quick questions

[mr.bear]

might be setting up a mantis tank for my pops soon.just trying to get a few pointers and info...

id like to make this setup as simple as i can.
-got a ten gallon tank,regular lights
-75 watt heater,aqua clear filter i think its a 30 or 50(gonna run it with Seachem Seagel)
-got about 15 to 20lbs of rocks and rubble
-i got some left over white and pink fiji sand for some other tank i had(how much lbs should i put or how high do i want it?)

-so do they need to be feed everyother day,once a week?
-whats the best foods that worked with you guys?
-they like a lot of flow?
-do they need a pvc pipe to hide in?
-any big musts or donts with them?
-and last i was gonna put a Neon Pseudochromis(would he try to attack the mantis like other shrimps or will he know not to mess with the owner of the tank=manits)

thanks yall for your time

 

[lemures-ex]

What mantis are you going to put in there?

That size is ok for something that stays under 10cm at most but keep in mind that the more water you have the safer the fish/inverts.

I'd put at least a couple inches of sand in there for a smaller mantis. Probably 3 or 4 inches to be safe.

I feed mine once a day, sometimes twice. Every other day seems to be just fine as well but I want mine to grow fast since he's just a little bugger right now.

They seem to like krill, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, squid, silversides... anything meaty really. I feed the mysis/brine with one of those medicne syringes. I also throw in the occassional damsel and some hermit crabs as a treat and he loves them. He seems to leave the snails alone unless they get to close to the opening of his burrow but he's still small so we'll see...

I have a few inch section of 1" PVC with an end cap on one side and the whole thing painted black. He mostly hangs out in there but he also likes to dig under the LR so put all of the LR you can fit as well. Just try to make the crevices/caves face the front so you can see him. It seems to me that they tend to stay in the front because they like to watch people.

Things not to do: Put your fingers too close to the mantis Mine is small and he still looks and sounds VERY painful. I am tempted to let him hit me once just to experience it but I have wussed out thus far. I wouldn't put the Psedo in with him. It will most likely dissappear one night. If not right away then once the mantis gets bigger.

Hope that helped.

 

[lemures-ex]

Plus the Pseudo (just noticed I spelled that wrong last time) probably wouldn't like a ten gallon tank to much anyhow...

 

[mr.bear]

thanks...got any pictures you can share to see your manits and setup

thanks again in advance luis

 

[lemures-ex]

No photos.

It's nothing special yet. He's in a temp 5 gallon with an aqua clear filter on the back until I finish his new home. Just the PVC cave and acouple pices of LR and a big turbo snail. I swap out about a gallon of water every week and I top off a lot becase there is no lid on the tank

I'm building a 15 gallon-ish acryllic cube tank with an overflow and I'm going to hook it to the sump/fuge system for my larger tanks.

 

[rwhhunt]

if you are set on having a fish in there, try a damsel first, and observe the reaction and relationship between the two... if your mantis is not a blood thirsty fish murderer, then go with a peaceful non-invasive but entertaining fish like a clown fish, maybe a small tomator or percula, and if you add an anemone it will make the clown even safer!

 

[lemures-ex]

rwhhunt: great idea with the anemone/clown. I never even thought about natural protection for a mantis partner.