chatfouz Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Hey Yall, I just got into grad school and only 25 days till graduation!!. So I want to start a tank up again as a graduation present to myself. I haven't been on here in a while. But I miss tanks and I really want to start another one back up. So I thought I would do a mantis shrimp. I have always wanted one and are by far the coolest invertebrate. I have a 30 gal breeder, or maybe its a 40. its 12 tall, 18 deep and 36 long. Does anyone have experience with mantis shrimp? I know they are not terribly popular, pest rally. But this would be a mantis dedicated tank. Any advice, reading, words of wisdom on keeping these little dudes? Also any idea who would carry them?? I don't ever recall any local place carrying them but I haven't been in a fish store in almost 2 years. (not that it has anything to do with this but ONLY 25 DAYS TILL GRADUATION! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 ive seen them at both RCA and Aquatech. Id call them and check first though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 They have actually gotten more popular over the past couple of years. You see fairly large ones at the LFS now. And if you are lucky, you can also find some very colorful ones. They do sound cool to have, but you are pretty much out of luck keeping much other stuff (besides coral) with them. I believe the larger onces will kill anything that moves (fish, snails, hermits, you name it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabeetus Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 they are likr dogs, man. they come out when you enter the room as they get used to feeding times and they can tell its owner apart from other people. i used to have one in a tank by itself and it was so awesome to watch him just move around. give them a nice cave to hide in so they feel more comfortable in their home and you will see it become more and more personable. i have seen them get more and more popular over the past couple of years as well. you will have no problem finding them for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Melissa Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 How do you clean their tanks? Do you have to wear protective gear when reaching in? I was curious to know if they see the hand that feeds, if they try to attack it or anything. They are so pretty, and have amazing colors. I love watching them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I had heard that you should only use Acrylic tanks with them since they can crack the glass ones. Pretty cool creature though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabeetus Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 mine never had a problem with me putting my hand in there. but if he feels threatened, he might do some damage so having caves will help him to feel less threatened. as far as clean up crew, there are a few things you can keep in there ( i think some starfish n other stuff like that) that he wont eat. its been a couple years since i have had one, but if you keep em well fed, its possible he wont even mess with the clean up crew. get a good skimmer and make sure there is enough flow to keep all the detritus off the sand and that will help tremendously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKaiser4 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Aquadome had a very nice mantis last week when I was there. They might still have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatfouz Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 mine never had a problem with me putting my hand in there. but if he feels threatened, he might do some damage so having caves will help him to feel less threatened. as far as clean up crew, there are a few things you can keep in there ( i think some starfish n other stuff like that) that he wont eat. its been a couple years since i have had one, but if you keep em well fed, its possible he wont even mess with the clean up crew. get a good skimmer and make sure there is enough flow to keep all the detritus off the sand and that will help tremendously you have kept them? So is acrylic important? Did you do live foods or just frozen? I don't know if my skimmer works, i do have a huge filter system. but i have black sand which looks dirty anyway, i just thought the black and white stone would show it's colors better. anything different about keeping them than other reef critters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabeetus Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 mine never had a problem with me putting my hand in there. but if he feels threatened, he might do some damage so having caves will help him to feel less threatened. as far as clean up crew, there are a few things you can keep in there ( i think some starfish n other stuff like that) that he wont eat. its been a couple years since i have had one, but if you keep em well fed, its possible he wont even mess with the clean up crew. get a good skimmer and make sure there is enough flow to keep all the detritus off the sand and that will help tremendously you have kept them? So is acrylic important? Did you do live foods or just frozen? I don't know if my skimmer works, i do have a huge filter system. but i have black sand which looks dirty anyway, i just thought the black and white stone would show it's colors better. anything different about keeping them than other reef critters? acrylic is not really that important. yes, they can bust your tank, but only really when they get huge do they pose a threat to your glass aquarium, IMO. i fed him live food and frozen food. you can get live crawfish to feed him and that makes it easy to switch over to frozen foods too, if he doesnt already eat frozen. mine ate frozen silversides and krill mostly. what kind of filter system are you planning on running? and what kind of mantis? there are a lot of great sites on stomatopods on google to see which mantis is best for you. but since they are messy eaters, you might want to check out your skimmer and make sure it works, or get a nice used one from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatfouz Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) mine never had a problem with me putting my hand in there. but if he feels threatened, he might do some damage so having caves will help him to feel less threatened. as far as clean up crew, there are a few things you can keep in there ( i think some starfish n other stuff like that) that he wont eat. its been a couple years since i have had one, but if you keep em well fed, its possible he wont even mess with the clean up crew. get a good skimmer and make sure there is enough flow to keep all the detritus off the sand and that will help tremendously you have kept them? So is acrylic important? Did you do live foods or just frozen? I don't know if my skimmer works, i do have a huge filter system. but i have black sand which looks dirty anyway, i just thought the black and white stone would show it's colors better. anything different about keeping them than other reef critters? acrylic is not really that important. yes, they can bust your tank, but only really when they get huge do they pose a threat to your glass aquarium, IMO. i fed him live food and frozen food. you can get live crawfish to feed him and that makes it easy to switch over to frozen foods too, if he doesnt already eat frozen. mine ate frozen silversides and krill mostly. what kind of filter system are you planning on running? and what kind of mantis? there are a lot of great sites on stomatopods on google to see which mantis is best for you. but since they are messy eaters, you might want to check out your skimmer and make sure it works, or get a nice used one from here. I have a 5/6 gallon hang on the back wet/dry filter with overflow box, gravel filter, internal filter, heater, and i have to check the skimmer when i go home. idk how the attic life treated it. as far as species... I think some sort of smasher. I have been trying to read up on species and the lancers sound like they tend to stay under the sand and all you see is a pair of eyes... I think I would prefer a smasher that will spend a little more time to be seen. also they seem to have the prettier colors... also smashers sound a little cheaper to keep, as live fish tend to be more expensive than live inverts. also the tank is shallow, only 12 inches and i dont think that is deep enough Can you keep small fish like damsels with smasher type? Edited November 23, 2010 by chatfouz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabeetus Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 i actually had a lawnmower blenny and a blue damsel in there with him and they did fine. again, if you keep them well fed, you probably wont have a problem keeping fish. i just wouldnt go spending a bunch of money on fish for a mantis tank gravel filter? as in under gravel? that would be, in my opinion, very helpful in keeping the tank clean. maybe someone on here might have a different opinion. not sure about the hob filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Aquatek had a zebra mantis last Friday... I agree that they sound like super cool pets! Good luck and congrats on the graduation!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonSequitur Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 I had a peacock mantis shrimp when I first got into the hobby, and plan on getting another in the near future. Definitely a cool creature. I never had a problem with mine hitting the glass, but I did have a cutting board trimmed down to cover the bottom of the tank, since that's what I've heard they're more likely to break while burrowing. As far as clean up crew, she would eat anything I put in there, regardless of how well fed she was, so I had to think of CUC as expendable, but it wasn't a big deal, just did extra water changes when she succeeded in breaking open a turbo snail and clouding up the water. She absolutely did not like my hands near her burrow entrance, so I really had to be alert whenever working in that area of the tank, but anywhere else she didn't bother me, and I loved the "Feed Me Semour!" dance she did whenever I came near the tank, I can't know for sure, but it even seemed that she enjoyed coming out and entertaining the cats (I frequently saw multiple cats sitting in front of that tank watching). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OgreMkV Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Check with TampaBayReef... he has mantises all the time and only $10 for the green or peacocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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