Mantis Shrimp Food?

[krissyfish20]

Hi!
I recently found a small mantis shrimp in my tank (about 1 inch). I luckily got him out and now he's living in a small tank of his own with some live rock. I would like to keep him since he's rather cute, but I'm not sure what he will eat. I've been feeding him invertebrate pellets and he seems to gobble these up fast, but I don't know if it's good enough. Should I be feeding him frozen brine shrimp or mysis as well? And how often should I be feeding this guy? I know he's a tank pest but I really don't want to get rid of him for now, and don't want to be starving him.
Thanks :redface:

[DOO-E]

Try chunks of hole fish about the same size as the invert food.

[Scavenger]

uncooked cocktail shrimp. mm mm good.

[krissyfish20]

thank you! :)

[StirCrazy]

I used to feed mine krill, chunks of scallop and yellow tailed blue damsels :mrgreen:

Steve

[Aquattro]

...and yellow tailed blue damsels :mrgreen:

Steve

However, they will eat different flavours of damsels if offered!

[monza]

I think they eat most anything if they are hungry! What else do you have in your tank?

Dave

[Tanman]

don't those things eat anything and everything in your tank :question: :evil:

[krissyfish20]

Nothing else is in the tank because I caught him and separated him from my actual tank. He's in a 2.5 gallon eclipse with a couple pieces of live rock. I had a few fish in my actual tank that disappeared mysteriously, and I'm sure he's the reason. But right now he has nothing but a few pieces of rock. He seems to be happy, and snatches up the invertebrate pellets really fast. I guess if I ever have any fish I don't want anymore I can just give them to him! :razz: (j.k.). I actually noticed him when I looked really closely at a yellow polyp rock that started looking very sparse with it's corals. I actually caught him in the act of grabbing a polyp. He's a disaster to a tank, but so cute now that he's isolated!

[LostMind]

at 1" I dunno if the mantis shrimp was the cause of the missin fish... too small!

I got a 3-4" orange mantis and I think he might be able to get a fish...

but I also got 1 - 1.5" green guy and I dont think he could get a fish! he hasnt even touched any snails or hermit crabs in his tank.

[krissyfish20]

I have quite a large pistol shrimp in my tank... Maybe he got them or somethingif they were weak and near the bottom of the tank. Still, I know the mantis was eating my corals, and that's a good enough reason for me to get him out of there. :squarewi:

[Aquattro]

Still, I know the mantis was eating my corals, and that's a good enough reason for me to get him out of there. :squarewi:
They eat a lot of things, but they DO NOT eat corals.

[StirCrazy]

at 1" I dunno if the mantis shrimp was the cause of the missin fish... too small!

.

my 1" green mantis quite regulary took down damsels that were bigger than him self.

Steve

[krissyfish20]

I saw him dart out of the hole and grab at one of my yellow polyps. Maybe he wasn't eating it then! I'm not sure but it did really look like he was trying to eat it. Something in the tank WAS eating my corals. Not all of them..only the yellow polyps for some reason. So maybe he wasn't the culprit but there was no way I was gonna keep a mantis shrimp in my tank.

[Aquattro]

Keeping a mantis in a mixed reef isn't recommended, I just wanted to make sure you knew it wasn't eating coral. IF it went near the yellow polyps, it's likely you have some type of snail or something that the mantis considered food.
Setting up a separate tank for the mantis might be something to consider, as they are pretty neat little animals.

[Aquattro]

Also, for anyone interested in these creatures, this is a great site...

http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/

[krissyfish20]

Yeah he's in a separate tank right now. It's a 2 gallon eclipse and he has a few pieces of live rock. I don't really know what else to put in with him, but I'm assuming not too much else. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep him at first, but I think I'm going to keep him after all. I'm not sure how big this little guy is going to grow, so I might have to put him in a larger tank as he grows. A friend of mine said that this might be a type of mantis that grows only to about 1 - 2 inches, so he may be full grown. I don't know much about mantis so I'm not sure. He looks kinda navy blue/dark grey with a light limey-green coloured tail.

[krissyfish20]

Wonderful site...very interesting and informative. Thanks! :biggrin: