Peacock tankmates?

[Below Sea Level]

I recently became the proud owner of a Peacock Mantis (was expecting a 1-2 incher and got a 5 1/2 lol).
I put a damsel in with him to see what would happen and basically it seems he could care less for the fish and only wants to hunt for crustaceans. (been feeding him all sorts including some decorative crabs).

Essentially what I would like to know is if fish are generally safe from these Mantis's and if even a small snowflake eel would be a bad idea or what?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Well, eels eat small invertebrates, so if the Mantis could fit in the eels mouth, I would not reccomend it.
If the tank was large enough, the eel may not get a chance to see the Mantis, but I still would not risk it.

 

[Frostyeel]

I wouldn't risk the snowflake because although many people have success keeping damsels with mantises few people can keep slower fish that are less active because if a fish is just sitting there in front of the mantis it probably won't be able to resist the oppurtunity. They are just too lazy or not hungry enough to pursue the fast damsels. A snowflake eel is not only a natural predator of the mantis but they like to sit in their cave and not move much, so the mantis might kill it. Also if there aren't enough caves for both of them the mantis would kill the snowflake. Don't try it, just stick with smaller faster fish that the mantis won't bother. Plus you would need to upgrade the snowflake after a while anyway so there is no point.

 

[Below Sea Level]

thanks a lot for the input all. I will do as you recommend and stick with the faster fishes. The Mantis (hector I call him) is very curious and does scour the whole tank.

 

[Uriel]

I keep a domino damsel with one Peacock, and a yellow damsel with the other. These fish even live in the burrow, and the tanks are small enough that the mantis could easily catch the fish. Neither seems to care a whit about the damsel, although Dagon will chase the Domino (Named Fats, of course...) when the fish tries to hijack his treats. I usually try and give the fish a treat right before I feed the mantis, so that there isn't a problem, although it is pretty funny watching the mantis throw his tough-guy meral threat at the damsel, to which the damsel spits out the food and turns tail.


-Ron