Mantis Shrimp

wranodj · Nov 10, 2015

Can a Mantis Shrimp be kept in a reef aquarium?

AllSignsPointToFish · Nov 10, 2015

Usually they are considered pests. They have a nasty disposition, so I'm told. Trap the sucker and see if someone else wants him

ritter6788 · Nov 10, 2015

wranodj said:
Can a Mantis Shrimp be kept in a reef aquarium?

Yes, although some of your inhabitants could be at risk. Snails, hermits, crabs, shrimp, etc. are all on the menu. Fish will usually be fine with most smashing mantis shrimp but there's always the chance the mantis will take one out. I've kept stomatopods in reef tanks for years. I can be done but your tank mates need to be well thought out. You don't want to keep fish with a spearing mantis or add any fish that would eat the mantis like lionfish, triggers or puffers.

Also the type of mantis needs to be taken into consideration. Some come from deeper waters and bright reef lighting has been known to increase the likelihood of shell rot.

chimmike · Nov 11, 2015

All of your inhabitants could be food targets for a mantis. They are almost always a species-only tank.

coral tarracino · Nov 12, 2015

The Mantis is this Guy dressed ! for Fantesy Fest ?

rosieosieee · Nov 12, 2015

there's plenty of videos of mantis being in a reef tank successfully (sometimes even full grown peacocks!) with fish and other tank mates, but I'm sure that took a lot of time and patience to find out which tank mates work the best. youre playing with fire, but it can be done. and I think they're worth it.

Anthony Wood · Nov 13, 2015

catch him and put him in the sump and feed him once a week. Ive had a 8" peacock mantis is his own species only tank for a year and just recently died to unknown causes. Gave him a emerald crab once a week. From experience nothing is safe it all depends on how he is feeling that day haha. Anything that swims in front of his cave is a potential meal if that mantis is hungry. They are unbelievably smart and fascinating creatures to watch. Mine used to toy with his food hitting the crab, flipping it over then would wait for the crab to turn back over to hit it again because he could control how hard his clubs were hitting the crab. Towards the end of his life I had mine to the point where is knew my face and would come to the front of the tank begging for food and would take food out of my hand the two times I had enough courage to try it hahaha Also had a little red mantis about 1"-2" big that would toy with the big peacock mantis. Watch your hands when you have them in the tank from personal experience getting a 100% power hit from my little red mantis it hurts bad hahaha I was moving some rocks that fell over and totally forgot about my red one, well I didn't forget about him for long when he popped out of a rock and clubbed me! IDK if I've ever moved that fast in my life, I dropped the rock in my hand, pulled my hand out of the tank so fast I sprayed water all over the place and ended up with a bruised, aching swollen finger for 5 days. I have countless videos of mine taking out crabs the best match was the huge gorilla crab that put up a half hour fight to eventually end up like the rest.