Mantis Tank Care

Feet Pixel · Jun 30, 2022

once the smashers come back it'll be much easier to help you. They have a spot on the inside of their appendage that is crucial in differentiating the species. Beautiful shrimp! How long have you had it?
Kinda cool that you get to interact it without getting smacked. I was hit once and it split my skin open. Reminded me of those devices that pokes your finger to draw blood for testing. It happened so fast I didn't really register any pain- glad you can avoid that lesson!

Latte · Jul 1, 2022

Hadla said:
Yeah it’s very hard to tell til the smashers grow back in as there’s no meral spot! But graphurus seems to be the best fit whatever she is, she’s cute!

although now that I turned the brightness up on my phone, she could be a ternatensis! I see faint orange lines between the tail segments…

She definitely has an orange meral spot... Only issue is that's apparently present in both graphurus and ternatensis. Ternatensis does actually look to be a good fit too, really unsure which she could be. The lines definitely don't appear to be as clear in my shrimp as in the pictures on Caldwell's website. I'm really at a loss as far as ID now...

Latte · Jul 1, 2022

Feet Pixel said:
once the smashers come back it'll be much easier to help you. They have a spot on the inside of their appendage that is crucial in differentiating the species. Beautiful shrimp! How long have you had it?
Kinda cool that you get to interact it without getting smacked. I was hit once and it split my skin open. Reminded me of those devices that pokes your finger to draw blood for testing. It happened so fast I didn't really register any pain- glad you can avoid that lesson!

I've had her for a few months now, but she spent the first couple months living in the sump of another tank before I could set up this tank for her.

I'm not sure how useful seeing the meral spot will actually be though as it appears the two species that are most likely both have orange spots (which I can confirm, she had an orange meral spot before).

Hadla · Jul 1, 2022

Does it look like there are orange lines between the tail segments? If so, it’s probably a tern

Latte · Jul 1, 2022

Hadla said:
Does it look like there are orange lines between the tail segments? If so, it’s probably a tern

Do you mean the very end tail or tail as in the body segments? If you mean the body, then not really from what I've seen, it does kind of look like that in that picture, but usually it doesn't and there definitely aren't any super distinct ones.

If you mean tail as in the very end tail thing... Maybe?

These are the best I've got for now sorry.

Shaqs_Jumper · Jul 1, 2022

Zallergik said:
I recently found out about mantis shrimp and they caught my attention. I have never owned a saltwater tank so I thought that this might be a good starting point. I was considering either getting a Peacock Mantis or a Smith Mantis. I was thinking a 30gallon if I was to get a Peacock and 10 gallon if I got Smiths. As I am new to saltwater tank and inverts in general any tips/info about care, feeding, tank setup/preparation tips or thoughts about what Mantis Shrimp would be better for a beginner are welcome.

Me and my buddy kept one for around 18 months, we put around 15 pounds of live rock In a 29 gallon cycled it for around 5 weeks and added him, best to keep alone they are very smart and tend to pick up very fast on eating, I'd also Recommend a gravely substrate like crushed coral over sand they love to decorate so maybe throw a couple of extra small rocks or shells in aswell hope this helps

Hadla · Jul 1, 2022

Sorry, yeah the body segments! I tend to think of it all as the tail haha

Latte · Jul 1, 2022

Hadla said:
Sorry, yeah the body segments! I tend to think of it all as the tail haha

No I kind of do too, never thought of it till you asked so thought it was worth checking! Thanks so much for your help Hadla!

Latte · Jul 1, 2022

Shaqs_Jumper said:
Me and my buddy kept one for around 18 months, we put around 15 pounds of live rock In a 29 gallon cycled it for around 5 weeks and added him, best to keep alone they are very smart and tend to pick up very fast on eating, I'd also Recommend a gravely substrate like crushed coral over sand they love to decorate so maybe throw a couple of extra small rocks or shells in aswell hope this helps

I actually find mine likes playing with the sand too and will pick up big balls of it and place it in its cave. I've got a sand substrate with a bunch of coral rubble on top and that seems to work well!

Zallergik · Jul 7, 2022

Still planning out the tank setup and was wondering if you guys would suggest buying a RODI water system and making my own saltwater or just buying saltwater from a LFS since it is a smaller tank no bigger than 40Gallons.

Hadla · Jul 7, 2022

Latte said:
I actually find mine likes playing with the sand too and will pick up big balls of it and place it in its cave. I've got a sand substrate with a bunch of coral rubble on top and that seems to work well!

I love when they move sand with their claws and then do the wiping hands thing that people do

And when they use their pleopods to kick sand behind them lol

nmotz · Jul 10, 2022

Zallergik said:
Still planning out the tank setup and was wondering if you guys would suggest buying a RODI water system and making my own saltwater or just buying saltwater from a LFS since it is a smaller tank no bigger than 40Gallons.

An RODI is a great investment. It may seem like a lot at first but you will save so much money in the long run.

Feet Pixel · Jul 11, 2022

I can't imagine going back to no RODI unit. They really make things convenient and they eventually pay themselves off- the sooner you buy it, the sooner that investment realizes.