Suggestions on feeding my 2 mantis shrimps?

[MantisO_o]

Hello... I have two Mantis Shrimps a Odontodactylus S. (over a bit of 3ish inches) and a Gonodactylidae G. (2 inches) I have them both in a glass 33G tank. the Gonodactylidae G. (2 inches) is in side a small acrylic container that has holes with a pump to cycle water from the 33g in to the acrylic container and out. (Also i have a small maroon clown which loves to wave its rear tail at both mantises)

My few questions are:

A.)

I know there is a way to tell the difference of the genders. I read it some place but i can't seem to find it...lol How could you tell the difference from a male and female Odontodactylus S & Gonodactylidae G.?

Does it have to do with the shape? I have notice my Odontodactylus S. (over 3 inches) is short but fat as the other Gonodactylidae G. (2 inches) its long and thin. I just assumed that the short and fat one was a female as the long and thin one was a male. PLS excuse my ignorance of that...lol

B.)

My main question is what to feed these pain in my @$$ babies. i know they are very picky... well not my Gonodactylidae G. but the other ::: roles eyes ::: is really picky. I'm looking for live food for them that i can just leave in the tank and have them kill when ever they feel like it. What suggestion could you give me that is not too expensive and that would last them a good while?

They both ignore the snails.. they both like the most the common hermits crab but they like r 5ish buck each. They kinda like the blue and red leg hermits crabs but they are ohber small and I'm looking for a bit larger prey for them to run after. I was thinking of Everglade fiddler crabs but aren't they brackish water crabs? I don't know if they would adapt well or at all to the saltwater. I tried feeder shrimp but i don't like those too small and it was more like they were eating one another then the mantises were...lol The cheapest i can think of are the fiddler crabs then 2nd to them are the hermit crabs but what kind and best and cheapest i can acquire in mass?

C.)

One last thing i want to put a lawnmower blenny but scared it might get killed by Odontodactylus S. but i notice it ignores my clown fish unless the clown is badgering Odontodactylus S. which then it snaps at it other then that they are fine. What do you suggest?

Thank you much!

~Brian

 

[AttackDonut]

Look for ghost shrimp. They're brackish, and commonly sold for about $1 for 10. The tend to live in full marine environments for a few days.

As long as the fish is larger than the mantis' you *could* be okay, but one day, the blenny will be lunch.

 

[MantisO_o]

::: pouts ::: i wants a blenny but i care too much to maybe try to hope Mantis Peacock wont eat it....

I already did that Ghost Shrimp bit they were a waste of my 1$ they just died and my Peacock Mantis ignored it but the little one ate it. also recently i put a crayfish but before my Peacock saw it it started cocking from the saltwater.

 

[B33FST3W]

i just got my peacock 100 hermits on ebay for like 60 bucks, the only problem is that they are small and he has killed about 1/2 of them in 2 days. i think he is just killing them for fun now (i saw him throw out a few uneaten ones). As far as my fish, i have 3 damsels in the tank with him and he compleatly ignores them; he will even let them swim in his burrow with him so the blenny should be ok as long as you dont let your mantis get real hungery.

 

[ReefGeekster]

I feed mine silversides 1/2 of silverside in the morning and the 1/2 in the evening I use a stainless hemostat and every time the hemostat goes in he knows it's feeding time. You can buy a frozen package at a LFS and last forever. Also I go to the seafood department at the grocery store and by steamer clams which I split open an take the meat out and feed it to the Mantis Shrimp, also scallops and even fish can be had I just buy like one or two scallops and a couple of steamer clams ect.... they sell it by the lbs. so it's a pretty cheap treat. And keep the extra in the fridge for the next feeding.
The Mantis just takes it right from the hemostat, never fed it live food yet.

Also if you want to keep other critters in the tank it's easier if the Mantis isn't use to accepting live food.

 

[Uriel]

Hey there,

I have 5 mantis (all with different dietary habits),so maybe this wll help.

Firstly,though, what is a Gonodactylidae G.? Not sure what mantis you are speaking of. Are there pictures?
Regarding sexing them: Some are color /sex specific, such as the antennal scaless (those funny-looking 'puppy dog ears'), such as G. ternatensis females having yellow fringing,while males have pink.
Otherwise, you need to get a good look 'down under' to spot the males sexual organs...I still don't know if 3 of mine are male of female. It's sort of hard to get one to flip over for a good look,you know?

Back to diet, however...

Dr. Roy (The Forums' resident, and indeed,one of the world's best experts on mantis shrimp) says that they usually get used to a particular diet and too much variation isn't necessarily a good thing.

All of my mantis love the fiddler crabs that they get once a week or so (sometimes twice), as well as ghost shrimp.
My O. scyllarus prefers snails to hermits,as does my G. chiraga.G ternatensis and G. viridis. My G. platysoma prefers hermits to all other foods,however,while the G. viridis has some hermits that have been in there for 9 months now,untouched.

All eat thawed shrimp,scallop and squid (only the scyllarus really likes the squid,though).

Fiddlers are 3 bucks here, while the small hermits and snails both sell for 6 for 5 bucks at a LFS here. Ghost shrimp are 5 for a buck.
I have a friend at the LFS, so I usually pay about half,since he loves stories of my mantis carnage.
Fidddlers and ghost shrimp do well for long enough (to get eaten...), though I sometimes find the fiddlers have crawled up on the top of the heater to get air (since they need surface access to breathe).

An alternative food source to keep their smasjers in shape,as well as being cheap might be to buy some small blams/scallops from your grocery. Tat way, their dactyls stay in shape (and they get some excersize), while not costing you a fortune.


-Ron

 

[MantisO_o]

Hermit "Or" Fiddler Crabs?

Hermit "Or" Fiddler Crabs?

I have no pictures of my Gonodactylidae G. and forgot what the G stand for but i looked and saw one pic of another that looks like this one "<img src=http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/HBS/invertguide/images/gonodactylus1.jpg>"
his under side is deep blue and lime green and its smashers are red and whitish lime green and the larger one the Peacock is both in the same tank together.

So right now I'm broken between Hermit "Or" Fiddler Crabs? I have been looking and so far I'm thinking of these two.

Hermits i can get 25 Ecuador Hermit Crabs (1") for 25 bucks and 25 Mexican Red Leg Hermit Crabs (1") for 19.99 buck and shipping of 32.25 so the grand total is "$77.24"

And

50 Everglade Fiddler Crabs (3/4 to 1.5") for 27.50 and shipping and box with a grand total of "$67" bucks

So what you think? I think the fiddler crabs sound better.

I want sumthing alive for both of my mantis rather then dead and i want there food to be alive and to run freely in the tank. Kinda like pets that are expendable...lol I'll mix it up with sum frozen but i prefer live.

So what is Best of the two for the Mantises rather then what cheaper for me????

 

[rwhhunt]

My peacock goes crazy for the crabs (fiddlers or red crabs), really likes beaten the hell out of them! He doesn't really mess with the hermits too much.. but occasionally munches on one or two... Also likes crayfish, but that is a much bigger meal, and is more of a treat that comes maybe once a month or so...

 

[MantisO_o]

are thses crabs non saltwater? and i tryed a crayfish it started cooking from the saltwater be4 Mantis could do anything and one it was pinkish Peaock carried it out of its hole...lol so i take that as a vote for Crabs...lol

 

[rwhhunt]

no the fiddlers are fresh. However that is really strange about the "cooking" of crayfish.... I put one in on satruday night, but it ran off and hid up in the rock work. Th next day I searched for it or any remains and I didn't find either, So i figured it was eaten and buried in the back corner (as usual), BUT, then on monday night, over 48 hours after its introduction, it comes out and get killed and eat by my mantis! I have intorduced about 40 illyneous snails since my last crayfish feeding, and the snails went crazy for the crayfish's corpse as well! Infact all that is left is a tiny bit of crpace shel and one claw.. But I imagine that will be eaten soon as well....

 

[MantisO_o]

Wow reallie i didn't know the crayfish can life that long in with the mantis that long. Cuz i find it also strange that the crayfish that i put turns pink and stops moving after putting in last then what you had. What is the specific gravity of ur (rwhhunt) tank where your Peaocock is?

 

[rwhhunt]

~1.023