want to start a mantis tank

K

kfra

Member
I want to start a mantis tank. any suggestions like what size tank? I would like to get a mantis shrimp that I saw atthe aquarium in the living reef. I would like to say it was a peacock but i can't remember it was white and had black spots. it might have been a tiger shrimp but i hope not. what do i feeed it and what type of cleanup crew could i have in their? I don know much about shrimp but i like how they look.
 
You can get any type tank, right now I have my baby (2") in a 2.5g tank ... but I plan on moving her to a larger one when she molts a few times. Probably a 5.5 should suffice. If I could find a way to put a good cleanup crew in, I'd dedicate a 20L to her. Some ppl have success w/ large turbo snails etc ... but I have read many posts that say after the mantis gets large enough, it'll take out the turbo. Cleanup crew is basically not going to happen for you, although I must admit I have read posts where people claimed their mantis didn't bother cleanup critter XYZ for various reasons
 
Yeah, my 2'' G. smithii lives for destroying turbosnails, seemingly for sport... as well as my seagrass, which struck me as odd... and I'm not even going to talk about my mamed, 1 armed brittle star...
 
so anyon else here to help i really wantto start a tank with a mantis shrimp.what type of things can i put in tere for him to hide in also.
 
well if you get a basher (most likely you will) you need to put some small live rock chunks in there, they make burrows in and under them, etc.
 
I got mine from some fiji liverock, but I am sure they are common in TBS rock also... or at least the Neogondactylus relatives are...
 
ATLDrtybird7 said:
Yeah, my 2'' G. smithii lives for destroying turbosnails, seemingly for sport... as well as my seagrass, which struck me as odd... and I'm not even going to talk about my mamed, 1 armed brittle star...
Click to expand...

can you post a picture of him
 
My G. ternatensis generally ignores hermit crabs, although if he gets hungry he will resort to bashing astraea snails. However, If I keep him happy with scallops, brine shrimp, guppies, small snails, and ghost shrimp, he basically leaves everyone else alone. Oh, and I think your tank size and material will depend on the species. Peacocks get large and I think I remember reading somewhere in this forum that a large acrylic tank (about 30-40g) is recommended for peacocks, but I could be wrong. My Gt is currently in a 10 gallon, but I want to move him to a 20-30g.
 
i have a 10 gallon right now and a 20 both with pvc tunnels 4 1/2 inch sand beds and lr rubble love it in there 2 damsels and some snails/ small hermits in both
 
Just ask your local LFS.
When they sure the rock, they usually find some Mantis's.

Ask them to save one for you if they do find one.

HTH,
 
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