mantis food?

[nvmy22s]

is it ok to feed fresh water snails? and would it be ok to feed wild cough snails?

[dismalorb]

I wouldn't personally do it or recommend it. However, the salinity should kill any parasites, flukes, or other nasty stuff. I used to feed my brackish-kept Green Spotted Puffers ramshorns and apple snails with no problem.

Since Stomatopods come from the ocean though, I'd keep with marine snails if I were you.

[justinl]

Id imagine that it would be okay once in a while. but i would not make it my staple food for the reasons listed above. Id also imagine there would be nutritional differences between fresh and saltwater inverts.

[nvmy22s]

ok thanks. was just wondering cause i have a steady free supply of them.

[dismalorb]

Perhaps you could trade them to your Local Fish Shop for credit or some marine snails. Or, find a puffer keeper to sell them to once in a while. ;)

[Angel7989]

you shouldn't feed you mantis shrimp anything that came from a freshwater tank because food from a freshwater aquarium has no nutritional value whatsoever. its like eating a double cheeseburger (so to say)

[DanInSD]

Actually, not true. Some freshwater foods are quite nutritious, even for marine animals. The most obvious example is mysis shrimp. The "mini-mysis" are saltwater. The "big" mysis -- which are the most common -- are fresh water.

In general, however, it's a good rule to follow. There are so many good frozen meaty marine foods out there that there's no excuse to serve freshwater stuff to mantis.

Dan

[abrahamcho]

So it is not a good idea to feed mantis shrimp guppies?

[justinl]

bad. see below.

Dan has a good point, freshwater invertebrates aren't nearly as bad for marine organisms as are the FW fish. That said, I personally still feel nervous about FW feed, even mysis, because there is no way that they have the same composition as a true marine animal. But the differences might simply be negligible, i dont actually know.