A few weeks in, I'm already starting to regret getting a mantis shrimp

[wwarby]

If you are still interested in rehoming her, I would be more than happy to talk!

Ah I see you’re in the US - I’m in England. I’m guessing the logistics of posting a live animal in water across the Atlantic would be prohibitively expensive and/or risky

 

[Tired]

Also quite possibly illegal without proper permits.

 

[wwarby]

Carbon shouldn't kill bacteria. All it does is absorb various compounds from the water. Heck, bacteria can grow on it.

If you have ammonia, you need to be doing big water changes to keep it as low as possible. You're basically doing a fish-in cycle, but with a more delicate invertebrate. Not ideal, and may explain part of why the mantis seems high-strung.

dang, see this is the trouble for newbies like me - I hear contradictory information from different sources and I don’t have any way of judging what’s accurate and what isn’t. Two seemingly experienced staff in my LFS thought the carbon was messing up my cycle and it’s a very reputable LFS, but what you’re saying does sound logical. The carbon had been in for five weeks anyway and served it’s purpose, so nothing lost in removing it I guess.

Yeah, the fish-in cycle with the mantis in there is far from ideal, I agree. Also undertaken on advice from an LFS (a different one which I have lost faith in). Perhaps you’re right and the mantis behaviour is related to my terrible water quality. Fingers crossed that the live rock gives my cycle the boost it needs to finish up.

 

[Antyama]

dang, see this is the trouble for newbies like me - I hear contradictory information from different sources and I don’t have any way of judging what’s accurate and what isn’t. Two seemingly experienced staff in my LFS thought the carbon was messing up my cycle and it’s a very reputable LFS, but what you’re saying does sound logical. The carbon had been in for five weeks anyway and served it’s purpose, so nothing lost in removing it I guess.

Yeah, the fish-in cycle with the mantis in there is far from ideal, I agree. Also undertaken on advice from an LFS (a different one which I have lost faith in). Perhaps you’re right and the mantis behaviour is related to my terrible water quality. Fingers crossed that the live rock gives my cycle the boost it needs to finish up.

You got the liferock while it was fresh from their sump or liverock reservoir right? It wasn't dry to touch as they sold it? I've seen one LFS here that wanted to sell me Real Reef rocks that were on dry display as liverock, which isn't really correct

 

[wwarby]

You got the liferock while it was fresh from their sump or liverock reservoir right? It wasn't dry to touch as they sold it? I've seen one LFS here that wanted to sell me Real Reef rocks that were on dry display as liverock, which isn't really correct

Yeah it was soaking wet, picked out of some kind of reservoir. I’m pretty sure it’s real live rock plucked from the sea, which is very rare now in the U.K. I believe.

 

[Tired]

If it's real ocean rock, it should be all sorts of colors and have all sorts of stuff on it, particularly if it was kept in light. Keep an eye on it- cool stuff can come out of there.

 

[motocross]

Be careful how much "live rock" you add at once. You always get some die off so dont be suprised if your ammonia levels rise or you don't see them go down as much as expected. Keep up with water changes, be patient, let it run and you'll be fine.

 

[Tired]

If live rock is fully cured, transporting it from one tank to another (in water) shouldn't cause any die-off, any more than transferring established rock between tanks causes die-off. Hopefully this rock is fully cured.

 

[motocross]

Thanks Max, yeah I've heard this from other reefers too, and I agree it's worth at least trying corals before making any decision to give up. I do struggle to understand the fascination with corals at the moment. I can see that a tank with lots of corals is much more beautiful to look at than one without them, but intuitively they seem like a pretty backdrop to me that is kinda pointless if you don't have any fish swimming around them. I don't trust my intuition on this though - I've heard from enough people that they prefer keeping corals to fish that there must be something to it.

Just buy easy to keep corals. GSP, zoas, anenomes, mushrooms, etc. The shrimp won't bother with any of them unless it's a frag on a disc and not secured really well to a rock. That will give you some color and they will all survive and grow without intense lighting or perfect water.

 

[motocross]

If live rock is fully cured, transporting it from one tank to another (in water) shouldn't cause any die-off, any more than transferring established rock between tanks causes die-off. Hopefully this rock is

Yes if it's in the water. Most get it wrapped in wet newspaper or in a fish bag from the store.

 

[52728299]

I've had my peacock mantis shrimp for a few weeks now. I'd been fascinated with mantis shrimps for years and always wanted one as a pet, so dived straight in from no experience of fishkeeping at all. I've made plenty of beginner mistakes - most notably believing an LFS salesman who told me I could use bottled bacteria as an alternative to traditional tank cycling (my water quality tests proved that was a very bad idea and I'm still dealing with the results of that mistake), but my mantis shrimp is still alive and active.

I put two clown fish in the tank before the mantis arrived. I was warned not to do it, but I know at least one other reefer with clowns in his mantis tank that get left alone, and there are many other reefers with clubber mantis shrimps successfully coexisting with fish - though most seem to opt for faster and more aggressive species like the damsels or six line wrasse. I love clown fish though, so I figured it was worth a try to put my favourite fish in there since they're very cheap. It wasn't worth it. After a few days of peace, the mantis started terrorising them - chasing them around the tank repeatedly. It was horrible to watch and I took the clowns back to the LFS a couple of weeks ago.

I knew there was a pretty good chance I'd never be able to keep fish with the mantis, and that the mantis would spend most of her time in her burrow, but knowing and experiencing are two different things. For 5-15 minutes a day I've got the best pet in the world swimming around her tank, but the rest of the time it's an empty box full of wet rock, and my interest in it is fading fast. My intention was always to fill the tank with coral, but I'm pretty sure now that corals alone are not going to hold my interest.

Also I don't think I'm ever going to be at ease with the noise of her whacking the 8mm glass of my tank or (much more frequently) the inside of her PVC tubing burrow - which sound the same if you're not looking at the tank. It makes me nervous every time that she's going to break it one day. And it's possible the reason she's doing it is the 2 inch PVC tubing is too small for her (opinions vary on this). She certainly seems to be trying (unsuccessfully) to dig other caves for herself though.

I'm not sure what I want to do next, so the sensible thing is probably not to rush to a decision. My options seem to be:

1. Persevere, start adding corals and hope that over time my mantis shrimp becomes more active and visible
2. Try adding faster / more aggressive fish than clowns to give the tank some colour and interest
3. Sell or give away the mantis shrimp and re-stock with fish. This is where I'm leaning but it seems a weird outcome given I'd never had any interest in owning a reef tank except for the purpose of keeping a mantis. Also my 52 gallon tank is too small for most of the fish I'd really like to keep.
4. Cut my losses and sell everything

I know this hobby has a high attrition rate in the first year and I'm loathed to give up so quickly after I started, but if I'm this bored of my mostly empty tank already I think I need to change something quickly otherwise I'm definitely going to end up quitting.

Do some research maybe and see if there are other animals you would enjoy. Honestly there are so many options it would be hard to believe you wouldn't find the perfect pets. But just in case there just is no interest in keeping a reef.. maybe take a couple field trips to different fish stores and observe in person possible livestock options.

 

[slythy]

I kinda went through this with my black piranha. It was my dream fish since they are known for their ferocity and having one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom. A 3lb sera could get a bite force of over 90lbs. Sounds cool and interesting.


i stated out with a 40b for “Harold” as i picked him up at around 1.5”. Seemed skiddiah but figured over time some personality would come out.

I bought my first house and decided to purchase a 180g with a sump, found the perfect driftwood ao on and so forth. At this point he was around 4”. They are super slow growers so patience is key.

well Harold sits in a 1sqft spot never swims around or does anything in his giant aquarium. He waits for his pellets and thats it lol. Every once in a while he comes to the glass but thats it.

i will say making it a high tech planted tank has made it an awesome tank. So much lush green and color with a now semi giant (~13”) scary fish. The good side of him being boring is i dont fear having my hand in the tank. I think i can push him with my hand and he wouldnt care lol. I move him with tweasers and he kinda just floats sideways.

i cant imagine not having him since ive had him for over 7 years now and i make a decent amount of money with my planted tank by selling the plants.

sometimes it takes a while to grow in love with what you got but you have to be realistic with your expectations. Like my piranha is a solitary super slow growing boring fish but hes mine! Give them the best life you have and i do think growing corals will really help you love the tank. That mantis is going to be one of the most interesting animals you could ever get.

 

[Latte]

How long have you actually had the mantis (sorry if I missed, just skimmed the thread). I've had mine for maybe 4 or 5 months now I think and she has progressively become more and more interactive and confident being out of her cave while I'm around. I'm unsure if this is helpful as I don't know your setup, but you could try angling the pipe so that the entrances are visible. Mine spends maybe 60% of the day with its head sitcking out looking around from inside her pipe/cave, 30% hidden somewhere and 10% actively running around the tank exploring, moving rocks etc.

For the first two months I owned her, that ratio was more like 20% sticking head out, 80% completely hidden and very occasionally I'd see her outside of her cave.

Behaviour also changes signficiantly around moulting.

I'd echo getting a faster fish, damsels and six line wrasses are both likely to fare pretty well. I also think adding some weedy (fast growing, very hardy) corals such as green star polyps, Xenia and maybe some zoas would be a great idea. Getting much deeper into corals than that can be very expensive both in time and money, and I wouldn't recommend that for you right now.

FWIW they do seem to have personalities. My shrimp lives with a Molly I acclimated from fresh water (great fish, constantly swimming around eating algae) and has absolutely no interest in it, the snails or any hermit crabs around the tank. However, I add glass shrimp to supplement her diet and when they go in she becomes a murderous maniac until they're all gone (except for one particular shrimp that's been in there for months that she doesn't ever bother??).

Adding some macro algae could also be a great idea, add some more colour and movement to the tank easily, and it will also help suck up nitrates and keep the water clean.

Best of luck!

 

[Latte]

After posting the above I went to look at my mantis tank and saw she was out, then realised she was punching something in her hand. That little shrimp had a good run I guess... So weird she attacked it literally minutes after my post.

 

[Tamberav]

I've had my peacock mantis shrimp for a few weeks now. I'd been fascinated with mantis shrimps for years and always wanted one as a pet, so dived straight in from no experience of fishkeeping at all. I've made plenty of beginner mistakes - most notably believing an LFS salesman who told me I could use bottled bacteria as an alternative to traditional tank cycling (my water quality tests proved that was a very bad idea and I'm still dealing with the results of that mistake), but my mantis shrimp is still alive and active.

I put two clown fish in the tank before the mantis arrived. I was warned not to do it, but I know at least one other reefer with clowns in his mantis tank that get left alone, and there are many other reefers with clubber mantis shrimps successfully coexisting with fish - though most seem to opt for faster and more aggressive species like the damsels or six line wrasse. I love clown fish though, so I figured it was worth a try to put my favourite fish in there since they're very cheap. It wasn't worth it. After a few days of peace, the mantis started terrorising them - chasing them around the tank repeatedly. It was horrible to watch and I took the clowns back to the LFS a couple of weeks ago.

I knew there was a pretty good chance I'd never be able to keep fish with the mantis, and that the mantis would spend most of her time in her burrow, but knowing and experiencing are two different things. For 5-15 minutes a day I've got the best pet in the world swimming around her tank, but the rest of the time it's an empty box full of wet rock, and my interest in it is fading fast. My intention was always to fill the tank with coral, but I'm pretty sure now that corals alone are not going to hold my interest.

Also I don't think I'm ever going to be at ease with the noise of her whacking the 8mm glass of my tank or (much more frequently) the inside of her PVC tubing burrow - which sound the same if you're not looking at the tank. It makes me nervous every time that she's going to break it one day. And it's possible the reason she's doing it is the 2 inch PVC tubing is too small for her (opinions vary on this). She certainly seems to be trying (unsuccessfully) to dig other caves for herself though.

I'm not sure what I want to do next, so the sensible thing is probably not to rush to a decision. My options seem to be:

1. Persevere, start adding corals and hope that over time my mantis shrimp becomes more active and visible
2. Try adding faster / more aggressive fish than clowns to give the tank some colour and interest
3. Sell or give away the mantis shrimp and re-stock with fish. This is where I'm leaning but it seems a weird outcome given I'd never had any interest in owning a reef tank except for the purpose of keeping a mantis. Also my 52 gallon tank is too small for most of the fish I'd really like to keep.
4. Cut my losses and sell everything

I know this hobby has a high attrition rate in the first year and I'm loathed to give up so quickly after I started, but if I'm this bored of my mostly empty tank already I think I need to change something quickly otherwise I'm definitely going to end up quitting.

I had a peacock for a few years and mine was very personable and out often and would come up to the tank to see me.

Maybe yours just needs to settle in or is bored? Every mantis I had was shy and wary when I got it. They are pretty intelligent and need time to trust you.

Ever heard of Betty the mantis shrimp? She wasn’t mine but one who I followed. She would sit on hands and play with toys you gave her. They are curious creatures. I would give my pet mantis objects as well to play with. Mine would run up to the front glass when I got home from work as they can learn you bring food and toys.

The glass is not an issue and I think you need to just let go of that anxiety. They break tanks when kept in paper thin ones that are too small like a adult peacock on a 2-5g tank. I literally broke one of those cheap 5g pecto tanks by just bumping it. It is not an issue with larger tanks. It doesn’t happen.

This is Betty. My peacock was named Ivy and would sit on my arm during maintenance sometimes as well.

He has lots of videos of her.

Definitely do not let a mantis crawl or sit on you when they are new. Lol They can be aggressive at first.

 

[wculver]

I've had my peacock mantis shrimp for a few weeks now. I'd been fascinated with mantis shrimps for years and always wanted one as a pet, so dived straight in from no experience of fishkeeping at all. I've made plenty of beginner mistakes - most notably believing an LFS salesman who told me I could use bottled bacteria as an alternative to traditional tank cycling (my water quality tests proved that was a very bad idea and I'm still dealing with the results of that mistake), but my mantis shrimp is still alive and active.

I put two clown fish in the tank before the mantis arrived. I was warned not to do it, but I know at least one other reefer with clowns in his mantis tank that get left alone, and there are many other reefers with clubber mantis shrimps successfully coexisting with fish - though most seem to opt for faster and more aggressive species like the damsels or six line wrasse. I love clown fish though, so I figured it was worth a try to put my favourite fish in there since they're very cheap. It wasn't worth it. After a few days of peace, the mantis started terrorising them - chasing them around the tank repeatedly. It was horrible to watch and I took the clowns back to the LFS a couple of weeks ago.

I knew there was a pretty good chance I'd never be able to keep fish with the mantis, and that the mantis would spend most of her time in her burrow, but knowing and experiencing are two different things. For 5-15 minutes a day I've got the best pet in the world swimming around her tank, but the rest of the time it's an empty box full of wet rock, and my interest in it is fading fast. My intention was always to fill the tank with coral, but I'm pretty sure now that corals alone are not going to hold my interest.

Also I don't think I'm ever going to be at ease with the noise of her whacking the 8mm glass of my tank or (much more frequently) the inside of her PVC tubing burrow - which sound the same if you're not looking at the tank. It makes me nervous every time that she's going to break it one day. And it's possible the reason she's doing it is the 2 inch PVC tubing is too small for her (opinions vary on this). She certainly seems to be trying (unsuccessfully) to dig other caves for herself though.

I'm not sure what I want to do next, so the sensible thing is probably not to rush to a decision. My options seem to be:

1. Persevere, start adding corals and hope that over time my mantis shrimp becomes more active and visible
2. Try adding faster / more aggressive fish than clowns to give the tank some colour and interest
3. Sell or give away the mantis shrimp and re-stock with fish. This is where I'm leaning but it seems a weird outcome given I'd never had any interest in owning a reef tank except for the purpose of keeping a mantis. Also my 52 gallon tank is too small for most of the fish I'd really like to keep.
4. Cut my losses and sell everything

I know this hobby has a high attrition rate in the first year and I'm loathed to give up so quickly after I started, but if I'm this bored of my mostly empty tank already I think I need to change something quickly otherwise I'm definitely going to end up quitting.

Reading your post seems like maybe some perspective would be useful so here's mine:

When I started my tank my dream was to have a clam, something that reminded me of diving the great barrier reef and the giant clams living there. Getting the tank started was rough like it is for many, even some of my best plans were misleading and led to crashes etc in unexpected ways I'd never even read about. I can tell you starting the tank as a reef but not adding the clam because I knew it would need to be stable or it'd just die.

What I did learn is that there's SO MUCH more to this hobby than only the focus on a single animal. It took me two years to add the clam because I thought I'd kill it (and probably would have). Leading up to that date I found interest in a number of different animals (Coral/Fish/Shimp/Snails/Starfish/etc). I think that part is what has made the experience rewarding and something I want to continue.

My struggle to really get things stable and manageable for the introduction of the clam helped me learn so much and find a much stronger interest. I did get that clam, I call him Clammy. But the best part is there's a whole ecosystem in there that I built up in the interrum that is totally bad butt, to me at least.

So maybe if you regroup and find a more diverse interest this would be more fulfilling and something you'd enjoy spending more time with.

 

[wwarby]

If live rock is fully cured, transporting it from one tank to another (in water) shouldn't cause any die-off, any more than transferring established rock between tanks causes die-off. Hopefully this rock is fully cured.

They told me it was fully cured. It was wrapped in a bag, not transported in water. It was probably out of water for less than an hour in total. I’ll keep measuring my levels over the next few days but at hopefully I haven’t gone overboard with it, it’s only one piece for the display tank and a few scraps for the canister filter. 5.5lbs in total to go with probably at least 100lbs of the Caribsea life rock I already had in there.

I also added another full bottle of bacteria on advice from the LFS.

 

[wwarby]

Just buy easy to keep corals. GSP, zoas, anenomes, mushrooms, etc. The shrimp won't bother with any of them unless it's a frag on a disc and not secured really well to a rock. That will give you some color and they will all survive and grow without intense lighting or perfect water.

Yeah that's definitely what I'll do - cheap, easy corals, at least to start with. The peacock mantis shrimp is vulnerable to shell rot so the light needed for harder corals is always going to be in tension with the need to protect the shrimp's exoskeleton, but more importantly I don't want to spend a fortune on corals or get frustrated because I can't keep them alive

 

[wwarby]

Do some research maybe and see if there are other animals you would enjoy. Honestly there are so many options it would be hard to believe you wouldn't find the perfect pets. But just in case there just is no interest in keeping a reef.. maybe take a couple field trips to different fish stores and observe in person possible livestock options.

Yeah if things don't work out with the mantis shrimp that's what I'll do. I've already been all over the local area visiting different fish shops actually, just to get a sense of ones around me before settling one one as a source for food, consumables and advice. I came to the hobby because of a very specific fascination with mantis shrimps in particular. That isn't to say I have no interest in fish or other marine life of course, but given the effort and expense required to keep a saltwater tank I don't think it would have ever crossed my mind to set up a tank without a mantis shrimp, but if that's where I end up then so be it.

Others on this thread have provided the encouragement and hope I needed to persevere with the mantis plan for now, but if I do decide to let go of the mantis shrimp I definitely think a mixed reef tank is where I'd go instead, and I'd take my time thinking about which fish and inverts I want before rushing in.

 

[wwarby]

I kinda went through this with my black piranha. It was my dream fish since they are known for their ferocity and having one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom. A 3lb sera could get a bite force of over 90lbs. Sounds cool and interesting.


i stated out with a 40b for “Harold” as i picked him up at around 1.5”. Seemed skiddiah but figured over time some personality would come out.

I bought my first house and decided to purchase a 180g with a sump, found the perfect driftwood ao on and so forth. At this point he was around 4”. They are super slow growers so patience is key.

well Harold sits in a 1sqft spot never swims around or does anything in his giant aquarium. He waits for his pellets and thats it lol. Every once in a while he comes to the glass but thats it.

i will say making it a high tech planted tank has made it an awesome tank. So much lush green and color with a now semi giant (~13”) scary fish. The good side of him being boring is i dont fear having my hand in the tank. I think i can push him with my hand and he wouldnt care lol. I move him with tweasers and he kinda just floats sideways.

i cant imagine not having him since ive had him for over 7 years now and i make a decent amount of money with my planted tank by selling the plants.

sometimes it takes a while to grow in love with what you got but you have to be realistic with your expectations. Like my piranha is a solitary super slow growing boring fish but hes mine! Give them the best life you have and i do think growing corals will really help you love the tank. That mantis is going to be one of the most interesting animals you could ever get.

Thanks so much for sharing the story about Harold

It sounds like a very similar case of not quite lining up with your expectations at the outset and it's encouraging to know that you ended up happy with him. I do love my mantis shrimp (Oatmeal is her name) and to the extent that I see her or interact with her, she is endlessly fascinating. So interesting to look at, so colourful, so curious.