Need Fast answer, CUC choices for mantis tank

[Fitz19d]

I should have asked sooner, thought I had made up my mind.

I have a 55g tank with ~20g sump/refugium. I am trying to track down a G. Graphurus but in a pinch I'll get a peacock perhaps.

I want to get my CUC ordered Tuesday so it arrives Wed which is pretty much only day each week I'm home all day to receive and deal with them.

I plan on target feeding heavily to cut down on predation but am open/aware of everything I add being prey.

**That being in mind, what species/how many should I look at with the mantis in mind? Was hoping tiny hermits/snails would last longer as they are too small, esp since both are larger species of mantis. Aiming for $3 and below in general to keep them replaceable. I was unsure of say turbo snails since I'd only have 1 or 2 therefore being a bigger loss if eaten? I also was thinking of trying a small bristle star or chocolate chip starfish for being interesting and praying they arn't mantis food.

I was planning on ordering off reef cleaners but noticed places like live aquaria have a few more species available.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Here's what I have right now. I bought all of my CUC from ReefCleaners with the exception of some bristle worms that I sourced from the local fish store.

This what I ordered for my 25 gallon G. Ternatnesis tank: 40 Dwarf Cerith snails (received about 200), 8 zig zag periwinkle snails (received at least 10, and they're really tiny). I also got some others that they don't appear to have right now, but they were also tiny. I also ordered some pods.

The dwarf ceriths will probably survive for quite a while. My mantis has eaten two or three, but that's about it. They're really too small for him to get excited about.

I'd get more zig zag periwinkles than I got, maybe three times more. They're really small.

He's also got virgin nerites, which are really small.

Another thing I did was to buy some live sand from Live Rock Ranch. This stuff is pest free, but come with all sorts of good things like worms that live in the sand. I even got a few stomatella snails to boot!

Another thing I'm going to be adding will be as many micro brittle stars as I can get my hands on (Not serpent stars).

So far, the dwarf ceriths are doing the lion's share of the work, but they have a bit more to do.

I also have one really massive turbo snail. You'll probably want a couple of these. It's too big for my 4" mantis to even try. I might add a second one.

That's what I'm going with so far.

Oh, I also have a couple of bumblebee snails that have survived even though I didn't expect it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Fitz19d]

Perfect, though certainly a lot more dwarf ceriths than I expected, I think someone told me one critter per gallon, but i'm sure that's for larger specimens.

Even the small standard hermits they have for like 80 cents or whatever, would those be like tasty nom noms or possibly small enough to evade frequent predation?


I may just go nuts and try getting 5-10 of everything and a bunch of the dwarf ceriths.

Luckily I already have at least a dozen micro brittle stars. (Penny sized, wasn't there a size between micro and normal big ones?), some tiny bristle worms, and some nearly pencil mark sized white snails. (The live rock + refugium were from a tank break down). I even have some amphipods or copepods, or whatever small little grey turd shaped things.

Was thinking of on top of the eraser head sized aragonite substrate I have adding a bag or sand or two to get a mixed texture bottom and then take a cup or 3 from the refugium ( where I didnt really want the sand) and use that to seed the top for even more critters.

 

[Fitz19d]

Alright, I at random threw this list toghether. I suspect it's a little overboard.

10 Assorted Hermits
6 blue leg hermit crab
2 Thin Striped hermits (2-3inch)
Random empty shells for them.
1 Brittle Star
25 Dwarf Cerith
1 Emerald Crab (for fun until the mantis arrives and eats it, probably the same fate for the thin stripes)
15 Florida Cerith ( think these may be big enough to be mantis bait)
5 Limpets
10 Nassarius vibex
6 Nerite Snails large
6 Smell-medium Nerite
Pods+
25 Zig Zag Periwinkles.

$65 + shipping
They don't have turbo's but sure I can get at LFS, if not then I'll have to keep my eye open as a future order from elsewhere likely pricey.

 

[Islandoftiki]

You have quite the selection of snacks there.

Those hermits could be a liability if your mantis molts as they're opportunistic omnivores. That is unless they become snacks first, which they probably will. I bet you won't need to feed your mantis for weeks. I'm also not sure about a full sized brittle star, as I don't have a lot of familiarity with those.

Just remember that your clean up crew of snails and hermits will always be considered like the red shirt cast members in Star Trek. Expendable. At least they're cheap.

LFS's always have Turbo snails for cheap. They will probably be your main go-to for algae and general clean-up depending on your mantis' tastes. You'll just have to see what survives and go with that.

The pods, micro brittle stars and bristle worms will be very useful over the long run and will multiply as food is available.

I bought some of those limpets for my 10 gallon mixed reef, and everybody thought they were delicious! I swear they didn't last a day. The emerald crab ripped them off of the rocks and chowed down. The cleaner shrimp took care of what he left behind. lol.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Double post... Ignore this.