Question on Spearer diet and general health

[cobaltplasma]

Hey there, been reading these boards off and on for a few years while I tried to acquire a mantis. Finally got a spearer couple weeks ago (pretty thing, kind of a mauve/cream speckle pattern, about 2" long or so), built my tank, tests seem to have run okay, I have a blue damsel swimming around, things seem okay.

Well, while I was building my tank, the mantis was in my mother's acquarium and she had been feeding it live freshwater feeder fish during his stay. I was wondering, will the freshwater-ness of the food base detrimentally affect my spearer? Does the damsel (blue with a yellow tail) pose more of a potential food source or nuisance for my spearer?

My last concern seems to have started alleviating itself, but I figured I'd still inquire about it. When I finally got him into my tank, after a couple hours of acclimation (floated the terrarium he was in and slowly added some water from my tank into it over time), I put him in and he started swimming around like crazy, and then floated to the bottom, sometimes sideways, upside down (that worried me), sometimes in a regular horizontal manner. Was there some kind of salinity/environment shock that he was going through? He seems a lot better this morning, moving about on occasion, cleaning himself a good amount, and not swimming up to the top like crazy and floating back down anymore. He does seem just a touch clumsy while he walks about, though; I'm thinking that might be due to my water flow being a bit higher than he's used to, since for the most part he was in his terrarium with water cycling through the slats on the top. He does seem to have a penchant for the back of the tank, though, which is a bummer because he's a pretty guy; I'll post some pictures later.

He seems okay for now, much better than last night, which I can only hope is a good sign. He ate a feeder this morning that I nudged towards him, but that got me wondering if it was okay to do so. Thanks in advance for any input and advice My mantis and I appreciate it hehe.

 

[TrappedMetal]

Sounds exactly like what happened to me - if you think about it - fish hide as soon as you put them in the tank so i tend to think that the lying in funny positions (curled up i think was what worried me the most) is the mantis way of acclimating.
Mine also lives at the back of the tank but also ventures out quite a lot especially when hungry - i think once theyre settled they become much braver. i thought that spearers pretty much only ate fish but according to dr roy i should be feeding mine mainly crabs and shrimps - which are a lot easier to catch. when i first got mine it hunted, caught and ate a molly that very day but missed a few times - so now i get the weakest looking mollies i can from the lfs - if they live in a bucket of saltwater for 2 days then i will feed them to the mantis - im sure they can catch healthy fish but with more difficulty - as harsh as it sounds a quick flick to the head of a molly is enough to stun it and make it disorientated - the mantis will take it in seconds. ive also found out that spearers can also smash! heres mine

 

[cobaltplasma]

That's a beautiful mantis TrappedMetal Hmmm, well I've been sitting here watching him (might be a her, actually haha, I haven't sexed it yet to be sure) and he seems to be doing a lot better just now, swimming about, doing his little sideways flip turns, moving a few rocks around the aquarium that I guess he has disagreement with, and actually going into and out of the rocks I have set up. I guess he's hopefully acclimating well, although I'm a bit unsure about the feeder fish, still...

It's really nice seeing him active though, and active in a seemingly good way, heh. It's cute watching him try to grab a 3 pound rock in an attempt to move it . Thank you very much for the reply

 

[TrappedMetal]

get some photos up then!

 

[cobaltplasma]

Heh, okay okay a couple of pics...I noticed that her pigment seems a little duller than it was when she was at my mom's house (my wife and I figured we should start referring to 'it' as a 'she/her' since we can't seem to find any male organs) but it could be because of the big contrast in our tank environments; my tank is pretty fresh and has lots of white/light colors, her's has a lot of darks.

Anyways, a few pictures of my new gal, who is quite well adjusted now and burrowing up under and around the entire tank...I think she'll be a bit dismayed when we add in the sand tomorrow (didn't know that sand was the spearer's preferred environment, I've only owned a smasher a while ago heh). I'm almost positive she's a P. ciliata, just by looking at her eyes and the 2 pairs of marks alongside her abdomen.

Enjoy