Mantis Shrimp with Fluval Flex 32.5 gallon setup

[ikimonogakari]

Hello all,
I've had a Fluval Evo in my classroom for a few years now with a goby/pistol shrimp combo, bicolor blenny, and ocellaris clownfish. They all do well together. Coral is tough and expensive so I don't do much there. I've upgraded over the summer by getting a 32.5 gallon Fluval Flex in hopes of having a dedicated tank for a mantis shrimp for this school year. Any advice on this tank? I'm planning on getting some PVC pipe for a burrow and already have some rock. Is two bags of carribsea sand good? Is any type preferred for mantis shrimp? I don't plan on having coral unless it's something that is hearty and will grow easily like a Kenya tree coral or some pulsing Xenias. On a teacher's budget, so I don't really want to spend much on coral that the mantis might destroy anyway.

Also, I've heard some keep damsels in the tank, possibly before introducing the mantis. Any feedback on this? Just one damsel in this size tank or should I go for a couple? Finally, should I transfer a rock and some water/media from my current up and running Evo to help cycle the new tank? Any suggestions on amounts? Thanks!

PS - I'll probably upgrade the baskets to intanks later like I did for my Evo, but for now it's just stock lighting and filter. I'll grab a 150w Fluval heater since the tank doesn't come with one and they are only like $35 or so. It comes with 2 Sicce Nano 1000s which I think should suffice for moving water around.

 

[Fish Fan]

What species of Matis were you hoping to keep? To my knowledge, only the Peacock Odontodactylus scyllarus needs PVC hides. I had a small Florida Neogonodactylus wennerae with just rocks and a rather chunky sand.

There's a matis sub-forum here on R2R that may have some more information:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/mantis-shrimp.953/

And Roy's List is sticked at the top of that forum, and has a lot of care info on different species of Mantids:
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/

Good luck!

 

[ikimonogakari]

Ok, thanks. I considered posting over there but the forum is pretty much dead, like one thread per month and no responses from people. Was hoping to maybe get more eyes on it here in hopes someone might have experience. I'll keep exploring YouTube in the meantime. Thanks!

What species of Matis were you hoping to keep? To my knowledge, only the Peacock Odontodactylus scyllarus needs PVC hides. I had a small Florida Neogonodactylus wennerae with just rocks and a rather chunky sand.

There's a matis sub-forum here on R2R that may have some more information:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/mantis-shrimp.953/

And Roy's List is sticked at the top of that forum, and has a lot of care info on different species of Mantids:
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/

Good luck!

 

[Fish Fan]

Ok, thanks. I considered posting over there but the forum is pretty much dead, like one thread per month and no responses from people. Was hoping to maybe get more eyes on it here in hopes someone might have experience. I'll keep exploring YouTube in the meantime. Thanks!

That's fine, but there are a few of us that hang out in the Mantis forum

 

[Reef Jedi]

Hey! I’ll chime in here a little. I have experience keeping smaller mantis as mentioned above. Golf mantis from Florida. You can find them on Tampa bay saltwater website. I currently have 7 of them in a 105g and they are very active. They will live in holes in the rock and create tunnel systems in rocks they like. They are actually really active and we see them all the time. They stay under 3” and come in a couple different colors. I have fed them with a skewer and in some ways they act like a docile dog after some time. They don’t go for corals so a Xyena or Kenya tree would be safe. They are not as dirty as a peacock mantis and in some ways I think would be very easy to keep. You could put damsels in with them and they won’t bother them.

They are a great addition and have such great personalities. If you have any specific questions please feel free to pm me or reply here. I’ve been keeping them for about 2.5 years.