I'm moving to Hawaii with a cross-country road trip first and I'm pretty sure that means I'll have to give up both of my mantis shrimp. What is the best way of going about this? I live in Chicago and have considered posting them on the web but I worry that someone without experience with saltwater tanks will take them and accidentally kill them.
As for other options: I don't know if I want to deal with the hassle of sending them somewhere or if the recipient will want to deal with that added expense.
The LFS has a sorry looking mantis that's been there forever- I wouldn't donate my guys to them and the Shedd Aquarium seems to have all of their species only tanks occupied. Any advice? Here are their specs from the online listing I may have to post:
Larger tank:
2 year old very active and beautiful male peacock mantis, about 4 inches long
15 gallon tank with integrated light and filtration in hood
live sand (2 colors)
live rock
lace rock
2 mushrooms
blue damsel
Small tank:
young female green mantis
5 gallon tank with integrated light in hood
Whisper power filter
heater
live rock
crushed coral
1 mushroom
2 snails
baby snails and small sponges
I wrote "The large shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) is very colorful and interactive. He loves to move things around in his tank, eats from chopsticks and does a dance when he sees food. He has a buddy in the tank which is unusual for a predator of his prowess: a blue damsel meant to be a meal charmed him and they've been pals ever since. It's been about 6 months now but I wouldn't get too attached to the damsel as the shrimp will probably eat him one day. He loves snails, clams, mussels, goldfish, guppies and frozen shrimp. The damsel eats spirulina flakes."
"The smaller shrimp is a little rarer. She's a spearer, maybe Pseudosquilla ciliata, and is very shy. Sometimes she comes out of her burrow and swims around but usually she hides. She's very aggressive with live food and can spear fish faster than you can see. She loves guppies but also eats frozen shrimp."
Any advice?
Thanks!
As for other options: I don't know if I want to deal with the hassle of sending them somewhere or if the recipient will want to deal with that added expense.
The LFS has a sorry looking mantis that's been there forever- I wouldn't donate my guys to them and the Shedd Aquarium seems to have all of their species only tanks occupied. Any advice? Here are their specs from the online listing I may have to post:
Larger tank:
2 year old very active and beautiful male peacock mantis, about 4 inches long
15 gallon tank with integrated light and filtration in hood
live sand (2 colors)
live rock
lace rock
2 mushrooms
blue damsel
Small tank:
young female green mantis
5 gallon tank with integrated light in hood
Whisper power filter
heater
live rock
crushed coral
1 mushroom
2 snails
baby snails and small sponges
I wrote "The large shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) is very colorful and interactive. He loves to move things around in his tank, eats from chopsticks and does a dance when he sees food. He has a buddy in the tank which is unusual for a predator of his prowess: a blue damsel meant to be a meal charmed him and they've been pals ever since. It's been about 6 months now but I wouldn't get too attached to the damsel as the shrimp will probably eat him one day. He loves snails, clams, mussels, goldfish, guppies and frozen shrimp. The damsel eats spirulina flakes."
"The smaller shrimp is a little rarer. She's a spearer, maybe Pseudosquilla ciliata, and is very shy. Sometimes she comes out of her burrow and swims around but usually she hides. She's very aggressive with live food and can spear fish faster than you can see. She loves guppies but also eats frozen shrimp."
Any advice?
Thanks!
I'll get some pics up tonight if anyone is interested. Thanks!
