My Notes: Keeping, Feeding, and Selecting Your Mantis Shrimp

[Calappidae]

Sounds noobish to ask..

But I'm guessing you increase their burrow size if you get them at a young age and they keep growing correct?

I expect soon enough to be tearing the younger one's tank up upgrading the small burrow sooner or later.

 

[Kharn]

I build my burrows for the Dimensions of adults even if their much smaller like my female G.tern who started out tiny in her 32mm pvc she alone was only around 30-40mm long but now she fills the interior.

 

[stealthspy589]

Answers my question with great detail. Again I thank you for your addition to my thread Kharn, as well as everyone else that has posted thus far.

 

[TrendyDanger]

Kharn - forgive me if this is a really obvious question. When you say that the PVC burrow should have adequate flow I assume you're talking about like a power head?
I have my new peacock mantis (Bronson) setup and he has dug a burrow deep in the sand under the one I created with live rock. I don't feel like he has much space to move around. Even though he seems to turn around just fine and has multiple entrances - I'm thinking the PVC might make him for comfortable?

The power head I have is pretty bulky :/ but do you recommend angling it directly into the PVC or just in that general direction?

 

[Kharn]

Kharn - forgive me if this is a really obvious question. When you say that the PVC burrow should have adequate flow I assume you're talking about like a power head?
I have my new peacock mantis (Bronson) setup and he has dug a burrow deep in the sand under the one I created with live rock. I don't feel like he has much space to move around. Even though he seems to turn around just fine and has multiple entrances - I'm thinking the PVC might make him for comfortable?

The power head I have is pretty bulky :/ but do you recommend angling it directly into the PVC or just in that general direction?

Most people angle power heads towards the burrow entrance to increase flow within, I think the burrow is very important not just for well being but bringing out the best in the stomatopod, so giving them the best we can, will often result in us witnessing the best the animal has to offer.

 

[Calappidae]

For my burrow I drilled a hole in the back of the pvc and placed a small little 80GPH pump there... if that's enough.

 

[Islandoftiki]

I don't have any specific special flow device for the pvc mantis den, but being an SPS dominated tank, there's a whole lot of random flow from the MP-10 and WP-10 powerheads, so I think the den gets plenty of flow regardless.

 

[Mad Mantis]

There is a video on youtube of a diver watching and following an O.scy as it builds it's burrow and when it's done the burrow is a mound of rubble as large as the diver who sits cross legged on the sea floor beside it.

Do you have a link to this? I tried to search for it but was unsuccessful.

 

[stealthspy589]

Do you have a link to this? I tried to search for it but was unsuccessful.

I read that post too and also searched, but to no avail! I was intrigued myself! :O

 

[Kharn]

I'll have a browse.

EDIT: I'm not sure if it was a 'stand alone' video (which I thinkkkkk it was) or if it was a smaller clip within a larger video, I knew I should of saved the video on the grounds that it's the first time I have seen an O.scyllarus build such a large home but I think it was because of a lack of structure around & mix of lots of loose large rubble and coral like large dead sea fans/gorgs/leathers can't remember.

 

[mos90]

can anyone advise on the best acclimation. i have 1 coming tomorrow.

 

[nmotz]

Yes, call the vendor and find out the salinity of their shipping water. As soon as you receive the package, take the bag out and float it in your tank for 15 mins to equalize temperatures. Do NOT open the bag yet.

After the 15 mins, OPEN the bag, add a few drops of SeaChem if you have it, and check salinity. If it is within .001, put the mantis directly in the tank.

If not, slowly add tank water to the shipping water for about 20 mins, then put in the tank. Do not acclimate for longer than 20 mins. The reason is that the shipping water contains all sorts of nastiness that when exposed to the air will immediately turn into toxic ammonia. Neutralizing it with SeaChem is helpful, but it's best just to get them into the tank even if the salinity isn't balanced out perfectly. Remember, adjusting an animal down in salinity is easier than the other way around. So if the shipping salinity is 1.026 and your tank is 1.024 that's better than the other way around.

I do this with all my shipped marine livestock and it seems to do the trick.

 

[stealthspy589]

^ What he said and I'll add that if you don't have an acclimation set then you can quick DIY one with air tubing and a two way valve. Simply and cheap, google it up for different videos. Can be used even for acclimating some of the longest and/or hardest like many starfish too.

 

[Optic]

Most people angle power heads towards the burrow entrance to increase flow within, I think the burrow is very important not just for well being but bringing out the best in the stomatopod, so giving them the best we can, will often result in us witnessing the best the animal has to offer.

When creating a PVC burrow, whats the best way to make it look more natural? im thinking sticking some sand to it but it has to be non-toxic right? what glue should I use?

 

[Halfpikant]

I have no previous experience on this but I have read on the forums.
What you can do is coat the PVC with epoxy, then you can "glue" your sand to the epoxy and create a more natural looking PVC pipe.

 

[nmotz]

When creating a PVC burrow, whats the best way to make it look more natural? im thinking sticking some sand to it but it has to be non-toxic right? what glue should I use?

I used this: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/aquarium-silicone-adhesive.html

Just get a plastic butter knife (or something more sophisticated if you've got it) and smear the epoxy over the PVC. Then just sprinkle whatever substrate you want on top and it'll stick. It cures in about a day. I'm working on a new pipe at the moment and can show you pictures of what I've done. I stuck a few larger pieces of shell and coral gravel around one of the entrances to make it look a little more natural. Then I'm going to cover the rest of the exposed pipe with pieces of LR.