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danlee78
01-31-2008, 06:07 PM
I was wondering what dimensions is best suited for a mantis shrimp?

untamed
01-31-2008, 07:31 PM
Depends entirely on what type of mantis shrimp you are looking to keep. I kept a Wennarae (sp?) in a 5 gallon tank for many years, but they don't get larger than 2" or so.

Others get substantially larger, and will need a larger tank with strong walls!

justinl
01-31-2008, 10:30 PM
+1. pick a species first then ask again :). O. scyllarus (the true peacock mantis) for example needs a 30g tank and is capable of breaking thin glass. N. wennerae and G. smithii on the other hand will be plenty happy in a 5g and aren't capable of even chipping glass.

here's a good site to help you choose.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/index.html

you should also be aware that lfs and online vendors virtually never ID properly. I can think of three suppliers that id reliably but they're all american.

danlee78
01-31-2008, 10:42 PM
yea, i'm thinking of getting a peacock mantis shrimp becuz of it's wicked colours...

30g is kinda big, but i'm not getting glass tank...mine will be a clear acryllic tank.

justinl
01-31-2008, 10:49 PM
yeah 30 seems big, but If you've ever seen a peacock in captivity, you'll realize why 30g is the minimum. The 30 is the minimum based on the activity of the mantis plus the fact that it is a messy eater. less so on the latter. I have an O. scyllarus in a 60g and it uses the entire tank.

danlee78
01-31-2008, 11:04 PM
thats crazy...these are the types of mantis i wanna get (one of these)

Odontodactylus scyllarus (peacock)

Odontodactylus cultrifer

Neogonodactylus curacaoensis

Hemisquilla californiensis

Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

mainly, i'm looking for a colourful mantis (don't really mind the species)

pewarchuk
02-04-2008, 05:41 AM
wow justin i didnt know u lived in B.C

justinl
02-04-2008, 06:18 AM
Odontodactylus scyllarus (peacock)

Odontodactylus cultrifer

Neogonodactylus curacaoensis

Hemisquilla californiensis

Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

mainly, i'm looking for a colourful mantis (don't really mind the species)

lol nice list. let's cut it down a bit shall we? :) you will never find the O. cultrifer (I know of only one) or N. curacaoensis. besides, N. curacaoensis isnt the most active of mantids and can be anywhere from quite bland to bloody gorgeous... it's a crap shoot and according to murphy's law the only one you'll find will be butt ugly. H. californiensis sucks in captivity. they need a temperate waters set up and even if you have that, most will die quickly from some fungal disease. still, they do taste quite good apparently if you're up for that :).

So that leaves O. scyllarus (a good choice but you have to consider it's tank requirements and growth) and G. ternatensis. the latter is not the most common nor active of all but is a beautiful species that does well in captivity. If you're liking its red intersegmental lines (that's why i like it) then think about G. smithii. G. smithii sometimes gets the red lines too (not often though). mine does and i *heart* him. G. smithii is also a much more active mantis. it is a bit uncommon though. Both of your last choices have very different requirements so take that into consideration. O. scyllarus needs 30g, G tern needs 10g, G. smithii needs 5g... you couldnt stuff a big peacock into a 10g, but a G. smithii would be lost in a 30g... keep that in mind when you start planning the tank.

not sure if you've found this site...
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/index.html#directory

bottom line though: most mantids are colour variable. very much so for the most part.

wow justin i didnt know u lived in B.C

lol, well... I do :wink: . Im sorry, I dont recognize your username (I assume you know me from another site)?

pewarchuk
02-05-2008, 01:55 AM
ya i did a little on reef central and some on nano-reef.com

danlee78
02-12-2008, 07:47 PM
that was so informative, thanks alot!

danlee78
02-12-2008, 08:18 PM
got the tank, now all i need is a mantis...

none at J&L or OA, any other places?

justinl
02-13-2008, 02:41 AM
i got my G. smithii from hiddenreef (labelled as a peacock) and I got my actualy peacock (O. scyllarus) from J&L. They were just by chance though... I had been waiting around for about a year before i stumbled upon the one at J&L. Have you asked to see if any lfs can order from somewhere in the states for you?

danlee78
02-13-2008, 06:41 AM
wheres hidden reef? J&L said they dont really get peacock

justinl
02-13-2008, 07:22 AM
hiddenreef is in abbotsford. a really nice store, it's just a bit out of the way for me.

www.hiddenreef.ca

danlee78
02-24-2008, 06:13 PM
ok, I got my 22.5 Gallon Fiberglass up and running...don't have anything in it except for heater and powerhead.

need some LR, but I hear that TONGA is the best because of it's nice colours?

what do canreef experts say about this? I would like to get some cured stuff so i don't have to do crazy water changes every 2 days and etc.

Any suggestions?

justinl
02-24-2008, 06:33 PM
the whole tonga vs. fiji vs. martian etc etc is a whole load of bollocks imo. When you buy rock, you want to look for the most porous (best for biofiltration) with the most interesting shapes (different shapes allow for more creative aquascaping). Where it's from is pretty immaterial; ive seen soem gorgeous pices from fiji and some not-so-good from tonga.

When i buy rock, i usually just sit around and watch over the classifieds. LR pops up frequently enough and usually the seller had already cherry picked it out, so it's usually decent rock at a cheaper price than from an lfs. If you can, try to get some from an established tank.

Der_Iron_Chef
02-24-2008, 06:37 PM
All of the LR in my tank is from Indonesia. I agree with Justin...doesn't much matter where it's from. As long as it's porous and interesting, it's good! As for colours, it gets covered in Coralline Algae sooner or later anyways, so I think it's fairly immaterial.

danlee78
02-28-2008, 06:24 PM
got my LR, got it cured so threw everything in at once.

then, 3 days later (yesterday) got my mantis...

he's blue and green...1.5 inches long

does anybody kno how fast he will grow?

justinl
02-28-2008, 11:28 PM
pics needed if you want an ID on it. You would need to ID it to even be able to guess how fast it will grow.

danlee78
03-11-2008, 07:05 AM
http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/1877/dsc0011pe1.th.jpg (http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0011pe1.jpg)

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/6860/dsc0004kc4.th.jpg (http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0004kc4.jpg)

what kind of mantis is this?

my friend thinks its Gonodactylaceus falcatus

justinl
03-13-2008, 08:32 AM
Nah, meral spot on this guy is orange. G. falcatus has white ones. I think you have either G. glabrous or G. graphurus. Too hard to see if it has a median carinule on the sixth abdominal segment, so i cant distinguish between the two. They both have identical care requirements anyways though.