on the prowl for mantis, reconsidering species

[Xjinn]

i just set up a 20 long tank for a mantis shrimp and i am primarily interested in a peacock, though i am considering other options

firstly, where might i get one? i'm exploring some options now with no luck
i know liveaquaria.com lists them but i havent seen any available yet, as well as saltwaterfish.com but i'm not sure its a peacock

my LFS can probly get one if i request it, but i'm afraid of the price. what might i expect for a "run of the mill" peacock of undetermined size and beauty. and what might i expect if lfs is able to source a large and magnificent (prefered of course ) peacock?
store has typical to low prices for a reef specialized shop


my other question is what might some other interesting species be? if i get a basher i'd prefer it to be large enough to crack open more than just nasarius snails, but i am quite taken by isaari's "gatorade", and any other very active species
i'm pretty set on the peacock however

if i were to get a spearer however... what might some interesting species who dont hide all day, and what sizes are typically seen? i asked this a while ago and was told p. ciliata is one to look for, any others?

thanks in advance

 

[Isaari]

Re: on the prowl for mantis, reconsidering species

my other question is what might some other interesting species be? if i get a basher i'd prefer it to be large enough to crack open more than just nasarius snails, but i am quite taken by isaari's "gatorade", and any other very active species
i'm pretty set on the peacock however

Gatorade started out like your typical mantis would when I got him. He went straight to a rock, holed up and stayed like that for a couple weeks. He's on my desk at work, so I was able to watch him almost all day.

Eventually he started exploring, but as soon as I moved a finger, he ran for cover. Slowly, he came out more, and ran less when I moved. About 3 months passed when he pretty much decided I wasn't a threat and rarely ran at all, unless I made a quick movement with my hand directly towards him. Now, unless he's molting, he spends a lot of his time roaming the tank, watching what I'm doing, beating up the crab, building new burrows, etc. My concern when I got him was he'd be hiding all the time, but it's just the opposite now. I get concerned if I don't see him for long periods of time. But a tap on the glass and I'm always greeted with the googly eyes as though to ask, "You rang?", followed by the begging eyes that say, "Feeding time?"

I guess the point of my message is they may become more active based on how much you're around, but my species also may be the type that is more likely to do so. I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say about it.

 

[technoshaman]

Not sure what spearers are more prone to hiding or not but I believe most burrow in softer sediments. I have a yellow spearer that is extremely interested in whats going on outside the tank and I can see what he's doing 90% of the time since hes out and about.

Ive kept a few different kinds of smashers including a peacock - the small ones Ive had (N.wennerae) were more secretive. The O.scyllarus got used to having people around very quickly and chances are if you were in the room she would be out staring at you to see whats going on.

 

[brekurboy1]

What kind of spearer do you have shaman? Is it one of those Lysiosquillas? A vibrant yellow? One could always hope for one of those.

 

[dc]

While mine isn't as beautiful as a Peacock, he is wonderful. Such a fascinating creature. Mine is a Oerstedii. Just keep an eye here for people wanting to get rid of them.

 

[Isaari]

While mine isn't as beautiful as a Peacock, he is wonderful. Such a fascinating creature. Mine is a Oerstedii. Just keep an eye here for people wanting to get rid of them.

What a cool color. Is he mostly orange and do those eyes show purple like that? Good photo.

 

[dc]

His eyes are pinkish purple. He's pretty much mottled, brown, orangish, and green.

 

[technoshaman]

What kind of spearer do you have shaman? Is it one of those Lysiosquillas? A vibrant yellow? One could always hope for one of those.

As far as I know it's a Lysosquilla - bright yellow. I'll have to get a good pic and see if I can get a better ID.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Most lysiosquillida are not described as bright yellow. Usually the transverse banding is what people report. If the animal is solid yellow or gold, it is probably Pseudosquilla ciliata..

Others and I have posted photos of the yellow morph of P. ciliata at this site.

ROy

 

[RogueCorps]

His eyes are pinkish purple. He's pretty much mottled, brown, orangish, and green.

Wow Debi, that is a very cool lavender/purple color. Very interesting looking little guy...

I'm very glad that more and more people are interested in keeping stomatopods. Is this forum getting more active lately?

-Rogue