Calypso the Peacock Mantis settling in

[DapperCuttlefish]

Calypso is settling in nicely. It’s been fun listening to her smash away at the rocks as she finds spots that are a little too pokie for her likings. Like here:

She’s eaten 4 of the 5 snails, seems either those are her preferred or are easier to catch? She has eaten A couple of the dozen ghost shrimp, I think they annoy her more than anything. And she’s taken some smacks at the hermits crabs, but they’ve gotten wise and have hidden in the rocks. No clue how many she’s actually 86ed. Im loving watching her scuttle about making the tank home.

 

[F i s h y]

Neat little creatures. I love their eyes.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Beautiful mantis, theyre such interesting creatures

 

[Brady4000]

Nice photos! Awesome mantis!

 

[CMMorgan]

She is stunning! She is not going to make it easy to have a CUC though is she?? I guess she just doesn't want friends....LOL

 

[DapperCuttlefish]

She is stunning! She is not going to make it easy to have a CUC though is she?? I guess she just doesn't want friends....LOL

Nope, no friends for her. And cuc is more of a buffet with temporary purpose! Lol

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

My smithii loves the astrea snails in my tank, but only if a certain size. He won’t go for the bigger ones, nor has he touched the peppermint shrimp ‍ Calypso is gorgeous and I’m glad she’s settling in well for you

 

[DapperCuttlefish]

My smithii loves the astrea snails in my tank, but only if a certain size. He won’t go for the bigger ones, nor has he touched the peppermint shrimp ‍ Calypso is gorgeous and I’m glad she’s settling in well for you

That’s great that you can keep a peppermint shrimp! Does your smithii not eat shrimp in general?

 

[DapperCuttlefish]

My smithii loves the astrea snails in my tank, but only if a certain size. He won’t go for the bigger ones, nor has he touched the peppermint shrimp ‍ Calypso is gorgeous and I’m glad she’s settling in well for you

That’s great that you can keep a peppermint shrimp!

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

That’s great that you can keep a peppermint shrimp! Does your smithii not eat shrimp in general?

I had another one that was a bit smaller that disappeared, tho it could very well be in my overflow again (my first one did). Other than that I haven’t tried any other shrimp, for tankmates or feeding. I think he is going for hermits tho because I’ve had a few disappear over the last few months. I give him frozen mysis and frozen krill from time to time along with frozen clam on a half shell.

 

[Squidward]

He's looking good. Nice up close shots too! I just recently transfered mines from a 10g to a 29g biocube.

 

[ChandlerTingle]

How many ghost shrimp do you usually feed Calypso?
Also what rubble did you get for him to move for the burrow?

 

[DapperCuttlefish]

How many ghost shrimp do you usually feed Calypso?
Also what rubble did you get for him to move for the burrow?

Hey! I feed a dozen a week. I also drop in about 10 small snails at a time around the tank so she while she works on eating something else so she doesn’t horde. Because, although it’s hysterical to watch her holding 5 snails at once, it also means she’s going to eat way too much!
As for rubble, I have a deep layer of sand on the bottom that she has burrowed into. And I set up the rocks so she could barrow safely under and around them as well. I bought fragments of live rock and regular rubble for her to move around as she sees fit to block her tunnel passages. I have also given her some shells that didn’t have anything alive in them that she hasn’t seemed interested in smashing ... yet.