Care for Mantis Shrimp

[Manners]

As a side project I recently bought an AGA 5 gallon aquarium that I plan on keeping a small Zoa garden and a Mantis Shrimp in.

I plan on doing a 3-4 inch sand bed, with a small powerfilter modded into a fuge with LR rubble. I will have a few small pieces of live rock in the display with some sort of LED lighting above the tank, probably a clip-on. I will also keep a very small power head in there for some light flow.


I need to find out what species would be best in a 5 gallon, preferably small. I also would like a smasher species as I would like to keep a Chromis or Damsel (that's the only fish I'd keep) I hear keeping Goby species with Mantis Shrimp can be a very bad idea. Any ideas on that?


Also, how do you keep a clean up crew, when the mantis eats them all? I hear certain snails are fine but most hermit crabs won't last very long.

Thanks a lot guys!

 

[ritter6788]

N. wennerae would be a good choice. If you plan on fish it's a toss up. Don't put anything with a Mantis that you don't expect to lose. Doesnt mean a Mantis will wipe out any or all fish but it is a risk. A mantis will take out a cleanup crew but in my experience the better it's fed the less likely it is to take out a snail or hermit or crab. They tend to get lazy if fed well. They will take frozen readily and will not waste energy to smash snails or hermits unless they are hungry.

 

[saltwaternoob]

Snails are lunch as well. Basically anything that goes near its den(fish included if it can catch it). I have never owned one but my Cousin has a mantis and i watched it while he was gone. I was feeding its tank with a spoon, the mantis darted from the bottom of the tank to hit the spoon. Scared the hell out of me, they can move fast.

5g seems a little small to me. No clean up crew will last long.

 

[ritter6788]

Snails are lunch as well. Basically anything that goes near its den(fish included if it can catch it). I have never owned one but my Cousin has a mantis and i watched it while he was gone. I was feeding its tank with a spoon, the mantis darted from the bottom of the tank to hit the spoon. Scared the hell out of me, they can move fast.

5g seems a little small to me. No clean up crew will last long.

Bah. I've kept large Mantis shrimp with fish with no problems. I've also had small Mantis whack a damsel for no reason other than that it was new to the tank. There are 2 types of stomatopods. Smashers and spearers. Neither are the "kill everything in sight" monsters that they are made out to be. I have a small N. wennerae in a 20 gallon and it doesnt even bother hermits and snails since I feed it about 3 times a week. I've kept 6+ inch O. Scyllarus with fish and it never killed one.

 

[Manners]

N. wennerae would be a good choice. If you plan on fish it's a toss up. Don't put anything with a Mantis that you don't expect to lose. Doesnt mean a Mantis will wipe out any or all fish but it is a risk. A mantis will take out a cleanup crew but in my experience the better it's fed the less likely it is to take out a snail or hermit or crab. They tend to get lazy if fed well. They will take frozen readily and will not waste energy to smash snails or hermits unless they are hungry.

Thanks a lot man, N. wennerae sounds PERFECT. At a whopping 3 inches max, it sounds like a good match for my plans. It says they're easy to find as well, so after my tank cycles I'll have to get one! I'm almost tempted to upgrade to a 10g, but with the Mantis only getting 3 inches a 5g seems like it would be plenty..

 

[ritter6788]

Tampa live rock sells them all the time. $50 delivered to your door. I was lucky, I had a local friend give me one he caught out of some Florida live rock. I've had it about 2 years now and wouldn't trade him for anything. N. wennerae is a good choice for that tank size.

Be sure to post pics/videos when you do get one.

 

[Manners]

Tampa live rock sells them all the time. $50 delivered to your door. I was lucky, I had a local friend give me one he caught out of some Florida live rock. I've had it about 2 years now and wouldn't trade him for anything. N. wennerae is a good choice for that tank size.

Be sure to post pics/videos when you do get one.

Awesome, thanks so much for the help! I just found a great deal.. 50 lb bag of salt, all my major testing kits, LED light, and 7.5 watt heater for 80 bucks with free shipping! Stoked!

 

[saltwaternoob]

Bah. I've kept large Mantis shrimp with fish with no problems. I've also had small Mantis whack a damsel for no reason other than that it was new to the tank. There are 2 types of stomatopods. Smashers and spearers. Neither are the "kill everything in sight" monsters that they are made out to be. I have a small N. wennerae in a 20 gallon and it doesnt even bother hermits and snails since I feed it about 3 times a week. I've kept 6+ inch O. Scyllarus with fish and it never killed one.

I didnt say that it would eat them, Anything in its tank is the possibility for food if under fed.

 

[mainereefer]

you are seriously putting a mantis in a 5g tank with about 2 1/2g of water in it? sounds like a bad idea to me!
any fish you put in that small tank will be food. and when the mantis gets mad because he cant move he will just bust out of the tank (literally)

 

[ritter6788]

you are seriously putting a mantis in a 5g tank with about 2 1/2g of water in it? sounds like a bad idea to me!
any fish you put in that small tank will be food. and when the mantis gets mad because he cant move he will just bust out of the tank (literally)

Have you seen how big a N. wennerae gets? You're probably thinking of the "peacock" mantis shrimp that get all the views on YouTube.

Roy Caldwell actually recommends a tank that size for the type of mantis the OP is looking for.

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

Not every mantis shrimp gets 6+ inches long.

 

[Manners]

I've actually decided AGAINST the fish, but will still be keeping the mantis shrimp for sure.

 

[Built347]

5g is pretty small for a mantis... they are super smart creatures.. it'd be a shame to lock it up in a shoe box.... as far as the fish go I've got a 4" Picasso trigger with a 6" peacock mantis in A 40B.. they get along... for the most part..

 

[mainereefer]

I kept my 4" mantis in a 20g long imo still to small. she was very curious and liked to explore
I would move one side of the tank around every once in a wile just to watch her check out everything like it was new to the tank

 

[Built347]

Some stomatopods stay very small but it doesn't change the fact that they are very intelligent.. that mixed with there eating habits(storing rotting food) IMO requires them the have 20L minimum. Even for the 1" breeds..

 

[Blufgan]

The only fish I keep with my peacock are two huge lion fish. Haven't had a problem