Mantis Identified!!!! and for all those other Mantis lovers.... there is another one!

[Ticketyboo]

Hi guys....

... i was just given a peacock mantis shrimp, and i dont have an acrylic tank... just now hes been put in my 20 gallon GLASS tank... and i keep hearing... click... click... click......

I have been told of horror stories where this type of shrimp has been known to smash glass tanks, so i really need a 20 gallon or so acrylic tank...

Anyone got one??? its going to take 1.5 weeks to get one made, so that means 1.5 weeks of sleepless nights worying about a flooded floor :neutral:

Can anyone help? or lend me one until i get one made? I can trade my glass tank with cabinet stand for one or just buy?

[seashells]

Have a 55 g actylic with custom stand. Built in fuge. $100.00

[justinl]

how big is the mantis? only adult peacocks at 6 inches and up pose a threat to glass aquariums.

edit: i do recommend an acrylic anyways though since i presume you plan on keeping it until adulthood? just sayin that if it isn't big enough to smash glass, then there's no real rush

[Ticketyboo]

its 3 inches..... scares the whoop whoop out of me when we captured it... :neutral: any advise on how to calm him down? i turned the lights off and gave him lots of shelter in regards to hiding spots.... hes stunning though....

[justinl]

you did good. That's what i would have done too. leave the lights out for at least 24hrs. Don't attempt to feed it or anythingg else in the tank unless absolutely necessary. also don't keep checking up on him every 5 minutes... i know you are. we're all guilty of doing that.

as for calming him down... well it IS a peacock mantis, what did you expect?:biggrin: lol, just give it time to get comfortable. there may be a period of a lot of clicks for a few days while it finds itself a nice burrow. Just imagine how po'ed it'll be once you move it again! lol

hey i just noticed your title says surrey... but you live in white rock i thought?

[Ticketyboo]

ok so leave it alone.... ok i can do that.... i will just throw the wife in bed now and i will sleep out in the living room with the sleeping bag next to the tank... just in case... ok?

Its stopped clicking which is a good sign, i threw in another rock with more holes in the tank so its got more hiding places, as well as 6 towels and 3 buckets around the tank....... just in case :lol:

Many many many thanks to the person who donated the matoid... you know who you are... its a beaut and i will try my best to look after him / her.

Justin... what do i feed it? and how frequent? does it like light? im only using standard 40 watt flourescent lights on there, do i need more? i wouldnt think so...

Oh and i offically lived in white rock but had to move to 18th ave, which i do believe is officially south surrey but 1 block from white rock.... sigh..... politics, politics,,, politics....

How did the cannucks do? my cables down..

[fishmaster]

Back when I lived out there. I found quite a few people from from South Surry would claim they were from White Rock:lol: Has a better ring to it, don't you think?:lol:
Shaun.

[G1GY]

If you're worried, you can set him up in a 5 gallon salt pail with a powerhead and heater untill you get the acrylic tank.

Just a thought.

[Ticketyboo]

Ok i survived the night :-)

The mantis is out and about and quite happy :biggrin:

Ok so i took a few pics.... can anyone ID if it is a true Peacock? Justin.... im countin on ya, cause your my hero :biggrin:

[justinl]

the canucks are sitting with the series at 1 and 1. We sucked for the first halves of the 1st and 2nd periods (that's when dallas scored both). other than that we dominated but couldn't manage a finish. game ended at 2-0. sigh. well sopel is back in the game from his supposed strain while picking up a cracker. lol. on to game 3 in dallas!

im your hero?! lol buddy, you're MY hero! you're the one who got me my mantis in the first place!

okay now you're probably gonna hate me for sayin it, but that's no peacock (leopard spotted head and red legs). If what i see in the first pic is part of its meral spot, then i think you have a G. smithii. do you think you could post a pic of the guy's telson (tail)? if it has two lil pink bumps on it then i will say definitely G. smithii.

I have a G. smithii. they stay small... maximum is a bit over three inches. no way is it capable of smashing glass. minimum volume tank to keep em is 5gal. they are sort of the holy grail of mantids. generally they are the most active of all and probably the most hardy too.

I feed mine varied frozens every 2-3 days. these include white shrimp, scallop, krill... pretty much any marine meaty food. just make sure that the chunks of food you feed it are about half the mantid's size. I drop the food a little bit away from the burrow so the mantis is forced to come out in the open. I gradually move the food further and further from the hole. I only feed if the burrow isn't sealed up.

G.smithii is an intertifdal species and is used to lighting anywhere from low to high. Just be sure it has the right materials to make a nice dark burrow. if peacocks are kept in strong lighting they tend to develop shell rot. icky.

what are your tank cohabitants? they will probably determine how carefully you must watch the tank and what lighting is required more than the mantis. they really are very very hardy.

[justinl]

Well, im sure what you have isn't a peacock, but if you do find a peacock are you going to get it? If you do plan on seeking out a peacock, then you might as well get an acrylic tank.

[Ticketyboo]

Damn it Justin, why couldnt you just lie to me and tell me it was a peacock?????? i always wanted one of them :sad: ... oh well... as it was donated, i am more than gratefull :biggrin:

So it cant shatter glass right??? are you sure??

Can i feed it live crabs?, the small ones i find under rocks on the beach? i have seen those in videos on you tube, but just wondering if i can do this.

Ok well i have it in my glass 20 gallon at the moment on its own, but would it be compatible in my 180 acrylic tank i wonder? In there are 2 lion fish, 3 eels and my shark.... or maybe just keep it in the tank on its own?

[justinl]

lol a free mantis is a good mantis. especially if it ends up being a G. smithii.

for your current situation i would highly recommend leaving it in the 20gal. it can have a few co habitants after a while (not for now... let it get comfortable) but nothing that might eat it or attempt to. like lions. or eels. or sharks. lol see why the 180 is a bad place for it?:biggrin: also, it very well may get lost in the 180 and you might not see it often if at all.

am i sure about the glass? 100%. like i said only large peacocks (6 inches and up) and G. chiragra (adults over 4 inches) are capable of smashing glass. im pretty sure yours is not a chiragra anyways.

can you feed it shore crabs? sure. collect a few crabs (ten or so) and throw them in a bucket with a bubbler. I think that would keep them alive for a while. Don't feed them to the mantis right away. let them get rid of whatever toxins they might have in them. try to collect from a clean spot. don't add too many in the tank at once as they are not used to hot water. Id only add one at a time. Or you can try to acclimate them to hot water... Im not actually sure how that would go.

[Ticketyboo]

ok so i took a shot of its tail for you J in the thread above.

Incidently... was it a peacock that you got or was it another type from HR?

[justinl]

nope, the one i got from HR was a G. smithii.

hmmm. i can't see what im looking for in the pic of the telson... can you describe the insides of its arms or get a pic? the meral spot in particular. here's a link that very clearly shows where the meral spot is. it's the big circular marking. it's the best trait to ID a mantis. smithii's will be the white ring with dark bentre for example. what's yours like?

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/images/g_smithii1.jpg

[Ticketyboo]

you want me to get it to pose like that???? are you insane??? you stick your fingers in there and try to get it to strike a pose....its not exactly a kodak moment between us yet... i fed it a shrimp with my feeding stick and it whacked my feeding stick :neutral:

Ok this is the best i can do just now... does this help?

Its a white circle with a darker green outer!

[justinl]

okay i think i got it. 90% sure it's an N. wennerae. i say this because the smashing arms are pink, it has fine white speckling about the head and it has a white meral spot.

intertidal species so same general requirements as G. smithii. Very active mantis. They will change colour afte one or two molts if you give it different strengths of lighting.

low lighting makes them redish. high lighting makes them green or cream.

[Ticketyboo]

Thanks Justin.....

... but with all this species specific talk, your knowledge, age... experience... active posts on canreef.... big man i think its time to take the plunge and get a girlfriend now :biggrin:

[justinl]

lol, im going into marine biology, it's my job to know this crap! lol that's my story and im sticking to it. girlfriend... hmmm. you see, the problem with that is that i need to find a girl that won't get sick of me talking about my tank all the time... which isn't easy. *shrug* it'll happen when it happens. Im in no rush.

[Ticketyboo]

AHA!!! so its identified as a G. Smithii!!!!!!

And its doing magic... eating like a horse!!!!

And for all those other Mantis Lover out there.... i know where there is another identical one same size (3 inch) for sale locally here also!!!!!