Mantis shrimp

[TripFamAZ]

Gotcha, Ill look into this! Might be a down the road project, I think my boyfriend might go a little nutty with a 4th tank lol

I did not realize they had that heavy of a bioload when it came to being a messy eater!

It really also depends on how often you feed them and if you remove the discarded food that they don’t bury after.
The other issue is they will bury food and old molts in their burrows that you most likely will not easily be able to get to or into to clean.

 

[littlefoxx]

Glass breaks are something reported from labs mostly.

They technically can but not likely they will for myth busters, its an impressive feat to talk about. Pistol shrimp get demonized too for shooting hot sun bubbles but are one of the more peaceful of inverts you could have, I think nat geo really hurt their rep with their staged skunk cleaner killing when that will never actually happen.

Back on topic to glass breaks; It has happened, mainly in reused tanks through generations of wear and tear with large smashers, (we're talking 20 year old tanks with probably several generations of large smashers, most home aquariums the silicone gives out before then), the overnight cases are from small containers not made of glass.. I can personally advocate for 3 cases of N.wennerae, one of the weaker species, breaking out of kritter carriers and betta breeders (usually these are made of hard plastic) via the corners shattering, but obviously thats something I wake up to not something i put them in and expect an immediate result. Majority of the time even if you watched them they'd focus on your presence and not hit it.

The main way it happens is smasher's brains can't process the material of a hard surface so when they're burrowing, they tend to really wack at it for hours and commit to one spot. Waving your finger infront of the glass won't make it jump out and face hug you, but when they hit the same spot 50 times commiting to dig deeper, that's why there's a warning label. The solution is just laying a sheet of pexi/acrylic to the bottom of any aquarium you intend to keep a mantis in, this way when they dig a burrow and start hitting the bottom the glass is shielded from a more absorbent material. Full acrylic tanks can work too, but; they're painful to clean without scratching (not to mention cleaning is already awkward when having to quickly do it with a mantis), small thin acrylic can still crack at the seams its not bulletproof, and most importantly, cost too much. If you notice any spots they uncomfortably hit a lot, you can use something magnetic to put an acrylic shield there, considering doing the same for where my powerhead is cause my one O. scyllarus frequently hits the upper corner around it.

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As for other stuff: 20L is too small, 29 standard is what i'm using but wouldn't recommend, 40 breeder is the nice sweet spot for water quality and space. If you intend to get an O. Scyllarus (true peacock mantis) be sure to do your research on IDing them and get from a reputable source, many gotten their mantis species either unintentionally or mislabeled and a quick skim will show that's still true even this week alone, ask pictures and ID yourself before buying, especially since O. scyllarus requires more commitment in the setup alone.

Burrows are the biggest killer to large odontodactylus, U shaped burrows that are pitch black inside are necessary. Can be done with PVC but IME the most success i've had was aquacultured rock shaped like a tunnel with sand exposed, and a TON of rubble/sledge hammered rock, and frequent feedings of snails and clams to add building material naturally.

Okay cool this is really good information! In your opinion what kind of mantis is the best for someone who hasnt kept one before? I do like peacocks with the colors! Ill look around and see what I can do for a bigger tank thats not a 20 gallon. Is there a mantis that can comfortably live in a 10 or 20 gallon?

 

[Stomatopods17]

Another common misconception like the glass breaks is the damage stomatopods can do to you physically. We've heard claims from 'they can break your finger' to 'they don't hurt that much' even to 'going to the ER for stitches'.

Finger breaking is really dramatic, I personally never heard of it actually happening to fishermen... but cuts are very real and can send you to the hospital, they're the worst case scenario and why attempting to 'test' them is really stupid. Getting "hit" can either have a slight sting to it and the human fight or flight reaction might make the moment bigger than it needs to be, or the hit can still hurt a lot and break the skin at contact point, it can vary a lot but smarter to just avoid being hit at all.

Truthfully I've never been hit, even after little over 10 years, like snakes you can kinda learn to read them over time and avoid accidents. I'm not willing to test strictly because of the cuts they can do, even for smashers the biggest thing you need to worry about is being speared by them, just cause they have clubs doesn't mean they can't pull out their secret switchblade knives and either get themselves stuck in you ripping out, or them losing the arm and requiring surgery to get it out safely.

What most see smashers as is this:

What should actually strike the fear of god in you from being hit is when they do this and get lodged:

Moral of the story: just don't play with them.

 

[Stomatopods17]

Okay cool this is really good information! In your opinion what kind of mantis is the best for someone who hasnt kept one before? I do like peacocks with the colors! Ill look around and see what I can do for a bigger tank thats not a 20 gallon. Is there a mantis that can comfortably live in a 10 or 20 gallon?

N. Wennerae is a good species and one of the smallest we can easily get. You can easily find them from florida live rock distributors as they're unintentionally a very common hitchhiking species to many that purchase there. Either on sites that sell the rock itself offer them, or you'll see ads for ones in the selling forum here. Worse case they miss-id, pretty much all the common hitchhiking species there are very close to one another so you won't get screwed on the setup if expecting something else.

They survive live rock being shipped just damp, so they're tough and good for getting an idea of how mantis behave and some behavioral patterns. You can keep them in as small as you're comfortable with so the expense isn't high, but I'd still recommend higher quality tanks like fluval as i've established small displays like tetra will be risky.

 

[littlefoxx]

Another common misconception like the glass breaks is the damage stomatopods can do to you physically. We've heard claims from 'they can break your finger' to 'they don't hurt that much' even to 'going to the ER for stitches'.

Finger breaking is really dramatic, I personally never heard of it actually happening to fishermen... but cuts are very real and can send you to the hospital, they're the worst case scenario and why attempting to 'test' them is really stupid. Getting "hit" can either have a slight sting to it and the human fight or flight reaction might make the moment bigger than it needs to be, or the hit can still hurt a lot and break the skin at contact point, it can vary a lot but smarter to just avoid being hit at all.

Truthfully I've never been hit, even after little over 10 years, like snakes you can kinda learn to read them over time and avoid accidents. I'm not willing to test strictly because of the cuts they can do, even for smashers the biggest thing you need to worry about is being speared by them, just cause they have clubs doesn't mean they can't pull out their secret switchblade knives and either get themselves stuck in you ripping out, or them losing the arm and requiring surgery to get it out safely.

What most see smashers as is this:

What should actually strike the fear of god in you from being hit is when they do this and get lodged:

Moral of the story: just don't play with them.

Oh yeah for sure not going to play with one, but thats a good warning! I have lions, eels, and foxface so Im always very aware sea animals can hurt you!

 

[littlefoxx]

N. Wennerae is a good species and one of the smallest we can easily get. You can easily find them from florida live rock distributors as they're unintentionally a very common hitchhiking species to many that purchase there. Either on sites that sell the rock itself offer them, or you'll see ads for ones in the selling forum here. Worse case they miss-id, pretty much all the common hitchhiking species there are very close to one another so you won't get screwed on the setup if expecting something else.

They survive live rock being shipped just damp, so they're tough and good for getting an idea of how mantis behave and some behavioral patterns. You can keep them in as small as you're comfortable with so the expense isn't high, but I'd still recommend higher quality tanks like fluval as i've established small displays like tetra will be risky.

Cool! I will look into one of those to get used to one before committing to a bigger tank for a peacock!

 

[Tired]

Tampa Bay Saltwater has a few packages for sale right now of a mantis and a few pounds of good live rock, shipped to your door. So you'd get both a mantis and the potential for cool hitchhikers on your rock.

WYSWYG Smasher Mantis Box – Tampa Bay Saltwater

 

[littlefoxx]

Tampa Bay Saltwater has a few packages for sale right now of a mantis and a few pounds of good live rock, shipped to your door. So you'd get both a mantis and the potential for cool hitchhikers on your rock.

WYSWYG Smasher Mantis Box – Tampa Bay Saltwater

I was actually looking at that last night!

 

[TripFamAZ]

Tampa Bay Saltwater has a few packages for sale right now of a mantis and a few pounds of good live rock, shipped to your door. So you'd get both a mantis and the potential for cool hitchhikers on your rock.

WYSWYG Smasher Mantis Box – Tampa Bay Saltwater

This makes me want to set up a second tank for one of these little guys! What a cool deal!
Keep us posted on how it goes for you @littlefoxx

 

[littlefoxx]

This makes me want to set up a second tank for one of these little guys! What a cool deal!
Keep us posted on how it goes for you @littlefoxx

I will! Im thinking about converting my 32 biocube to a mantis shrimp tank but the tank makes me so mad (just a point of sale in my humble opinion) so I might just re locate it to the basement and get a 20 and one of the smaller mantis shrimps!

 

[littlefoxx]

N. Wennerae is a good species and one of the smallest we can easily get. You can easily find them from florida live rock distributors as they're unintentionally a very common hitchhiking species to many that purchase there. Either on sites that sell the rock itself offer them, or you'll see ads for ones in the selling forum here. Worse case they miss-id, pretty much all the common hitchhiking species there are very close to one another so you won't get screwed on the setup if expecting something else.

They survive live rock being shipped just damp, so they're tough and good for getting an idea of how mantis behave and some behavioral patterns. You can keep them in as small as you're comfortable with so the expense isn't high, but I'd still recommend higher quality tanks like fluval as i've established small displays like tetra will be risky.

Hi sorry Im back with a few more questions. What style of aquarium is the best for a mantis? Ive got a 32 gallon biocube Ive used as a QT for a while. Debating on turning that into a mantis tank or I found a 46 gallon corner tank. Would any of those setups work for a mantis?