Tell us why you have a mantis tank.

Jeremy Blaze

Jeremy Blaze

Former Reef Addict
What made you decide to set one up? What have you done differently or special to make your tank a better home for a mantis?
 
lets see, i seen one in a LFS store and they told me how bad they are. So i went home and search them up on the internet. And i was hearing how smart and different they are from most fish. I set my tanks up for the type of mantis it is like my peacock has a bigger tank with more room to walk around and a deep sandbed around 5'' and some LR and LR rubble to make his home.

P.S like if u get a G.tern they like more of a reef settup.
 
I got my mantis as an un-invited guest in the 125g show tank at my LFS. When they finally caught him, I knew I had to have him!
 
I remember seeing a large one at the LFS and thinking how ugly it was, but as I got into the hobby and found ReefCentral and the mantis forum I began to do some reading. It was DensityMan's thread that won me over, and I began wanting a mantis too. Then there was 2 for sale at the LFS on one of my visits so I bought one.
 
I like how they seem to interact with whats going on outside the tankl. Thye are responsive, active and are great to watch building,eating and killing. do 20% water changes twice a week, keep macro lagea in the tank and test water for trates weekly. But what turned me on was the blueboard mantis site i read that and i was hooked.
 
I got two of them by accident when I put TBS liverock in my 38 gal tank. Initially, I went on the net to find out how to get rid of them, but after reading about how fascinating they are, I decided that I had to keep them... Such an interesting animal.
My mantis is the showpiece of the 38 gal tank now, and never fails to entertain... He is the first to greet me when I return home esch day- His tank is in the living room not too far from the front door. He usually comes out to see me whenever I come into the room... Almost makes me feel wanted :)

-Andrew
 
I had read a little about them because I'd read horror stories online. I wanted to know what to watch for in my aquarium. But upon reading, I learned how interesting they are. Someone in a nearby city posted online that he wanted to find a good home for his, so now I have it. It makes for a very interesting classroom pet.
 
I got mine because I can't have cats in my apartment at school and miss my two at home. I had read how intelligent and sometimes even social they are and remembered seeing them on the discovery channel and at the shedd aquarium as a child and immediately knew I had to have one.

I'm now the proud owner of a 2+'' male N. Wennerae that honestly reminds me of a cat.
 
Abut 4 years back, I saw a program on Discovery that showed a male Peacock literally 'exploding' a crab that looked twice it's size. I was hooked. I have raised Praying Mantids since I was a child in Arizona, and the Mantis Shrimp is more cool in nearly every respect. (Praying Mantids are the only animal with 1 ear, which is used as a radar-jamming-device against bats, but still...they don't see 100,000 colors...).
I have been waiting to get one/some for a few years now, and i finally have the space and the ncome to afford them now.


-Ron
 
I saw a mantis about 15 years ago in a pet store. The owner invited in the back of the store to see him. He was in a 10 gallon tank, no rock or filter, just sand. He said ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œ$30.00 and itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s yoursââ"šÂ¬Ã‚. He also said, ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œBut beware, this in not your average pet, he is DANGEROUSââ"šÂ¬Ã‚. At the time I was not prepared to buy it. Ever since then I wanted a mantis but never purchased one. Now I am a proud owner of a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis.
 
I had always been fascinating by Preying Mantids. When I first became interested in reef tanks several years back I was instantly attracted to the Mantis shrimp in books and on film, but never really had the space or time to devote an entire tank to one.

Last year while taking up some part-time work at the LFS I lucked into finding one that was imported with a coral. I managed to convince the manager not to dispose of him immediately and instead use him as a teaching tool.

While nearly everyone else was using the little guy to inspire fear and sell mantis traps I grew to enjoy the tiny little guy. I'd also done a great deal of reading and tried to educate those who asked me about it or showed interest that it was really no different than any other creature we keep. They are beautiful. They require saltwater in good condition. They need a good diet of foods right for them.

I honestly don't know why I am drawn to them, but I am. I love my display tank; it's just hard to find/name any creatures in it that are anywhere near as animated or interesting as the stomatopod.

He is a Gonodactylus smithii. His name is Tim. He used to be afraid of his own shadow... ;)
 
I had one in my tank as a hitchhiker on live rock. It ate over $100 worth of my livestock (shrimps, snails). When I finally caught it I did not feel it was ethical to kill it so I took a small tank I had available and kept the mantis. After all, this creature did not ask to be taken from the ocean in his piece of rock.
 
I'd read about them in several of my books - generally the gist of the articles said they were impossible to keep with other tankmates, but were great for species tanks. And they looked so beautiful and cool!

Eventually a guy in my reef club posted that he had one that came in on some rock, and since I had an extra tank sitting around, I took it. I'm on my second one now, and if I had room, I'd set up additional tanks and get more. They've got great personalities, and I really love having Gojira next to me at my desk.

I guess the main thing I've learned is do regular water changes. My first one had a bad molt - perhaps because I didn't do enough regular water changes. The other thing is to give them the appropriate food - hermits and snails work great, though they get a bit expensive if you don't live near the ocean. For feeding, I've found the thing to do is keep a second tank, and order larger cleanup crews every few months. I just pull a snail or crab from the second tank and feed it to the mantis every day or so.

Ken
 
Last fall I read the saga of Tim, supermantis by DensityMan and was hooked on the personalities of these little creatures. I read and hunted around for a mantis. I had seen a peacock when I was setting up my first tank but didn't think much about it then. During my mantis quest, I started out looking for a hitchhiker at the LFS but was having no luck so broke down and had them order one for me. I finally brought her home yesterday and it's a thrill!
 
I saw a peacock at my LFS and saw how he attacked the stuff put into his tank. I wanted to learn more so......

I found reef central and started think about one....I saw them on the discovery channel and I investigated everything about them on the net. I also wanted to try my hand at my first saltwater tank in a little nano setup..... I had no previous saltwater experience but I have a established brackish tank.

I started getting everything ready and I bought some cool LR.... I thought the price on the peacock at the LFS was $25 for some reason and when I went to get him he was $69... I spend a lot of money on junk but I wasn't going to pay that much for a shrimp......

I went to another LFS and the kid who worked there was cool and said he always gets a couple stowaways on the LR shipments. I was told to come back Friday of the next week..

I called that Friday and I found out he had 5 to choose from including a large 2 incher so I went there and bought him $9.95 was his price and that's what I wanted to pay...Man was I exited..... This was over a month ago and now I have a really cool mantis in a really cool nano setup .... :bum:
 
Last edited:
... and your LFS is shipping me two or three this week, including the white one you had them hold for me. :) Fortunately, I have LOTS of small tanks and plenty of space for them.
 
LisaD said:
... and your LFS is shipping me two or three this week, including the white one you had them hold for me. :) Fortunately, I have LOTS of small tanks and plenty of space for them.
Click to expand...

Aww, that LFS never called me back when I asked about shipping :(

I'm setting up a mantis tank for the same reason as Uriel...I saw the same video clip, and some others of mantises going after crabs, and I was interested. Couple that with the fact that I like unique pets, and there was no way I couldn't have one!
 
well, they haven't done it yet, but I actually shipped THEM a foam box, heat packs, a shipping label with my address... I'll post later this week to let you know what happens. Call back Tuesday and ask for "big Jim". :)
 
Many years ago, I think around '90 when I was first interested in a salt water setup, I saw an O. scyllarus at an LFS in York, PA (long gone now), and was interested. I found what I could in my college library (which wasn't much), and decided I couldn't afford a reef tank.

Fast forward 9 years... I have a much better paying job (engineer vs broke student) and I decide to start researching info on reef tanks. I come across references to stomatopods, and The Lurkers Guide, and am hooked.

Right now I have Carl (in honor of the long suffering neighbor of The AquaTeen Hunger Force) up in our bedroom. My wife loves them too, and wants to get an O. scyallarus of her very own.
 
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