ok somebody explain.

R

ricksconnected

New member
ok im new to the hobby and know theres different areas of interests within the hobby. i am however confused on this area.
why would somebody keeps these mantis? i mean ive read that they kill everything in their path that moves. i do admit that some of them have beautiful colors to them. i mean if they are so dangerous why would ya want them? theres a lady who does a video on youtube. she did some really indepth research on these creatures. pretty neat to say the least. im not knocking anybody for likeing these guys, i just dont understand. i hope i didnt offend anybody, im just trying to learn more about them and the allure to them.
 
lol an understandable point of view. Mantis shrimp remain one of the least appreciated marine animals in our hobby imo. We all have our reasons but for me it's mainly the amazing biological aspects. for example, their feeding strike which is the second fastest feeding strike on the planet, is so fast that it vaporizes the water by cavitation... the same phenomenon that military engineers spend millions on trying to keep from pitting propellers. Or how about their eyesight, by far the most advanced we know of; humans have three color pigments in our eyes, red, green, blue... Mantis shrimp have about 14! plus a lot of them can see into the infra red and UV. Some see polarized light and a few even see CIRCULARLY polarized light! How big a deal is that? nothing else is known to use circularly polarized light except satellite communications. Just imagine what they see on a day to day basis. And then of course there's the fact that most available species are well suited to captivity and are highly rewarding animals due to their individual "personalities". I mean, if you plan the tank properly, what's not to like about them?

n116200608_33575606_7258.jpg
 
Like Justin said, we all have our own reasons.
I love my three, especially my N. wennerae, Little Buddy Dallas, I've watched him grow up from a small one inch juvenile. Seems like it was just yesterday when he was having trouble breaking astrea snail shells, I remember he would try to break them and would be launched right off the shell from the force of his own strike. I'm still trying to teach him to "shake hands". They are very curious and intellegent. My chiragra is fascinating to watch when he is doing some burrow construction at night to ceal up his cave. You can almost see their little wheels turning as they work out how to place the rock pieces together to create a solid structure. They literally build their homes out of the remains of their conquered prey, I mean come on, what do you say to that? You also get to experience their antics and activities from day to day, they can be hilarious to watch. I fed LBD a huge silverside one day that my S. rugosa rejected, and I swear his eyes lit up and he dashed to seize the fish that was bigger than he was! It took him a few attemts to stuff the whole thing into his burrow and then it was dinner time! It's just little stories like that that make them a hoot to keep. They are just simply amazing. If you ever keep one you will understand. One will turn to two and two will turn to three, ect... pretty soon stomatoholism will have you on your knees, begging to just keep one more.
In short, they're intelligent, beautiful, curious, and all around interesting to watch.
 
+3...and I am over 60 AND female....I adore my O. Scyllarus (Peacock) and can't imagine my hobby without her. She makes me laugh daily...even my husband finds her fascinaating. They are the most beautiful creatures in the ocean if you go by color and are fast beyond belief. I studied them for over a year before I purchased one...she is everything I hoped for.
 
wow, sounds like theres a lot of passion for these guys.
did any of you see the report on youtube i mentioned? its a lady in a classroom. like a 10 minute video. its pretty amazing.
 
If we had to explain... you would not understand! Humor aside (and there is lots in regards to Mantis & their keepers) many of the "sea stories" going around are not true... but still fun. Here you can find a few good ones "Mantis Destroys the World".

I do invite you to join-in and set up an aquarium for one. Then you will achieve "Mantis Enlightment," and understand why.
 
mentat

i will have to read the story indeed. i do think they are cool looking. Lord if i set up 1 more tank.......... lol.
i have to many right now. trying to combine them now.
1 50gal, 3 30gals, 1 55, a couple 20L's, a 40 something........
way to many. a friend at work is trying to give me a complete setup. a 30gal. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. lol
my girlfriend says if one tank comes, one must go. :eek1:
has she lost her mind? does she not know that one doesnt turn down a free setup? does she not understand as long as theres
free floor space theres room for another aquarium?
does she not care that aquariums arent just a glass box with water in them, that it is indeed a sickness w/o a cure?
you guys know what..... im going down stairs right now and put my foot down and put a end to this.( stands up and swells out chest) im the man of this house and what i say goes. lol yeah right.:p yep there been limits put on the madness for me folks.
whats a guy to do? :D humm......... ok im not allowed to have anymore tanks unless one goes. what if i get really big tanks and get rid of the small tanks? she didnt say how big they could be.
wonder if i can send her on vaccation somewhere for a week?
:p
 
Because some people want to be different and not just keep coral/zoas. Personally i think coral is boring. Nothing more fun than seeing a mantis crack open a rock and make a new home :D
 
ricks-

if you have the chance, try to look up a thread on reefcentral by a poster named densityman. he keeps an incredibly well written account of his adventures caring for a mantis he named "timmy". it will give you good insight on the mindset of mantis hobbyists.

btw, koshmar and gozermantis: your stomatoholicism has infected me! i am buying second tank this weekend, a 30g with 10g sump. the 30g will be for a peacock, and the 10g will be for an n.wennerae.
 
Duhn Duhn Duhn! My god! Stomatoholism is going internet-born! Look out swine flu, a new disease is on the loose!
Seriously Lion... Awesome! You must be so excited. What does your wife think? I keep hearing people having conflicts with their partners when tanks start popping up all over the house. Wow. If I only had the room and money.... Lucky devil!
 
you ask "why?".

As a bio major maybe my opinion is a little biased, but stomatopod biology is amazing!

Check out some of the mantis shrimp video's on youtube.
 
Mantis shrimp have adorable personalities, high observation value, give you excitement when they hunt, and are just generally rewarding pets.
 
koshmar-
i have been steadily hinting that i am the lone person this website who only has one mantis shrimp. getting her used to the idea that "no one can keep just one". so when a local reefer decided to sell his tank, i asked if it's ok to pick it up and she said ok!. we are just trying to figure out where to put the new tank. she doesn't want it anywhere near where we eat or sleep. still thinks they can crawl out and kill her in her sleep.
 
ricksconnected...to find "Timmy's story"...go to the beginning page of this Forum (not this thread)..at the bottom of the first page where it lists how many pages there are...right above that there
 
ricksconnected...to find "Timmy's story"...go to the beginning page of this Forum (not this thread)..at the bottom of the first page where it lists how many pages there are...right above that there is a box that shows how many day's threads are shown. Just click on the little blue box by that and click on how many days you want to go back...if you go to say, 100 days, you will see about 3 months of threads...look through those and you will find what you are looking for. You can also see lots of our stories leading up today and learn a lot from our successes and mistakes.

Have fun !!!

Curly
 
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