new mantis

[fiorano]

so yesterday i made a random purchase of a mantis shrimp for my sump haha. and anyway they gave me silver sides and krill to feed him i was just wondering how you are supposed to feed silversides. do you cut them up into pieces and soak them with anything? or just kinda plop one in there? thx for any suggestions:) or if anyone knows some better stuff to feed a mantis?

[fishoholic]

We feed our mantis frozen PE mysis. I thaw it first then grab some of the mysis with my snail grabbers, hold it over his hiding hole in the rock and he pops out and grabs it.

[fiorano]

ok thx ill try that

[Der_Iron_Chef]

What type of mantis is it? If you're not sure, check out this (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/) link.

[Canadiancray]

You really should find out what type of mantis it is. Some are very specialized & sensitive to water perameters.

[fiorano]

i was told it was a bumble mantis when i bought it. i just picked it up from ocean aquatics yesterday. does anyone know anything about this particular type of mantis?

[Canadiancray]

Post a picture of it here. They should be able to identify it & give you all the info you need.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=37&daysprune=

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I've never heard of a bumble mantis....

[Canadiancray]

Just a trade name.

[justinl]

great. another layman mantis name. unfortunately bumble mantis doesn't refer to anything. If you post a pic it might help us ID it. The RC link provided to the mantis forum (where you can post a pic) will be better though.

as for food, it really depends on size of the mants. Feed too much and it will bury the food and it may screw with water quality. Most mantis keepers feed once every 2-3 days.

You should feed a variety of frozens too. silversides are fine, but try clam, scallop, krill, etc etc... they are't picky. Pick 3 different frozens and cycle between them. If the mantis is a smasher, live hard shelled foods will also be necessary.

[fiorano]

http://s458.photobucket.com/albums/qq308/fiorano77/ i've never tried posting photos before hahaha but i hope this works if not tell me how someone please. and this is the best pic i could someone let me know if u can id him? http://s458.photobucket.com/albums/qq308/fiorano77/?action=view&current=IMG_2551.jpg

[justinl]

Lysiosquillina maculata. the biggest spearer around so watch your fingers. These guys need a DSB at least as deep as they are long. 1.5 to 2X would be even better. If you don't have that or don't want a dsb, return the mantis or give it to someone who does.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=l_maculata

[fiorano]

well right now the sand bed is pretty deep its about 5 inches but eventually it'll be to small and the area he is in is to small for him when he gets older. right now hes only around 4 inches long so what should i do? because i really want a mantis shrimp now that i have one but i dont want this one to be unhappy

[Der_Iron_Chef]

It reaches lengths of 15"....I'm thinking you should probably trade it back to the store where you got it.

[fiorano]

garbage... i thought there was hope a site told me only 20cm well if thats the case i guess ill have to return it. does anyone know of a smaller mantis shrimp you can keep? if not would it be that bad of an idea to get a good sized acrylic tank for him?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

You might try a Peacock Mantis (Odontodactylus scyllarus), Wennerae (Neogonodactylus wennerae) or Smithii (Gonodactylus smithii).

[fiorano]

well doesn't the peacock get almost as big as the striped one i already have? out of the other ones u suggested i kind of like the smithii but i guess i could pretty much pick any of them that require a small tank size couldn't i? thanks for the help by the way i dont really know much about mantis'

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Hey, it's all good :) I guess I never asked how big your sump is. Taking that into consideration, maybe the Peacock isn't your best choice. Anyway, those I listed were just some of the more popular kept by aquarists.

[fiorano]

i just have a little area set aside its about 18" by 12" and i asked one of the guys at ocean aquatics what would be neat to put in there and he said a mantis would be good but i didnt know this one gets so massive hahaha so i guess i learned that one ill probably try and keep my eyes peeled for a smaller one though cause there such a cool thing to have in a system. where is a good place to buy any of the smaller ones do u know any?

[justinl]

lol, well i guess most of us have to learn the hard way not to impulse buy :)

Yeah in that small a sump space, pretty much any of the smaller mantids would be fine. Hard part is actually getting one because most lfs and online dealers don't even try to ID properly. man, I was sort of avoiding having to do this, but I happen to have a G. smithii that I am looking to get rid of. It has red intersegmental lines (an uncommon colour morph) and is a gorgeous interactive specimen. 40$. throw me a pm if you're interested.

[fiorano]

and does anyone know if it's possible to get a more predatory like tank with bigger fish and eels or something. and then put this larger mantis into a tank like that or do they have to be by themselves?