mantisshrimp
Member
I need information keeping them,and how you guys keep them,if you have them.
Squilla empusa
- Thread starter mantisshrimp
- Start date
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
I keep them pretty much as I do O. scyllarus - low light, sand bottom, pvc burrow. They typically feed on shrimp in the wild, so I feed them shrimp from the market, freeze-dried krill, and occasionally live grass shrimp when I can get them from the local bait shop. There are a couple of things that you do have to watch. First, they occur over a broad geographical range - Maine to the Caribbean. While they can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, you have to acclimate them very slowly to different temperatures. I'm talking about days, not hours. I currently have several that I obtained from South Carolina. Some are being kept in my large O.s. holding tanks at 78 degrees. Others are in cold tanks at 58 degrees. Both groups are doing well, but they don't tolerate rapid swings in temperature. I have moved animals from "cold storage" to lab temperature, but I did it by only raising the temperature a couple of degrees a day.
Secondly, this species lives in a wide varity of habitats at different salinities. I have seen them in water that was 15 ppt up to 38. We keep them at 32, but check the salinity of the water that they are in and don't make any sudden changes. They seem very sensitive to rapid salinity changes.
One other thing. When fed, they have a nasty habit of swimming wildly around the tank for several minutes. I've lost a few that jumped partitions and got in with an O. s.
Hope this helps.
Roy
Secondly, this species lives in a wide varity of habitats at different salinities. I have seen them in water that was 15 ppt up to 38. We keep them at 32, but check the salinity of the water that they are in and don't make any sudden changes. They seem very sensitive to rapid salinity changes.
One other thing. When fed, they have a nasty habit of swimming wildly around the tank for several minutes. I've lost a few that jumped partitions and got in with an O. s.
Hope this helps.
Roy
