beautiful. I used to feed mine using tweezers and they would hit them each time -- it was amazing. So the feeding stick would definitely make a very good tool for this awesome creature. You can't tell that I am enthusiastic can you?

 

[Recty]

Hah, I can tell. That's great though, that is what makes you stand out from the crowd of thousands of other aquarists who just buy something, stick it in there tank, let it die in weeks and then buy another, ad infinitum. You'll take care of the stuff you like.