New reefer wanting a peacock mantis with corals and fish?

[Ricky J]

Hello world! I'm just starting off in the sw world and would really appreciate some experience from those that have tried the forbidden path that is having fish with the famous smashing mantis shrimp. I've read a lot of mixed information which is why I really want to hone in on who has personal experience on the matter. Now some information on myself. Again, I'm totally new to sw aquatics. Honestly became interested in reefing from the peacock mantis so I'm starting what I see as fairly big with a 110g tank. I do feel like there would be a higher success rate given I have a larger tank for the mantis and not so much like 20g which seems to be the average mantis tank size. I do plan on having a larger amount of surface area with im thinking maybe 2 inches of sediment with a pvc cave for the mantis as well. I would really love to have tangs (which I have researched a bit), mocha clowns (still learning), soft corals, torch corals (gotta have goals) and of course the mantis in the tank. An idea of mine was perhaps incorporating an isolation box if I were to have the mantis in first then add fish? Though from what I understand is that its best to add the more passive fish first then leading to the more aggressive which I feel would lead to adding the mantis last. Another factor which could help lead to success is keeping the mantis well fed with likely a well stocked CUC given I will have a 110g. In the the end, I would love to have the mantis incorporated with my reef tank but if history and experience says otherwise then I may just have to wait on getting that smasher lol. Again I would really appreciate all of your feedback on what you guys think the best route would be for putting the unintentional sacrificial fish with a mantis.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello world! I'm just starting off in the sw world and would really appreciate some experience from those that have tried the forbidden path that is having fish with the famous smashing mantis shrimp. I've read a lot of mixed information which is why I really want to hone in on who has personal experience on the matter. Now some information on myself. Again, I'm totally new to sw aquatics. Honestly became interested in reefing from the peacock mantis so I'm starting what I see as fairly big with a 110g tank. I do feel like there would be a higher success rate given I have a larger tank for the mantis and not so much like 20g which seems to be the average mantis tank size. I do plan on having a larger amount of surface area with im thinking maybe 2 inches of sediment with a pvc cave for the mantis as well. I would really love to have tangs (which I have researched a bit), mocha clowns (still learning), soft corals, torch corals (gotta have goals) and of course the mantis in the tank. An idea of mine was perhaps incorporating an isolation box if I were to have the mantis in first then add fish? Though from what I understand is that its best to add the more passive fish first then leading to the more aggressive which I feel would lead to adding the mantis last. Another factor which could help lead to success is keeping the mantis well fed with likely a well stocked CUC given I will have a 110g. In the the end, I would love to have the mantis incorporated with my reef tank but if history and experience says otherwise then I may just have to wait on getting that smasher lol. Again I would really appreciate all of your feedback on what you guys think the best route would be for putting the unintentional sacrificial fish with a mantis.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I can't answer your question because I've never tried to keep a peacock mantis in with fish - I just always presumed it wouldn't work!

I would however, say that "adding the shrimp last" won't work the same way as adding the most aggressive fish last sometimes does in fish hierarchy. The idea of adding fish like that only works if you give enough time between additions so that the first, more peaceful fish have ample time to settle in and form territories. The shrimp isn't a fish and doesn't show aggression the same way.

IMO - the mantis is going to be a risk to smaller fish all of the time.

We made a neat 15 gallon mantis tank - it had dyed mortar against the front glass, with a U shaped tube. the mantis would live in the tube and was always visible. We used it to display peacock mantis, as well as some huge zebra mantis.

Jay

 

[Ricky J]

Thanks Jay, I’m thinking you’re right. I didn’t really consider the fact that I couldnt apply the same practice to the shrimp as the fish. Now I’ve considered just calling it safe and having a second much smaller setup for the mantis though I know the Mrs wouldn’t be too fond of that lol I barely pulled off getting the 110g.

 

[RedfishReefer]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I can't answer your question because I've never tried to keep a peacock mantis in with fish - I just always presumed it wouldn't work!

I would however, say that "adding the shrimp last" won't work the same way as adding the most aggressive fish last sometimes does in fish hierarchy. The idea of adding fish like that only works if you give enough time between additions so that the first, more peaceful fish have ample time to settle in and form territories. The shrimp isn't a fish and doesn't show aggression the same way.

IMO - the mantis is going to be a risk to smaller fish all of the time.

We made a neat 15 gallon mantis tank - it had dyed mortar against the front glass, with a U shaped tube. the mantis would live in the tube and was always visible. We used it to display peacock mantis, as well as some huge zebra mantis.

Jay

Can you elaborate on that tube? I have PVC in my mantis tank but he never took to it. Any tips on how to place it so he might be more likely to live in it. I do have a good amount of live rock that he likes to burrow under. Might be hard to stop him from doing that as it was natural to him when he was in the wild.

btw op it is wennerae mantis shrimp and I have had a damsel in with him and he has never attacked it nor has he really gone after any snails or shrimp I have tried to feed him. He does welcomingly accept large frozen shrimp i put in there though!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Can you elaborate on that tube? I have PVC in my mantis tank but he never took to it. Any tips on how to place it so he might be more likely to live in it. I do have a good amount of live rock that he likes to burrow under. Might be hard to stop him from doing that as it was natural to him when he was in the wild.

btw op it is wennerae mantis shrimp and I have had a damsel in with him and he has never attacked it nor has he really gone after any snails or shrimp I have tried to feed him. He does welcomingly accept large frozen shrimp i put in there though!

I wish I had a picture - what we did was mixed up some mortar to a clay like consistency, added a brown dye. Then, we formed it against the front glass of the tank, sort of like an expanded U shape, but with an open side where it fit against the glass. We then cured the mortar using muriatic acid baths and rinsing well. When done, the mantis lived in the tube, but you could always see it.

Jay

 

[Coralsdaily]

Welcome to the hobby! And happy to see you reach out for opinions. I have had peacock mantis and I will tell you straight up that adding any fish/inverts to a mantis tank is at your own risk. They do prey on them in the wild so despite having them well fed there is no guarantee they’ll turn to the wild side at some point. You can certainly add corals as they are not on the mantis’ menu. However, mantis shrimp are known construction engineers and even if you provide a hide out for it, they may still opt to build their own, which means it is meaningless to do any rock work, and all corals are fair game being dragged to become park of its bunker door.
One additional note on mantis- they are hyper sensitive to water chemistry changes. So acclimation must take caution and time, and no suddent large water chabge (hiw I lost my mantis). But once you get them settled in and trained to feed, they will also spend 99% od the time hiding until it is feeding time. So another note- they arent exactly that much to enjoy or to show your friends, its like those animals in the nucturnal section of the zoo, you know it’s there but you never see them

 

[Karen00]

I know nothing of these shrimp other than they are beautiful creatures. I just wanted to say "welcome to the salty side and the community". I look forward to see your setup.

 

[Tamberav]

Hello world! I'm just starting off in the sw world and would really appreciate some experience from those that have tried the forbidden path that is having fish with the famous smashing mantis shrimp. I've read a lot of mixed information which is why I really want to hone in on who has personal experience on the matter. Now some information on myself. Again, I'm totally new to sw aquatics. Honestly became interested in reefing from the peacock mantis so I'm starting what I see as fairly big with a 110g tank. I do feel like there would be a higher success rate given I have a larger tank for the mantis and not so much like 20g which seems to be the average mantis tank size. I do plan on having a larger amount of surface area with im thinking maybe 2 inches of sediment with a pvc cave for the mantis as well. I would really love to have tangs (which I have researched a bit), mocha clowns (still learning), soft corals, torch corals (gotta have goals) and of course the mantis in the tank. An idea of mine was perhaps incorporating an isolation box if I were to have the mantis in first then add fish? Though from what I understand is that its best to add the more passive fish first then leading to the more aggressive which I feel would lead to adding the mantis last. Another factor which could help lead to success is keeping the mantis well fed with likely a well stocked CUC given I will have a 110g. In the the end, I would love to have the mantis incorporated with my reef tank but if history and experience says otherwise then I may just have to wait on getting that smasher lol. Again I would really appreciate all of your feedback on what you guys think the best route would be for putting the unintentional sacrificial fish with a mantis.

I kept a peacock mantis with fish. It added the fish before the mantis and it left them alone mostly… sometimes would smack one trying to bother it but would absolutely kill anything added after.

The reason is it will learn you bring the tank food… so if you bring a new fish.. you are bringing food.

They will smash at rocks and corals and bury frags and pieces in their burrow so don’t add anything you may get attached to.

They need very dark space and burrows and clean water as they are prone to shell rot.

The one thing that could happen having to constantly add new cuc is you might bring in fish disease with the cuc and wipe your fish out.

Tangs in a new tank are absolutely disease magnets. You probably want to familiarize yourself with saltwater fish diseases as they are no joke.