mantis help
 

I was wondering what dimensions is best suited for a mantis shrimp?

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!

+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/arthrop...ist/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.

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.

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.

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)

wow justin i didnt know u lived in B.C

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/arthrop...html#directory

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

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

ya i did a little on reef central and some on nano-reef.com

that was so informative, thanks alot!