Thinking of keeping my mantis.

[RedOscar12]

Well I just recently got 50lbs out of my 100-150lbs and I founs something digging under a piece of rock and sand and small pieces of stone flinging out or a hole in this rock, low and behold a mantis. I like him but he is very annoying, all I here is him digging away in his rock. He is in my 72gallon soon to be reef tank with the LR. My current setup is a 15gallon. After I swap the 10lbs of LR and my corals over to the main reef(fish and crabs too) tank I was thinking of taking his rock out and keeping him in my 15. First off what do they eat? Second, will he ever outgrow the 15gallon? Can he co-exist with any small fish? (Damsel or somthin) And does he need special lighting? I have a 130wattPC light on there now. Soooooo, what kind of mantis is he/she? It's red, heres a crappy pic of him watching me from his rock:

[RedOscar12]

http://www.fragtraders.com/gallery/data/500/2Mantic_Crop1.jpg

[jlovell]

Originally posted by RedOscar12
Well I just recently got 50lbs out of my 100-150lbs and I founs something digging under a piece of rock and sand and small pieces of stone flinging out or a hole in this rock, low and behold a mantis. I like him but he is very annoying, all I here is him digging away in his rock. He is in my 72gallon soon to be reef tank with the LR. My current setup is a 15gallon. After I swap the 10lbs of LR and my corals over to the main reef(fish and crabs too) tank I was thinking of taking his rock out and keeping him in my 15.

If you can get him out of the 72 now before he gets comfortable or you get it built out, that would be VERY good. You really need to get him out before you get the tank setup because once he gets comfortable and you have built out the new 72, you may have to pull a lot of rock out to get him out, especially if he goes into hiding and you don't knwo which piece he is in! :eek: Do yourself a favor, get him out now before he starts roaming the tank and discovering multiple hiding places or you get the tank built out the way you want it.

Originally posted by RedOscar12 First off what do they eat? Second, will he ever outgrow the 15gallon? Can he co-exist with any small fish? (Damsel or somthin) And does he need special lighting? I have a 130wattPC light on there now.

I have a mantis myself and love it! I just bombed him with 100 Nassarisu Obsoleta snails and he ate his first one (it was so cute :lol: )! Anyways, they eat snails and small inverts (yours looks like a smasher and this is what they eat vs spearers). Some people have shared the mantis tank with other small fish successfully. (Rule of Thumb, DON'T put any fish in the mantis tank that you would be very upset if it got eaten.) Others report that damsels and others ahve been eaten. Your milage may vary (refer to rule of thumb above). Your's looks like one of the smaller types, I'll defer to those who are better informed as to what type he is. Based on the look, the 15G should be more than enough for him. Lastly, mantis' need no special lighting. If ya gotta cheezy freshwater type hood for the 15G, that would be fine. Lots of us are taking the mantis tank and sticking good lighting over it and putting corals in but the lighting is for the corals, not the mantis. If you want to do this too, the 130W is perfect.

Originally posted by RedOscar12 Soooooo, what kind of mantis is he/she? It's red, heres a crappy pic of him watching me from his rock:

He looks like one of the smaller kinds (ie not a peacock (O. scyllarus)). Perfect for a 15G. Like you, I am still trying to figure out how to get good pictures of mantis's. They are very entertaining and worth keeping. I highly recommend keeping him.

Note for all: I just got 100 of those Nassarius Obsoleta snails off someone on Ebay. Hey for $16 I get maid service (Mantis's are pigs) or room service (if you know what i mean ;) )

Refer to "The Lurker's Guide to Stomatopod's (http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/) " for much better and more detailed info on your new little friend.

Do yourself a favor, check out Density Man's thread on The Continuing Advertures of Tim (SuperMantis) (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=266915). This thread has everything you could want, entertainment, mantis info, and Nano Reef info. HIGHLY recommended.

Jay

[RedOscar12]

Thank you so very much! I will have to wait until the 72 is finished cycling before I transfer my stuf into ther. The LR and Corals , my coralbanded shrimp, crabs, my mandrin and my 4 snails though. May even halve to wait until the LR is mature enough for my mandrin for pods but he does eat pelets. If I just put him in a 10gallon temporary home do I need a skimmer? My15 has one so once I get everything set then he will be transfered into his perminent home. Sound good?