Mantis Died

[vwong007]

My mantis died last night. A couple days prior she was arranging her house with dead coral and some live rock. i found her dead this morning and she was in the middle of molting. her entire back molted off and her smashers were a few inches away. Does anyone know why she died. i would like to correct the condition for my next shrimp. she was housed in a 10 gallon with a skilter. water changes were from my reeftank. i heard that they need iodine or ssomething. Thanks in advance.

[MDKyleZ]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Iodine, might help. I'm not completly sure but it sounds to me like an unsuccessful molt. It happens, I've had it happen to several crabs and shrimp myself but never any of my mantis.

Kyle

[Gonodactylus]

Molting is extremely stressful for a crustacean and anything that weakens an animal can cause it to die while trying to shed its exoskeleton. This can be due to poor water quality, disease, parasites, injury, or just plain old age. I would guess that at least 90% of the animals I lose die attempting to molt. When this happens, it may be indicative of a problem, but not necessarily. If you are confident that your water parameters are good and there were no signs of shell disease or injury, you will probably not find the "cause".

I occasionally see reference to iodine supplements being used to prevent molting problems. I know of no data on this for stomatopods. In decapod crustaceans, a lack of iodoine can cause problems, but with a typical varied diet of shrimp, krill, snails, etc., this should not be a problem. I generally worry more about my animals getting enough calcium which is why I like to include freeze-dried krill or shrimp (with the shell). I also use a supplement such as Selco. It seems to help, but I honestly can't say why.

One more thing. Watch out for the build-up of heavy metals. These can be lethal and you usually see the effect when the animal attempts to molt. Most aquarists now use some sort of de-ioniized water in mixing their salt water or for salinity adjustments. If you don't, heavy metal concentrations over time can build up in a tank to lethal concentrations. And water is not the only possible source of this contamination. Years ago, we used to feed our stomatopods and octopus snails and crabs from San Francisco Bay.. My success at keeping animals in the lab for more than several months was not good. Analysis suggested that we had a heavy metal problem, but we were using de-ionized water. It turned out that the heavy metals (as well as other pollutants) were coming in thorugh the food chain. We now use prey from outside the Bay with much better success.

Roy

[vwong007]

Thans guys for the info. I had her for a little over two years. She was actually my first salt water animal ever. my girlfriend and I are bummed out about her passing away. She had just finished building her new house out of a dead plate coral so she could molt in it. I really think the water quality wasn't an issue, i have some mushroom corals and pulsing xenias that are doing well in that tank, and the water i use is RO water / water from my reef tank. i think she lived a good life and thats good enuff for me.

[RogueCorps]

Re: Iodine. I heard Rob Toonen speak at a SEABay meeting recently and he said that while it's generally believed that iodine actually helps crustaceans to molt, it's actually toxic to them. He said that increased frequency of molting in cleaner shrimp when iodine is dosed is because they have to more frequently dispose of the iodine buildup in their exoskeletons.

Sorry for your loss... I just wanted to mention that before anyone thought of bathing their mantises in the stuff. :(

-Rogue

[cephalopoder]

Hi
I have had my female O.s for about a year and a half now. She lives in a ten gallon as well and has molted 3 or 4 times with no problem. I use only RO/DI water in all my tanks, good salt with lots of calcium and do a partial water change every month. I do add 10 drops of iodine every few months. The tank has a deep sand bed, lots of flow, a AquaC remora skimmer, a small power head and a hang on filter with just some good carbon in it. I use live rock, and a few macros. I allways vary the diet feeding, clams, snails, shrimp, scallop and a silver side now and then. When she starts to do the house cleaning bit I know she is going to molt and do a partial water change at that time of about 1 to 2 gallons. I feel the water you make your sea water with is the most important thing so why skimp with anything but the best. In the end it will be money well spent.
-chris