PDA

View Full Version : New here, and an unexpected owner of a Mantis


Alexraptor
12/04/2011, 11:29 AM
Hi, I'm new here.

Ive been keeping saltwater for almost 7 years now, and as of yesterday I am the unexpected owner of a small Mantis Shrimp.
I had just dumped in a new piece of live rock I bought at the LFS and noticed a pair of ominous eyes staring at me.
Fortuantely he had not moved so I managed to pull out the rock with him in it and dump him in an empty but cycled saltwater tank.

Thanks to Roy's List I have identified him as a medium sized "Gonodactylaceus falcatus", his color pattern being spot on.
He's a pretty cool creature and I intend on keeping him.
He has already accepted a piece of shrimp tail with little hesitation, allthough curiously he just eagerly dragged it into the burrow and has spent the hours since just sitting with his eyes out of the opening rather than eating.

Since he is a smasher it is my understanding that he needs live shelled food to exercise his raptorials so that he does not loose them.
I would like a little greater understanding in detail about this, as where I live and my financial situation would make very regular feedings of hermits or snails difficult and costly.
So what exactly is it in the exercise that they need? Is the the impact and effort from hitting a hard shell? or is it simply "using" them that gives the needed excercise regardless of soft body or shell?
Are there any substitutes ones can use to encourage the activity and make sure he does exercise the raptorials enough?

In a nutshell, I would like to know about everything I can do to avoid having him loose their appendages.

Thanks :)

Bluemon
12/04/2011, 01:08 PM
i dont believe the losing the appendage thing is ture... anywhoo,

feed it frozen food every 2-3 days and you can feed it snails and crabs and even supermarket clams every 2 weeks or so.

you can even stuff frozen food into empty shells!

good luck with your mantis :)

john6412
12/04/2011, 01:12 PM
He will use his striking appendages to remodel his home, too. You should be able to hear him banging around in his rock. I wouldn't worry about him losing them.

gnasher
12/04/2011, 04:40 PM
I agree, plenty more exercise will be had remodeling than eating. As long as he's got some rocks to chip at, he'll be fine.

Alexraptor
12/04/2011, 05:18 PM
Well thats good to hear. :)
Also I found a while before lights out that hes appearantly discarded the shrimp piece he so eagerly grabbed earlier, is this normal?

Heres a small video of him that I recorded shortly after I got him out of the main Reef tank.
http://youtu.be/8hL72rmg56U

Dana42078
12/05/2011, 01:37 AM
Nice free hitch hiker!!!!! Wish mine was free lol.

Alexraptor
12/05/2011, 06:21 PM
Now I know Mantis shrimps are pretty much the destroyer of worlds lol, they seem to eat anything and anyone in a tank.

Still, I feel the need to ask, is there anything at all that can be housed with a Mantis in terms of cleaning crew?

Mainly concerned about algae growth going rampant in his tank.

JmartWI
12/05/2011, 07:44 PM
Your best bet might be to experiment and see what his tastes are. I've had my mantis for about a month, and it hasn't attacked the Cerith or Astrea snails yet. My Nassarius snails haven't been attacked yet either, but I've heard some people claim their mantis finds them and digs them up. Hermits are goners though, they never last long. I usually feed frozen food every other day or every three days though, so perhaps she doesn't feel the need to attack the snails (just my guess).

StephLionfish
12/05/2011, 08:56 PM
I had a Wennerae that ate everything in the tank as soon as it hit the water. The only thing I never tried was a Turbo Snail. Try them. I've heard of people getting away with them for a bit longer than other snails sue to their size. Of course, if your mantis is big enough, nothing will stop it.
To keep the algae from going crazy from all the nutrients in the frozen food, you could make the tank a macro tank. I did that with my Ciliata, though I still have hair algae...:hmm2:
Oh, and kudos to you for not giving him up/ killing him. According to Dr. Roy's list, they aren't very interactive. Not a lot of people will go the extra mile for something they can't interact with. :thumbsup:

Alexraptor
12/05/2011, 09:22 PM
Well he's fun enough to watch when feeding. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8okLJfelS7w

Btw, how do they do with Echinoderm's? Starfish, Urchins, serpent stars etc.

mndfreeze
12/08/2011, 09:08 PM
You should spend some time digging through our threads here. Just about every one of us at some point has made a thread similar to yours and everyone has different experiences with different mantis and different species.

I have a Ternatensis. He destroys astreas, ceriths, nerites for common cleaning crew snails. He eventually gets my small nassarius vibex, but cannot take out my large olive nassarius or giant tan whelks. He also tries every now and then to go after my turbo snails but always fails as they are massive.

Crabs, no chance in my tank. My Googly is waiting like a dog before I even get to the tank when I buy him fiddler crabs. They are dead before they hit the sand. Holes usually blown straight through them.

My GT also killed and ate (I hope ate and not just killed) my fromia star. It was a long process, over a few weeks, but eventually the starfish was missing arms and I saw him eating/playing with one of them.

It is very hit or miss without some experimentation since there isn't a lot of data for us mantis owners on exact diets for each species, and I'm sure they are also quite opportunistic if given the chance or starvation.

StephLionfish
12/08/2011, 09:47 PM
Well he's fun enough to watch when feeding. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8okLJfelS7w


XD Nice fork:lolspin: He's cute, I love his little eyes.

Alexraptor
12/09/2011, 08:26 PM
Looks like i was wrong.
It seems that he is a G. Smithii, now that ive got a good look at his raptorials.