Refugium setup for G. smithii

[musty baby]

Have toyed with the notion of getting a mantis for many months. Since I have a 55 gallon refugium sitting mostly empty most of the time and came upon one for sale from a place I was already placing an order with I went ahead and bought it. Will be here Tuesday. Have some very simple questions which I was not completely able to answer from reading past threads:

From what I've read I understand that this species inhabits crevasses in rock? I currently have about 1/2" of sand in the bottom of the tank that it will be inhabiting, is that enough or might this mantis burrow and need more? I have more than enough rock available in the tank, in fact I may remove quite a bit of it so I can at least know where it is when it comes time to remove chaeto.

Do G. smithii have any favorite foods, or are they pretty typical of the smasher varieties?

Aside from that, what are peoples' tanks for this particular species set up like? Or similar species, for that matter.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, want to give this critter the best home possible.

 

[New2This]

I think a lot of people use a combo of crushed coral and sand. I have Crushed coral only in my tank, and seems to do well. Food is up to you. I would get some silversides for the every other day meal, and a fiddle crab for when its been a good little mantis. Mine LOVES them. You might want a little more than 1/2" sand also, and a pvc is often used for burrow.

Good luck, get us some pics

 

[DensityMan]

I've never been able to entice my G. smithii (Tim) into eating fish. He does love the short sandbed with gravel/rubble for helping to fill in the gaps on his current home. When Tim has burrowed in the sand it is usually underneath one of his rock burroughs.

In my experience the smithii prefers to consume live food (ceriths, nassarius, stomatella and astea - in that order), but will take frozen squid and krill and his staple food between restocks has always been shrimp pellets (which he devours out in the open rather than scurrying away with). Live crabs (mithrax and hitchhikers) and shrimp of any kind have always provided an exciting adventure for Tim, but his preference has always been snails first. The crabs and shrimp in his tank have lasted weeks at a time before being consumed if other foods were available.

Give your LR a once over and make certain to keep any pieces with 1/2 to 1 inch holes in them or through them. These have always been prefered by Tim. Position those rocks in such a way that you can see the opening and also in such a manner as to leave a good viewing area from the perspective of the mantis.

You're going to love having a G. smithii.

ps - try to brace yourself for the noise of a happy/hunting mantis. Tim can be heard through two walls on the other side of the house when he strikes. :grin

 

[Hutton]

In my experience my smithii loves hermit crabs! emeralds are great to. I prefer to find a rock with holes in it and let him build his own burrow. If you can find a rock that can make a cave it will also be good, but i have noticed they like rocks with at leat 2 different exits. Have fun with you smithii, in my oppinion they are the best mantis shrimp in the world!

 

[Uriel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6428040#post6428040 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DensityMan


ps - try to brace yourself for the noise of a happy/hunting mantis. Tim can be heard through two walls on the other side of the house when he strikes. :grin

I have 2 O. scyllarus, 2 G. chiraga, a G. viridis, a G. ternatensis, a G. platysoma and a G glabrous. My room sounds like a warzone, and my cats jump out of nervousness quite a lot. When i had a pistol 9for my now lonely Stenitz Goby...soon to be replaced, worry not)., it was even louder. When the mantis would shoot off, the pistol would fire back. not sure of pistols have 'ears' (Dr. Caldwell said that a mantis cannot hear), perhaps they react to the vibration? They tend to whack the tank walls (The G. tern, she's a total brat) when my oud,bombastic music is on , as well...

KABOOM!!!

-Ron