LavaandTonic
New Member
I recently purchased a peacock mantis shrimp from my LFS that I work at, I've had him two weeks now. I'm new to them, dont know much about their care. I was in the process of selling my corals and fish to shut down my three year old 20 gallon tank when he arrived, and they're one of my favorite animals, so I got him. My boss assured me they are very easy to take care of and so far I love him!
Salinity is 1.024, no ammonia or nitrites, nitrate is usually around 10-20ppm (I just use test strips though, not a liquid test kit for nitrates). Temperature typically sits around 78-80.His tank mates are a chalk basslet and sharknose goby who never got taken to the shop to be sold when I was shutting down, and my boss did warn me he might eventually kill and/or eat them. Also about 10-15 hermit crabs and snails for him to snack on. Theres also about 8 mushroom corals and a bubble tip anemone. Hes got a PVC pipe as well as a rock cave for hiding.
I give him a thawed clam on the half shell (Hikari) or half a cooked shrimp from the grocery store every 2-3 days. I dont feed him every day because I assumed if he was hungry he would eat the crabs and snails, and I want to encourage him to do that. The fish get a couple of flakes each morning and evening, sometimes frozen mysis, krill, or LRS Reef Frenzy Nano. I dont know if it's relevant, but within a couple of hours if arriving at the store he was already punching at a hermit crab that was in his tank, but I've never seen him go after one since I brought him home. He definitely stares at them though.
I use Nutri-Seawater to do 25%-40%water changes every other week and top off with RODI. The light (AI Prime) is on full power for about 6 hours with an hour each for ramp up and ramp down. This is how I cared for my tank before he arrived as well.
My question is, a couple of times a day he'll come out of his den and just stare intently at one spot on the ground, then he'll start rolling on his back and putting his head down to his tail, over and over, for a good 10 minutes. It reminds me of a dog trying to lick its balls lol. Then he goes back to his den to hang out again. I'm not sure if hes in distress or if this is normal behavior for him? He seems uncomfortable. Is he trying to molt? Google was not helpful and my boss has no answers, but didnt seem concerned.
Salinity is 1.024, no ammonia or nitrites, nitrate is usually around 10-20ppm (I just use test strips though, not a liquid test kit for nitrates). Temperature typically sits around 78-80.His tank mates are a chalk basslet and sharknose goby who never got taken to the shop to be sold when I was shutting down, and my boss did warn me he might eventually kill and/or eat them. Also about 10-15 hermit crabs and snails for him to snack on. Theres also about 8 mushroom corals and a bubble tip anemone. Hes got a PVC pipe as well as a rock cave for hiding.
I give him a thawed clam on the half shell (Hikari) or half a cooked shrimp from the grocery store every 2-3 days. I dont feed him every day because I assumed if he was hungry he would eat the crabs and snails, and I want to encourage him to do that. The fish get a couple of flakes each morning and evening, sometimes frozen mysis, krill, or LRS Reef Frenzy Nano. I dont know if it's relevant, but within a couple of hours if arriving at the store he was already punching at a hermit crab that was in his tank, but I've never seen him go after one since I brought him home. He definitely stares at them though.
I use Nutri-Seawater to do 25%-40%water changes every other week and top off with RODI. The light (AI Prime) is on full power for about 6 hours with an hour each for ramp up and ramp down. This is how I cared for my tank before he arrived as well.
My question is, a couple of times a day he'll come out of his den and just stare intently at one spot on the ground, then he'll start rolling on his back and putting his head down to his tail, over and over, for a good 10 minutes. It reminds me of a dog trying to lick its balls lol. Then he goes back to his den to hang out again. I'm not sure if hes in distress or if this is normal behavior for him? He seems uncomfortable. Is he trying to molt? Google was not helpful and my boss has no answers, but didnt seem concerned.
