Anyone here still have their peppermint shrimp?

[Fountainhead]

All my TBS peppermint shrimp disappeared without a trace within a day or two (this was back in April) of adding my second shipment. I was just now considering adding a couple of shrimp again, possibly cleaner shrimp. But it just occured to me that maybe the original peppermint shrimp were actually killed by Mantis shrimp. At the time, I had at least three or four mantis in my tank. I'm now down to one for certain (about 1 inch) and probably two. Have any of you successfully maintained your TBS peppermint shrimp in the company of Mantis? I'd hate to add more shrimp if the mantis will just kill them again. Any thoughts?

[hdtran]

Fountainhead,

I still have all my original peppermint shrimps. My mantis (I think 2 left in the main tank) are not quite as big as the peppermints. I think the mantis is attacking pods; a smasher type, not a spearer.

I received package part 2 in November 03.

Hy

[weedhopper]

I have. I've had my second half in since around Easter. I got two with my package. I can see one now. He is always in the same place. I saw the 2nd one the other day, when I fed the tank. He always hides.
I caught 2 mantis yesterday, as a matter of fact. I believe I have 1 or 2 more in there.
I think the mantis in my tank are happy eating the snails. I cannot even count all the empty shells lying in the sand bed that are broken.
Just my opinion, but, I don't think the mantis would prey on such a large item, when it has easier prey within its grasp,(snails, hermits, barnicles, etc).
Also, none of mine are no more than 1" to 1.5" at the most. My peppermint are about 2.5" to 3". (aprox.).
Thoughts?

This is just my experience so far.
WEED

[doliver]

I still have all 3 peppermints in there, but part 2 of my package is only about a month old. They spend all day hiding in a cave but they will venture out a little when I'm feeding.

I've caught two mantis in the past week and there's at least one more in there, but the ones I've seen are much smaller than the shrimp. I also haven't noticed a drop in the snail population yet, so I think they're still going after smaller targets.

I wish they would come out to play during the day though. Are there other types of shrimp that will come out in the light, or do most of them hang out in the shadows like the peppermints?

[snooter1]

I lost my two. One lasted for about a month and then disapeared, the other died pretty soon after I got him. Did the sump water slide trick. Was also thinking of replacing but perhaps with a larger shrimp (banded, fire, etc.)

[Cearbhaill]

I have all four of my originals after six months- even added four more! Hoping to keep plenty of those larvae circulating :D

[shanekennedy]

mine all still alive since january

[laeelin]

mine are still alive... only been in the tank ~14 days though =P

[DarknessAlive]

The one that I got with my package died about 12 hours after I had him in the tank. He looked bad before I even had him out of the bag, though. I've since bought 2 more from the LFS and they have been doing great... They even got rid of some suspect "aiptasia" I was worried about! I don't think we have any more Mantis.. When we had all the rock out of the tank we poked in every hole in the rock. If we found a Mantis, it got executed, simple as that.

Now if I could just get that last Gorilla crab out......

[anothermineral]

Fellow Mantis Hunters,

Care to share your successful methods. I have not had any luck thus far.

FYI, my peppermints appear to be doing fine. I believe I wittnessed a mass birth the other night (both the peppermints I received had egg sacs). All of a sudden, there appeared to be hundreds (maybe thousands) of little organisims released into the tank.

Part 2 was put in on 5/28.

-Mineral

[Fountainhead]

The only way I've ever gotten them out is by spotting their hole, pulling out the rock, and squirting a little club soda in there. I've tried the various bottle traps, but all I ever get is hermits. Unfortunately, one of my remaining Mantis' is housed in the largest rock in the tank, which of course is on the bottom of the pile. That rock isn't coming out until the day I give up this ridiculous hobby.

[doliver]

Originally posted by anothermineral
Fellow Mantis Hunters,

Care to share your successful methods. I have not had any luck thus far.

-Mineral


The only luck I've had is to wait until I see one peeking out of a rock. When that happens, you have to be ready to pounce and remove that rock -- so hopefully it's one that's easily removed.

Once the rock is out, I just squirt some ro/di water into the hole where he's hiding and he'll jump out.

[weedhopper]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by doliver
[B]The only luck I've had is to wait until I see one peeking out of a rock. When that happens, you have to be ready to pounce and remove that rock -- so hopefully it's one that's easily removed.

That is what I did, but just rinsed the rock under the sink into a bowl. (just a few splashes). They came out within a few min.

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

I've had success catching mantis shrimps by pulling the rock they're housed in and chasing them out of the rock. The water bottle trick doesn't work at all IMO so you just have to be patient and keep an eye out for them. I have maybe 1 or 2 mantis left in the tank and I'm sure he's been feeding on the barnacles, snails, and hermits. One of these days he'll die...

I've also had two 2.5" mantis sitting in a styrofoam boxed for a month now and just the other day the red one at the grey one. These little guys are mean as anything.

[doliver]

Still off topic, but back to the peppermints....

Does anyone else see any agression between the peppermints and your condy anemone? A couple of times now I've seen the two fighting, with the shrimp grabbing a tentacle and pulling on it, or the anemone retaliating by lashing out at the shrimp.

[docklink]

Originally posted by doliver
Still off topic, but back to the peppermints....

Does anyone else see any agression between the peppermints and your condy anemone? A couple of times now I've seen the two fighting, with the shrimp grabbing a tentacle and pulling on it, or the anemone retaliating by lashing out at the shrimp.

It's only been a week but my peppermints haven't gone anywhere near my condy. It has parked itself inside a cave with its tentacles hanging out and the shrimp have been dancing around just about every rock but that one.

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

My peppermints have managed to get themselves into my sump twice now. This time I can't catch them so I'll just let them live there. These shrimps are extremely shy creatures and I rarely see them do any "cleaning" so I've yet to see their value.

[doliver]

Originally posted by Homey the Reefkeeper
These shrimps are extremely shy creatures and I rarely see them do any "cleaning" so I've yet to see their value.

Mine are getting less shy as time goes by. They still spend most of their time in the shadows, but now that I have a couple of fish and regular feeding times, they will venture out into the light to grab some food. And they're willing to fight the condy in the light as well. :)

Generally, I think they do their cleaning during the night. If I look in the middle of the night, they're out and about doing their thing.

[PRC]

Still have four of my original five peppermints. One mantis left in the tank at about ten months now. IME the pepermints have gotten much more sociable over time. Maybe a bit too much so...