pistol myth buster?

[Tylt33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14282738#post14282738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by noboddi
Hans Delbius has the pistol shrimp being faster. No matter really. They both have sonoluminescence and the heat produced is as hot as the surface of the sun.

All I am saying is that it is plausible.

And the mantis shrimp in you are talking about was a thumbslpitter, bopped prey with it's claw, instead of a jet of water. The pistol shrimp is still slightly faster, the study you are talking about still has the mantis at like 50 mph.

The fast strike recorded in the animal kingdom though is the trap jaw ant, Odontomachus bauri. It closes it's mandibles at like 140 mph, three times as fast as the mantis.

No known species of mantis use a "jet of water", they either have a speared or clubbed dactyl. Mantis and pistol shrimp have completely different killing mechanisms.

 

[Brent RH]

I didn't have the balls to leave any more comments or questions this morning but now I've changed my mind. I'd never consider a mantis. Sounds like they would almost need to be a loaner in a tank...right? back to the pistol--Do they need a sand substrate vs gravel? How deep does it need to be? Is there a type that is less likely to do a number on your other shrimp or inverts? Are they hardy? What is the likely hood of them pairing w/ a goby? QUESTION OF THE DAY... how many of these big words do you guys know how to spell off the top of your head. Or are lots spelled wrong and I just don't have the vocab. to notice!!!!! Guessing there are some winners from the school spelling B on here!!!!

 

[Tylt33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14283569#post14283569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Brent RH
I didn't have the balls to leave any more comments or questions this morning but now I've changed my mind. I'd never consider a mantis. Sounds like they would almost need to be a loaner in a tank...right? back to the pistol--Do they need a sand substrate vs gravel? How deep does it need to be? Is there a type that is less likely to do a number on your other shrimp or inverts? Are they hardy? What is the likely hood of them pairing w/ a goby? QUESTION OF THE DAY... how many of these big words do you guys know how to spell off the top of your head. Or are lots spelled wrong and I just don't have the vocab. to notice!!!!! Guessing there are some winners from the school spelling B on here!!!!

There's a whole forum on this message board about keeping mantis shrimp, and it's moderated by the world's leading authority on mantis shrimp, Dr. Roy Caldwell; he's an amazing resource for all of us.

Your chance of having a mantis break a tank is minute. I think Dr. Caldwell keeps somewhere around 400 mantis at a time, and has done so the last few decades, and he reports only a handful of tanks being broken. And keep in mind, some of the species he keeps get over a foot long; most species that people keep in their home tanks are less than 5".

The smallest/most peaceful pistol shrimp that I've come across is the Randall's Pistol Shrimp/ Candy Stripe/ Red Stripe pistol shrimp. I purchased three for my 120g along with five wheeler's watchmen gobies. Two of the pistols (male and female) paired with eachother, and shared a burrow with the three dominant watchmen gobies. The other solitary shrimp shared his burrow with the other two watchmen goby. It was an amazing thing to watch.

 

[Tylt33]

And the shrimp that I noted above did not harm the following inverts:

Cerith Snails
Dwarf Cerith Snails
Nassarius Snails
Margarita Snails
Turbo Snails
Limpets
Fuzzy Chitons
Blue Tuxedo Urchin

 

[Brent RH]

Think I might try this after all with the pistol. I have gravel in my tank..about 2-3" . would that work? As far as the mantis and aside from the glass- I just don't want a killing machine in my tank.

 

[Brent RH]

Cleaners, fires, peppermints.? have they fallen to be meals?

 

[Tylt33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14283696#post14283696 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Brent RH
Think I might try this after all with the pistol. I have gravel in my tank..about 2-3" . would that work? As far as the mantis and aside from the glass- I just don't want a killing machine in my tank.

Get the species of pistol that I recommended, I can't really vouch for any other species. Tiger Pistols are really common as well, but they get big quickly and make me pretty nervous. Randall's pistol shrimp stay small. Google "goby and pistol symbiosis" or something along those lines, as there are species pairing recommendations all over.

Mantis shrimp are usually kept in species specific tanks; they generally don't play well with others.

 

[Tylt33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14283711#post14283711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Brent RH
Cleaners, fires, peppermints.? have they fallen to be meals?

My two skunk cleaners killed two pairs of peppermint shrimp (the first pair disappeared inexplicably, the second pair were torn apart almost immediately after being placed in the tank; one of my friends that works at a LFS watched the same thing happen in his tank). I placed a Randall's Pistol shrimp in with the skunks, and they were on him (each had at least one antenae probing him) immediately, and he was blasting warning shots. He was never seen again after that night, so they may have gotten him too. I don't keep cleaners in my tank anymore because of this.

The LFS keeps a pair of cleaners in a 120g with a big (2" or so) tiger pistol. No deaths in the year or so that I've been frequenting it, although the LFS would like the skunk cleaners to be killed... they steal food from all of their corals.