Peacock Mantis Shrimp Preparation

[exoticfishguy1]

Hey, long time freshwater fish keeper. I want to keep a peacock mantis shrimp.

Bluezooaquatics have large (4.5-6.5") mantis shrimp for 139$ and I was going to purchase one. I am not interested in any coral or any of that stuff. I just want to keep the mantis!


I have:
1 40 gallon breeder
1 50 gal HOB filter (activated charcoal, ceramic tiles, and bio balls within)
1 heater
40 lb pink aragnite sand
Seachem Prime & Stability (works for marine conditioner and bacteria)
Refractometer

Questions:
1. Do I use instant ocean reef salt or sea salt? I was going to purchase this: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/instant-ocean-aquarium-salt
2. My cousin is giving me some live rock, what should I do with this?
3. Am I ready to go?


I have done some good research as I do with all of my fish, and I am aware of dietary recommendations as well as the need for hiding spots. Was going to put PVC hiding spot with 3 exits.

 

[Nigel35]

bump

 

[unchaotic]

I have:
1 40 gallon breeder
1 50 gal HOB filter (activated charcoal, ceramic tiles, and bio balls within)
Seachem Prime & Stability (works for marine conditioner and bacteria)

2. My cousin is giving me some live rock, what should I do with this?

My guess is that people aren't answering this because it's going to lead to a lot more questions. I'll give you some quick pointers but I'm far from being an expert.

If you don't know what to do with live rock you need to do A LOT more research on properly setting up and cycling a salt water aquarium. Don't look for the "Quick and Easy" plan, expect to spend weeks cycling the tank.

This isn't freshwater, most people do not just add chemicals to tap water and call it good. The majority of reefers either own an RODI water system (if you don't know what that is you'll need to do plenty of research on that as well) or they get water directly from their LFS. I don't know about mantis shrimp in particular, but a lot of shrimp are very sensitive to changes in water chemistry, nitrate levels, ph, salinity variation, etc. I didn't know what I was doing when I added a cleaner shrimp to my FOWLR tank (didn't drip acclimate it to my water) and it died in less than 30 seconds. It was pretty horrible to watch, and there was nothing wrong with my water it was just too different from what the shrimp had been used to.

As for the 40 gallon breeder? I've seen conflicting opinions but a lot of people claim that mantis shrimp can break glass aquariums. These people recommend acrylic aquariums for them.

 

[MD51]

Recommend that you go acrylic if you move forward.

 

[Tofu Brady]

Recommend that you go acrylic if you move forward.

i dont use acrylic because its very expensive I haven't had a problem with glass tanks ever

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

I’ve been researching mantises a long time and as long as the glass is thick, it’s usually nothing to worry about. A 40 breeder is a great size and was what I was going to do when I was going to do a peacock (went a smaller species instead). I second the idea of using RODI or store water instead of tap just to be on the safe side since tap water can have so many different things and you’d never know nor would you know what’s bad for them (no one does as far as I know). Take it slow, check out the other mantis threads on here, and drip acclimate. Feed sparingly and keep an eye out for molting behavior I.e refusing food, staying in burrow etc. As far as if you’re ready, when in doubt think you’re not. Saltwater is all about balance and having lots of different species of bacteria in large numbers, which is why cycling can take a while. I didn’t get a mantis until my tank had been up for almost 2 months (partially due to availability) but I had the tank running and slowly added more and more inverts to the tank to get and keep the cycle going.