New Mantis :)

[Tenny]

Well I've had a little 5g JEBO tank for about a year doing nothing at all! Also had some cured live rock & sand (for when I move to my 90g) ready... So I bought a mantis!

I went to a lfs around here (Atlantis Aquarium (also a sponsor of RC)) and they had 4 for sale, a peacock, and 3 green mantis shrimps, all bashers / smashers, and of course I get the one that hits the hardest .

I must say though the Mantis is close to my favorite species (second only to my Lawnmower Blenny). He is very active, and is always cleaning up, its the funniest watching that little shrimp pick up some rocks / sand and carry it out of his lair and drop it on the other side of the tank, go back and get more. Plus he always likes being out a little, and watching, if I get close to the tank he comes right up to me and inspects me!

Everything is going good thus far, I threw in a hermet (size of a astrea snail) in, and it hit the hermet a few times, but since then it doesn't show any intrest. I gather the shell is too hard for him to break. So I'm wondering what size hermet should I feed him, he is about 2 & 1/2" long. I also tried feeding him some freeze-dried krill, but he seemed to let go of it after a minute or so, and it floated to the top. Not sure if he ate much of it...

 

[sdm]

Cool. not sure on what to feed it...maybe mysis? Someone else will chime in. BTW, how thick glass can they break? I been thinkin about gettin one for my 30g tank.

 

[Tenny]

From what I have read thus far you need at least a 40g glass to hold a basher (unless you have an acrylic tank, like I do).

Do mysis shrimp shink? The krill floats, so basically I was hoping one of my RBTA's would eat it (in my 20g) but nothing seems to want to hold onto this floating food!

 

[nubreefer]

I have a 2+" smasher, sp. N. Wennerae. He stays away from hermits that are even .25". I hand feed him thawed frozen mysis with a long pair of propogation forceps, chopsticks would work equally as well, given the proper skills. He may be getting ready to molt as a side note, and won't eat for a while. Given the amount of activity you're observing in his burrow, I'd say he's getting ready to do so.

 

[majestic sea life]

hey im back had a bad comp crash so just got a new alien wear lol. so Tenny glad to hear u got a mantis they are super cool and u will have lots of fun. SDM a peacock can go in a glass tank over 40gal or 8mm glass i think but acrylic is just better. Some ppl put them in like 10gal i think thats small i say a 2Foot long tank is min but thats just me i wanted to do a 55 and 125gal for one lol. well hope this helps and ttyl

 

[sdm]

2-3' L X 16+" H X 12" W. about 7mm thick. could a peacock mantis go in there? Also, whats the min. tank size for a N. Wennerae or G. Smithii? (got an old 5g I might use for a smaller one)

 

[Tenny]

Given the amount of activity you're observing in his burrow, I'd say he's getting ready to do so.

Being he may be closing in on a molt, would it be wise to add a little iodine? (I lack a tester, but if I give a bit less then the recommended dosage I should be fine)

 

[majestic sea life]

N.weens cant break glass some ppl keep them in 2.5 and 5.5 for life

 

[sdm]

Ok...what about the peacock?

 

[DensityMan]

Being he may be closing in on a molt, would it be wise to add a little iodine? (I lack a tester, but if I give a bit less then the recommended dosage I should be fine)

Near as I can tell from any readings I've done here and abroad (aside from marketing material on the side of bottles), Iodine may cause premature molting when dosed as a supplement, but it is not requirred for molting.

One source on RC I know that can verify that would be Dr. Shimek and I think I've seen several other scientifically trained/schooled members chime in to the same.

Regarding feeding:

If this is the peacock then I am unsure about their diets, save to say that many feed the frozen krill, squid or shrimp. In my persoanl experience I have the best luck feeding snails. Most of my experience revolves around G. smithii and suggests that snails are preferred over crabs. I have many long-term crab and hermit crab residents (even peppermint shrimp for almost a month now) that the G. smithii shows little interest in, but most snails are consumed with gluttonous haste.

I said 'most snails' above because I am finding that he doesn't enjoy (and in fact doesn't even seem to want to taste) the taste of predatory snails. Whelks and sundial snails for instance are completely ignored. One whlek was left in the tank for nearly 4 mos before I tired of feeding two voracious snail-eaters. Perhaps it is a mutual respect for other predators; maybe they just taste funny and he knows that without having to taste-test. /shrug

If it's the 'peacock' mantis you went with, perhaps some medium-sized turbos or larger astreas would be more suited to his tastes when not feeding the (thawed) frozen foods. If it's the smaller 'green' mantis then mysis shrimp through a straw could work as a substitute, with less waste, for the larger krill chunks. Smaller snails could then be used as well (including Stomatella, trochus, nassarius, cerith or smaller astreas).

Regarding glass-breaking:

I have no personal experience with broken glass. The few accounts I've read are usually the larger O. s. mantises in smaller thin-glassed aquariums. Smaller species may be comfortably kept in a 10g glass with little fear of breaking glass. Larger species should proabably be housed in acryllic tanks or aquariums larger than 20g (for thincker glass and more room/less stress).

Hope that helps.

Enjoy!

 

[sirhelm]

Peacock

Peacock

Hey SDM

I saw that peacock at the Atlantis Aquarium on Thursday of last week. I saw the he was going to molt however (and I am not sure so don't panic), I thought I saw the begininng of shell disease on him.

If you could take a picture of him and post. Others may be able to confirm it.

Thanks

SH

 

[sdm]

Wherezat? I'm up in wisconsin.

 

[Tenny]

Re: Peacock

Re: Peacock

Hey SDM

I saw that peacock at the Atlantis Aquarium on Thursday of last week. I saw the he was going to molt however (and I am not sure so don't panic), I thought I saw the begininng of shell disease on him.

If you could take a picture of him and post. Others may be able to confirm it.

Thanks

SH

I beleive you are talking to me, and I didn't get the Peacock, I actully went with the Green in the back right. He's doing fine in my tank, I will throw in a snail tonight.

 

[sdm]

lol

 

[nubreefer]

OK, I've been busy lately but, Iodine is necessary to molt for all crustaceans, as far as I know, though it can be toxic if concentration is too high and can cause premature molting leading to a failed molt, which is bad news bears, so dosing would be ill advised. I use instant ocean for now and the levels are lackluster at best, time to order a bag of kent... So my advice to you is to do the same, don't dose, but maybe start using a higher grade salt like kent or reef crystals though I haven't heard from anyone using it that can vouch for it's claims to greatness.

The snail is a good idea, he'll help keep the tank clean, kinda. Though if your mantis is close to molting he won't eat it, especially if he's used to frozen foods like mine, which I guess is a good thing. Just make him chase the tongs/sticks a bit and whack it a few times before submitting like his meat bag food slave. This may help keep his appendiges in good shape so they don't fall off during a molt, but that's just my assumption, I'm sure Dr. Roy is probably laughing at my ignorance when he reads this. If only I hadn't decided to study computer engineering. Is my third year too late to switch?

 

[sirhelm]

ooops sorry SDm. I was talking to Tenny.

Tenny I thought you had grabbed the peacock for 40.00. I went there yesterday and it was still there. LOL. However the green one in the back was gone.

Did you ID it? is it a wennerae?

I still think that the peacock is not going to last much longer there.

He is starting to molt and it doesn't look good.


Sh

 

[Tenny]

Nah I didn't ID it yet... I've been trying to get my camera back from my mom so i can take a picture, but she hasn't brought it back yet.

I asked Jolean, but didn't know, so I should call Ming up and figure it out, but I've been really busy lately

 

[Tenny]

Ahh well I woke up this morning and took a look into the tank.

WTF 2 mantis? Oh no... one's his old shell...

So I look at him, and there I see him looking straight down into the big hermet shell i put in there, it's upside down, and the hermet's large claw is all you can see..

Obviously the mantis is waiting for himt o come out a little bit too much.. then the kill

 

[DensityMan]

OK, I've been busy lately but, Iodine is necessary to molt for all crustaceans, as far as I know, though it can be toxic if concentration is too high and can cause premature molting leading to a failed molt, which is bad news bears, so dosing would be ill advised. I use instant ocean for now and the levels are lackluster at best, time to order a bag of kent... So my advice to you is to do the same, don't dose, but maybe start using a higher grade salt like kent or reef crystals though I haven't heard from anyone using it that can vouch for it's claims to greatness.

A must-read article no matter what side of the fence one resides on, simply because it appears to be the single most objective article I've ever read on the subject. (Author Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/chem.htm

Dr. Ron's stance (just one example)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=442657&highlight=iodine

Randy Holmes-Farley checks in on e the subject here
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437531&highlight=iodine
here
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=432017&highlight=iodine
and again here
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

There is also a great listing of collected articles concerning many (all?) additive on a general level contained here (from within the chemistry forum - the listing includes a couple already linked articles above)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605

Hope all of that info helps someone. If nothing else at least do the research and read the articles before making your own decision. For what it's worth (nothing in the grand scheme of things) I do not dose my personal tanks with anything save for Kalk (though I have begun trying to do that via balance blocks as on a trial basis and those blocks 'may' contain something that I would not normally advocate; still researching myself on those) and food. I have used FE on one small tank to my later regret, but that is about the only exception since I started.

When I first started in the hobby I 'fell prey' to the advice of many a salesman of additives. The more I read the more I learned; most notably that all these necessary trace minerals/additives are already in the salt mixes we use and even there they are already in amounts higher than NSW.

Anyway...

Enjoy!