Mantis yes!

ThunderGoose · Jan 21, 2018

OK. so it IS a mantis. I got a better look at her when I was cleaning the tank this afternoon. She now has to be rehoused. My refugium currently houses two hermit crabs and my sump has a gorilla crab in each compartment. If I was confident the mantis could take out the gorilla crab I'd move her down there but she's SMALLER than either gorilla.

So I'm off to Dr. Google to try and find out what she needs. Is there a thread here about mantis shrimp set ups? Will a 10 gallon be enough?

Shhhh... Don't tell The Husband!

ncaldwell · Jan 21, 2018

Any pictures? I've seen a lot of hitchhiker mantis' that would be fine in a 10 gal. I made a couple little pvc tubes with elbows for burrows about a half ich wider than the shrimp. Other than that it liked low light and to kill things. Good luck they're like puppies after tbey get used to you. Pic of my setup in half a 40 breeder refugium

reef lover · Jan 21, 2018

Sweet!! Smasher or stabber?? A smasher could maybe potentially get big enough to break glass but a stabber won't. Shell need substrate at least as deep as she is long and lots of small rubble they can move around and build with!! And don't worry your secrets safe with us!!

ThunderGoose · Jan 21, 2018

No pictures yet. She came partway out to attach the turkey baster and I didn't have a camera handy.

I think she's a smasher but I need a better look at her. When (ha ha ha, you mean if) I catch her I'll be able to ID species and smash vs stab. But first - setting up a tank to put her in after I've caught her. At least for now it'll have to be a 10 gallon. I do have a 20 and a 55 in the basement but we're in the middle of renovations (due to a broken pipe unfortunately) and so I have extra furniture, books, and art scattered all around. I'm sure she'll get a lot bigger since she's 2 or 3 inches now and probably came in much smaller 6 months ago when I got the live rock.

Maybe instead of putting things back together I can set up a fish room. Yeah, that's it. We don't need a place to put books and we don't need the antiques I inherited or anything else in that room. Right? Right?

Shabalaba · Jan 23, 2018

Im sure its a smasher considering it lives in the LR but it'd be very happy in a 10 gallon. These guys don't need much room to roam because they rarely like to leave their burrow. Myths of smashers breaking glass are pretty widespread, but it's actually extremely rare and only happens with the largest of smashers. To house this little critter I would ideally put it in a 10-20 gallon with a section of PVC that is 2 times the diameter of the mantis. Instead of the PVC tube in my tanks, I will often put in several pieces of liverock and 3 inches of sand, allowing the mantis to construct its own burrow and making it look more natural. Also, plenty of rubble/shells for him to build and decorate with will make him a happy camper. They can be fed using tongs and pieces of raw seafood such as shrimp, mussel, calamari, scallop, ect. Sometimes they will take frozen fish preparations, and sometimes prefer them over live foods.