Thinking Of Starting A Mantis Nano.

[Katana]

I used to have freshwater fish a long time ago. Since then, the fish have been phased out of our life. I first saw what a real marine aquarium could be when someone living right by us sold their entire tank. For $1,700, we could have had a 150 gallon marine aquarium that had been running for 3 years, complete with live rock, and livestock. Also it included all of the neccecary equipment. Unfortunately, my parents decided against it. Well, I was looking around these forums, and I spied a topic about getting rid of mantis shrimp. I read what nmonks said there, and was like "Wow, those are REALLY cool." It can break bones, shatter aquariums and kills and eats everything that moves, and is smarter than me. I have to have one. Since then, I've been doing research.

Here's what I've found that I will need.

10 gallon aquarium

A heater: Gotta find one that the shrimp won't beat the hell out of.

1 powerhead that turns over 200 gph Thanks to Donya for telling me what this will need.

15lbs of live rock. I will buy it from http/www.tampabaysaltwater.com/index.html. I live in florida, so I can probably go and buy it fresh from them, pick my pieces, and bring it to my house in water (in the tank it will be in). I know I could get less rock and it would be cheaper, but I have a chance of getting a free mantis shrimp in my rock.

Sand. Dsb of live ocean sand, same location as my rock.

Water (duh) I was figuring on changing it with a gallon of distilled water every week, unless I can find R/O at a lfs. I could just mix the salt in to the 1 gallon container that the water comes in, unless lfs R/O water is cheaper. I'd also keep a gallon or two of fresh on hand to refill the evaporation.

Lights: http/www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/power_aqualight.html

Test equipment So apparently I will need the full kit after all.

Clean up crew: Turbo snails and large red hermits, because the N. Wennerae is a small shrimp and won't go after the larger snails.

1 live mantis shrimp If it's not in the liverock, I'll find one elsewhere. I live in florida, so this is easy.

This isn't looking too terribly expensive. Looks like I can get the full setup for under $200.

I would prefer for there to be no hood on it. I'm not worried honestly about it crawling out, because why would it go from an environment where all of it's needs and wants are provided...to air. The reason fish jump is because there is something causing them stress and they are trying to get away. Same rationalle for it breaking the glass. Why would it randomly hit something. So that is not a worry for me personally. If the shrimp wasn't so darned smart, I would be worried about a jumper. But that thing isn't stupid enough to chance the air, unless something was chacing it.

It will be a good 3 months before I can even consider equipment, let alone rock, livestock, corals, any of that.

Also, i'd like to give special props to Fella, because his thread helped get me interested in this. It also helped to steer me in the right direction

Thanks in advance,
Katana

 

[Donya]

Test equipment I figure all I need for this shrimp is a salt tester.

You'll need a lot more water testing tools than just something to measure salinity or specific gravity (done with a refractometer or hydrometer). You'll need saltwater-specific test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH... there are some good threads on the forum for what all is needed.

Powerhead should be 20x gph at least...if you have a 1 gallon tank, that would be 20gph, 2 gallons would be 40gph, etc. It's there to provide your current/water circulation.

Then, if that happens and I don't get a shrimp in the rock, I'll mention live rock to a friend who has a huge aquarium

If that tank has fish in it, putting rocks in with the aim of aquiring a mantis will be a disaster. Not very nice for the fish (or your friend if he's attached to the fish).

would prefer for there to be no hood on it.

You'll run into evaporation issues. I have a 5 gallon that has no hood and it lead to salinity fluctuations from too much evap. I had to correct it with a mesh top that at least cut down on evap a bit to managable levels. Also, if you havn't done a marine tank before (and everyone here will tell you this): smaller = harder. The margin of error in large tanks dissappears completely when you are dealing with something as small as the tank you're wanting.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Cool video!

 

[Katana]

But, having a marine tank with an animal that most people can't kill if they try makes it easier, not harder from my understanding. How many of you have ever found a pest mantis dead in the morning from anything other than assaulting it with a pair of scissors? I don't think I made it clear, I want a tank JUST for the shrimp. I've heard of them being kept in unfiltered goldfish bowls with tap water and the marine salt, and they thrive. Once again, there will be NO FISH in this tank at any point, unless I somehow get one with the rock, and he will be scooped up and taken to the LFS immediately.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

I don't think I made it clear, I want a tank JUST for the shrimp.

You want a tank just for a shrimp, fair enough it shouldn't be too much work.
BUT you want a tank with a shrimp with the OPTION of corals later on, therefore you're going to need to be alot more considerate of the params of the tank.
It sounds like you want a low maintenance tank if this is so i'd cancel of the options of corals straight away. If you are going to take the option of corals down the line then it would be one hell of alot easier to start practicing your good water husbandry now rather than later on down the line and you're shrimp would thank you far it regardless of whether he can thrive in worse conditions.

The shrimp in that video you showed looks like one happy fellow and the tank is beautiful, i think that tank would look alot worse without the corals in there so you should consider your OPTIONS carefully

HTH

Dan

 

[Katana]

Ah, I see, ok. I wouldn't want to add corals when the tank was starting off, but I wanted the option to have them later...so I will need a lot more equipment for the corals.

Infact, I found a list of the equipment from the video (in french). I'm trying to translate it atm.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Just read few a few of our members nano diarys and you will get a good equipment list for everything you need and also some reviews on different makes

The only real difference in equipment between a reef and a FOWLR is extra flow, lighting and better water params

HTH
Dan

 

[Katana]

Heh, I came up with an idea for shrimp-proofing some hermet crabs. All I need to figure out is how to make something impact-resistant and moldable that will then harden. My idea is to make shells for the hermets that the mantis wouldn't be able to break. I wouldn't feel right putting cleaning crew in there just to end up as shrimp bait without any chance whatsoever. This is just an idea though, it prolly wouldn't work.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

I don't think you'd need the external Ehiem TBH
You could get one and fill it up with LR rubble for extra filtration but personally i think 12lbs liverock would be enough filtration for a single mantis shrimp. It would be a bonus but not absolutely needed

1ft cube is 12 gallons? bring up your LR total to 12-18lbs LR from 10.

Good to hear you're doing a lot of research keep it up

Dan

 

[Katana]

7 and a half gallons, not 12. It is 1 cubic foot total volume. It's not one of the commonly sold nanos. I decided not to get 1 of those because I don't like the slanted look in front. Gonna make a 1x1x1 cube out of acrylic as a DIY project. But the species I am likely to get (N. Wennerae) isn't known as a glass smasher in any case. Might get a peacock though if I reinforce the walls (and the wallet).

Also when I was browsing reef central I came up with a novel way to provide it with interesting food/sparring opponents. I was reading their mantis shrimp forum when I came across the story of "Tim". People were sending the author pest crabs/money to buy a chosen opponent in return for pics of the mantis going to war with them. Also, mabye if I find a lfs that routinely cures live rock they will have gorilla crabs and the like for me. What do these do to make them "not reef safe" btw? I wouldn't want to put something in there which would just scare him and kill any corals I put in there.

I'm also thinking of mabye getting a 20 long instead and going for the peacock shrimp. They are more colorful, and get bigger, which means they would be better for my lil shrimpfighting idea. But that would also mean more snails/hermets sacrificed. Hmm... Or mabye a 2x2x2 aquarium for a peacock shrimp. That would allow a lot more aquascaping, could be built out of acrylics, and would be more stable.

 

[Fella]

Hey Katana,

I too am considering a mantis-nano. Here is my thread documenting what I have discovered so far - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=135484 . I hope it is of some use to you.

A few things worth picking up on regarding the mantis is the claims made regarding what a mantis is truly capable of. A mantis does have some tremendous power, I have no doubt that is true. However, smashing glass in home aquaria is something a mantis doesn't do, and that is something I have had confirmed from many sources of people, all of whom had experience of keeping mantis shrimps. While possible, it's unlikely, and all whom I have spoken to have flat out said, it does not happen. That's a relief!

However, some of the people I have spoken with have assured me that if a mantis wants to leave water, and escape, it will. And that is something I would not want running around my house, or even sitting in a corner .

I hope you find my thread useful, it was the same video I think that inspired me to go mantis-nano.

Craig

 

[steelhealr]

Agree with Fella. I CAN confirm that they can and HAVE split finger tips to the bone. Any infection with a marine bacterium is usually serious. Use care. You'd be shocked how fast any marine animal can move or react can be when frightened. SH

 

[Katana]

Hey Katana,

I too am considering a mantis-nano. Here is my thread documenting what I have discovered so far - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=135484 . I hope it is of some use to you.

A few things worth picking up on regarding the mantis is the claims made regarding what a mantis is truly capable of. A mantis does have some tremendous power, I have no doubt that is true. However, smashing glass in home aquaria is something a mantis doesn't do, and that is something I have had confirmed from many sources of people, all of whom had experience of keeping mantis shrimps. While possible, it's unlikely, and all whom I have spoken to have flat out said, it does not happen. That's a relief!

However, some of the people I have spoken with have assured me that if a mantis wants to leave water, and escape, it will. And that is something I would not want running around my house, or even sitting in a corner .

I hope you find my thread useful, it was the same video I think that inspired me to go mantis-nano.

Craig

Heh, It was your thread that helped to inspire me to go for a mantis nano. As for the breaking glass, I personally am not worried, but the acrylic is an attempt at appeasing my parents. But it climbing out of the water isn't a worry because they have insufficent leg structure to move out of the tank. They can get out, but can't get anywhere. And, I plan to wear gloves when doing anything in the tank. I've heard of these guys giving infections that made someone lose a finger. I don't want to lose my fingers lol.

 

[Fella]

Hey Katana,

I too am considering a mantis-nano. Here is my thread documenting what I have discovered so far - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=135484 . I hope it is of some use to you.

A few things worth picking up on regarding the mantis is the claims made regarding what a mantis is truly capable of. A mantis does have some tremendous power, I have no doubt that is true. However, smashing glass in home aquaria is something a mantis doesn't do, and that is something I have had confirmed from many sources of people, all of whom had experience of keeping mantis shrimps. While possible, it's unlikely, and all whom I have spoken to have flat out said, it does not happen. That's a relief!

However, some of the people I have spoken with have assured me that if a mantis wants to leave water, and escape, it will. And that is something I would not want running around my house, or even sitting in a corner .

I hope you find my thread useful, it was the same video I think that inspired me to go mantis-nano.

Craig

Heh, It was your thread that inspired me to go for a mantis nano. As for the breaking glass, I personally am not worried, but the acrylic is an attempt at appeasing my parents. But it climbing out of the water isn't a worry because they have insufficent leg structure to move out of the tank. They can get out, but can't get anywhere. And, I plan to wear gloves when doing anything in the tank. I've heard of these guys giving infections that made someone lose a finger. I don't want to lose my fingers lol.

I'm very flattered that you found my thread of use, thank you.

I've been wondering what I may do regarding moving things in the tank while my mantis is in there, and the best I've come up with so far is an acrylic divider if he's on one side of the tank, and a set of barbecue like tongs for removing rock. I am taking no risks, as like Steelhealr says, a marine acquired infection is aggressive and painful, and I don't keep any pets for sadistic reasons!

Acrylic is something I originally wanted too in a "better safe than sorry" moment, but I've realised it's probably quite futile. If I had the choice between acrylic or glass though, and they were the same price, yes, I would go acrylic.

 

[Katana]

Well, I'm ordering a book from amazon to aid my research process. It is Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History - Eric H. Borneman Those should be good to help me figure out what I need to do for the shrimp, and for any corals I might be getting. Both of them appear to be very good resources. Pretty expensive books though. But for about 500 pages each, I guess it's not too bad.

Also, because of where I am going to end up putting my tank, trying to duplicate that cube might be a bit pointless. I may just go for a 10 gallon aquarium. Hmm.