Where to Buy Mantis Shrimp Online
 

Hi everybody. I've been lurking in the mantis shrimp forum for close to 5 years now & am hoping to be starting up my tank sometime this year (finally.) I have noticed that a ton of people seem to ask over & over again where they can buy mantis shrimp online.

I've been keeping a list of places & the species I've seen for sale there. I'm sure this list is far from comprehensive or complete, & I'm sure that the various sites have on occasion offered for sale more species than I've listed, but I thought it might be helpful to post a list of places people can order stomatodpods online.

If you guys have other websites you know of to add, please do so! I know I ocasionally find O. scyllarus for sale in my LFS, but I've never seen another species besides that one locally, & it's not one I'm inclined to purchase so I'll likely be making my eventual purchase online. Other folks might be in the same position as I am... So, without further ado, the list:

http://www.tbsaltwater.com/ordering/pricelist.html
N. wennerae

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.com...and&ts=results
O. scyllarus
Lime Green Mantis Shrimp (Gonodactylaceus spp., no specific species given, assorted by description)


http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/produ...p?did=2&cid=84

L. maculata
G. ternatensis
G. viridis
O. scyllarus
G. smithii
G. chiraga


http://www.ibluewater.com/invertebrates.html

G. chiraga
O. scyllarus
L. maculata


http://www.fishsupplyunderwater.com/...is-shrimp.html
O. scyllarus


https://www.marinesgardens.com/index...a94fcfa413fa86

P. ciliata
G. falcatus
O. scyllarus

http://sealifeinc.net/catalog/index.php?cPath=31

P. ciliata
N. curacaoensis
N. oerstedii
O. havanensis

http://www.bluestaraqua.com/Shrimp-C...-products.html

O. scyllarus

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/...8/category.web

O. scyllarus
G. smithii
G. chiraga
G. glabrous/graphurus

http://phishybusiness.com/peacock-mantis-shrimp.html

O. scyllarus

http://www.ccritters.com/catalog/i68.html
O. havanensis
N. oerstedii

alot of what you have listed is not acurate, these sites have the animals listed on their site but they are not in stock and have not been for months, i called one of them to ask about the mintises and an hour later they wer all listed as out of stock on the site, presonaly i belive they list them on the site just so they come up in the search results of someone searching for a mantis in hopes that youl buy somthing else from them. the old bait and switch.

it might be better to list only what you know is in stock and request that anyone making additions include a date and posibly update the post if they find out that it's been sold.
this would be helpfull to anyone looking for a specific species and save them time sifting through the sites with nothing in stock

he also said where to buy not where is in stock..so this is great help cause you never know who will have some or not..

The idea was more like what gozermantis said... General ideas about where to look, even if not in stock. People can see what's in stock at that exact moment in time & can possibly sign up for notification emails when their preferred species is in stock again. I guess I was thinking that if a site has had a species in stock at one point in time, they will possibly have the ability to obtain it again.

I know I've not had much look looking in my local LFS's. They tend to have nothing but Peacocks (if they have any at all), & that's not really a species I'm interested in acquiring. So, most likely my mantis will be coming from an online source. I thought others might appreciate a list of places where they could check availability. It's a place to start, at least. If your guys' LFS's are anything like mine, asking for a mantis, much less a specific species, isn't likely to get you very far.

And I'm a she. :)

we had a thread exactly like this like a week ago...
do your searches..

sorry mam ;)

Lol. we should maybe have a sticky.

I did search & found nothing like my post. I was just trying to be helpful. I'm very sorry, I apologize. I wish I could delete the thread, sorry for the clutter.

huh, been away from RC for a while, but seems more and more posts have become people being unnecessarily dickish... Thanks to the original poster, I remember having to look for quite some time when I was in the market for a mantis, i'm sure this'll help someone.

D: i wasnt trying to be mean. im just letting him know...
but thanks anyways :)

Hey Bluemon..just noticed your sig. You have pics of those pico setups? I'd love to chk them out...tricky lil thing youre trying to pull off in such small tanks.

I do agree, maybe we should consider a sticky for one of these. I dont think it was a dick move either, and I seem to remember answering this question a couple times myself.

It isnt bad to list the sites & let the buyer actually do some leg work to the sites or make some phone calls. We cant always tell who has what in stock & in some cases mantis are even seasonal in collection. Expecting a member here to keep track of what is in stock where is like expecting one of us to come over & take care of the tank too.

I made the post about 2 weeks ago. I don't mind a second, this one is much fuller than mine was as well.

We should get this stickied.

Also, I asked a mod about posting links to websites that weren't sponsors, and he never said I couldn't nor did he close my thread so I don't think it's a problem.

given stocking lists change daily i would think it would be kinda idiotic to put new posts daily on who has what in stock.....the heads up when something odd pops up somewhere is great though.....if someone is grumbling cause the list has ppl that dont have them in stock all the time and you have to sift through all the sites to find something maybe that person should rethink getting into saltwater tanks....if that lil bit of legwork/homework is to trying for you than your gonna fail miserably with a saltwater tank cause your gonna get bored with it cause its to much work........

Thank you for this! While I'm not currently in the market, it's nice to see some new websites I hadn't previously found. I do find it strange though that there are not more sites and even local places that deal with Mantis Shrimp. I find them to be amazingly interesting. Guess we're all a "niche" group eh?

Yeah mantis are a bit of a niche group.

Alot of the cool points mantis lose is from the bad rep that bad people give them.

We've all seen it 'omg there was a mantis in my live rock & it killed everything in my tank..... even ate the magnet algae cleaner! I know my 400ppm nitrates didnt do it, it could only be a mantis!'

That and the ever popular 'dont buy a mantis, they will crack a 600gal glass tank.'

Bad part is the few of us that actually enjoy them know the contrary and that they can in fact be one of the most interesting tank occupants in the hobby.

Yeah, I seem to have the problem of everything I like in this hobby is the rare, or "niche" stuff. Such as the goby shrimp combos, etc. Such is life. lol.

I've never understood the "zomg it can breakz ze glass!!"

My only problem would be I would want at the very least Zoa's in the tank. We all know where that leads...

i'd say whats idiotic is making a statment like that about somone you don't even know and who's experience level you have no clue about.
claiming that someone will fail misserably becouse of one opinion that differs from yours shows a huge amount of ignorance and arogance if you ask me.
i've been in this hobby for 30+ years and all my current equipment is bought and paid for by the frags i sell and the peapole who buy from me say i have the nicest tanks theyv ever seen, i'm not about to rethink it now

what? Dude I am sorry but you are taking things way to personal. Calm down & take a breather. The start is a good thread and lets not go bash crazy & get it closed, since like mentioned some of us are all for helping but getting tired of answering the 'who carries mantis' question ever other week. There is nothing wrong with the top portion of the thread then people posting 'saw one here (instert website).

What does his objecting to someone posting instock alerts have to do with your expereince or selling frags? Kinda lost me there. Much respect to you for supporting your personal hobby by selling frags btw, wish I could get going like that.

" maybe that person should rethink getting into saltwater tanks....if that lil bit of legwork/homework is to trying for you than your gonna fail miserably with a saltwater tank cause your gonna get bored with it cause its to much work........"
i thought it was obvious my last post was a responce to his asumption that i was just geting into salt water tanks and a statment that i was going to fail misserably when he has no idea what i have done in this hobby

to the origonal poster
i did not mean to give the impression that this was a bad idea and i apoligize if i ofended you. i was only trying to sugest that the list be structured around what is available instead of what is listed online only becouse i've benn watching some these sites for some time and have noticed that alot of them have species listed that have not been in stock for 6-8 months or more and i feel an up to date list of whats curently available would be very use full
it was a good idea, sorry if i discouraged you

Right now Bluezoo has 5 mantis up for sale 3 on wysiwyg. They also have an O. scyllarus and L. Mac too.
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/produ...p?did=2&cid=84

Also Liveaquria has one peacock on DD.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden...+4&ddid=144282

saltwater aint the only oddball hobby i have, also grow carnivorous plants that often take very dedicated care to do well......the type of person that sits and complains that stuff isnt being handed to them on a silver platter, like those complaining that:

"a complete list of those companies that do carry mantis shrimp is annoying cause not everyone always has the animals in stock and why would you post a link to the guys that only have them in stock sometimes, why cant you just post those that have them in stock now to save me a lil bit of work"

are the guys that 6 months from now you dont see posts from again cause they gave up cause stuff like saltwater or messing with delicate plants is to trying cause there are to many details to keep track off....the hobby requires effort and if your starting off the hobby complaining bout a lil bit of homework your gonna give up before long anyway.....

course dont know why im complaining cause its these guys whose gear i pick up for pennies on the dollar off ebay or craigslist when they decide the hobby is to much work :beer: