Mantis Shrimp?

[Kevin_D]

I have never kept marines before, but have read up on how to keep them, and have a basic idea of how to successfully keep them, I keep Mudskippers, in brackish water, and have done for several months. I also keep some freshwater invertebrates including Aegla species, Atya gabonensis and Cherry Shrimp. Having seen a Mantis Shrimp in a shop recently, and some images of them online I am very interested in attempting to keep one. Does anyone on here keep them? I understand they would need to be kept to a species tank, and probably singly as well? are they difficult to keep for someone who has never kept marines?

Thanks

 

[nanocubeking]

not really. they just become nuisanceslater on if you want to do fish. and they are considered pests in marine aquaria.

 

[Kevin_D]

I wouldnt think of keeping any Fish, or any other display animals in with one, the one I saw was just under £40, and was in a bottle within another tank, is this a good price?

So they would be possible for a beginner to marines to keep? how long would the tank need to be set up in advance before adding one?

 

[SkiFletch]

Sure, a mantis would be a fine beginner creature. They tend to be very hardy and many of them are very active and interactive species. Do you happen to have a species, description, or a picture of the mantis? There are a lot of smaller mantids that will do very well in 5 or 10g tanks, and then there are some that require bigger tanks around 30g.

The largest challenge with keeping mantids is keeping the tank clean. They're messy eaters and their tanks are prone to outbreaks of hair algae and cyanobacteria. Depending on your filtration this can be a bit of a challenge. I'd reccomend either using a skimmer, refugium, or refugium with skimmer to help keep dissolved organics and nitrates/phosphates low to prevent the nuisance algaes.

As for how long after the tank is setup, if you use LR (which you should) you can prolly add the mantis wihtin a week.

One last piece of advice. Place a sacrificial piece of acrylic along the bottom of the tank before adding water/rocks/sand/etc in case he burrows into the sand, finds the bottom, and decides he wants to break it, the acrylic will protect the tank.

 

[Kevin_D]

Thanks for your advice. Im not sure what species of Mantid Shrimp I saw, it was around 12-15cm, and greenish in colouration. I would be using live rock in its tank, to provide an hiding place for it as well.

Would a tank similar to this be ok to keep one in?

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-ORCA-TL-450-NANO...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[SkiFletch]

Provided it's not one of the larger mantids... Have a look through Roys list of stomatopods to see if you can find the mantis you saw.

Green ones are usually P Cilliata, G Smithii, or N Wennerae and are usually suitable for smaller tanks. The one you really have to be careful of that's common is the O scyllarus "peacock" mantis which gets BIG.

 

[Kevin_D]

Ive been looking for more complete set-up for one of these, and have found this, http/www.aquaticlifedirect.co.uk/DryGood...eMarineAquarium

Is this set-up large enough for a Mantis Shrimp? Ive asked in my lfs and they can order one for me whenever I have the tank set up and ready to introduce it.

Thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

looks like adam.crouch's old tank. It'll work for smaller species, but not the larger ones. Also in general, a tank that is longer or wider as opposed to tall is best.