Peacock Mantis question

Brady4000 · Jan 19, 2021

I will be receiving my peacock mantis tomorrow! So excited, been working on it’s tank for a long time now.

I have read a lot of thread about CUCs for mantis tanks, but only about how to keep them alive...

Here is my question:
I don’t really care if he kills them, but will he kill them as he eats? Or will kill the whole crew and burry the body’s lol... and obviously cause problems.

I was going to drop cerith snails, Emerald crabs and hermit crabs in the tank, and just replace as I go.

I really want to keep him on a live food diet, so he’s always hunting and putting on a show. Only feeding him a frozen soaked (whatever) in selcon once a week.

Sharkbait19 · Jan 19, 2021

Brady4000 said:
I will be receiving my peacock mantis tomorrow! So excited, been working on it’s tank for a long time now.

I have read a lot of thread about CUCs for mantis tanks, but only about how to keep them alive...

Here is my question:
I don’t really care if he kills them, but will he kill them as he eats? Or will kill the whole crew and burry the body’s lol... and obviously cause problems.

I was going to drop cerith snails, Emerald crabs and hermit crabs in the tank, and just replace as I go.

I really want to keep him on a live food diet, so he’s always hunting and putting on a show. Only feeding him a frozen soaked (whatever) in selcon once a week.

Awesome! Mantis shrimps are cool, you'll love yours!
About the CUC, I would generally advice against it. You'll need to be replacing them quite often, and eventually you'll just give up. Very few inverts survive mantis shrimps.

Brady4000 · Jan 19, 2021

Sharkbait19 said:
Awesome! Mantis shrimps are cool, you'll love yours!
About the CUC, I would generally advice against it. You'll need to be replacing them quite often, and eventually you'll just give up. Very few inverts survive mantis shrimps.

Will he make a mess or eat them? I mean the snails are like $30 for 200-250... lol

Sharkbait19 · Jan 19, 2021

Brady4000 said:
Will he make a mess or eat them? I mean the snails are like $30 for 200-250... lol

That’s a good deal! The issue is that any decaying matter from uneaten snails will foul up the water and mantis shrimps need pretty clean tanks and stable params. You’ll just have to constantly clean up after him. It’s probably better to monitor feedings and limit amount so you know what goes in and what is left uneaten.

Brady4000 · Jan 19, 2021

Sharkbait19 said:
That’s a good deal! The issue is that any decaying matter from uneaten snails will foul up the water and mantis shrimps need pretty clean tanks and stable params. You’ll just have to constantly clean up after him. It’s probably better to monitor feedings and limit amount so you know what goes in and what is left uneaten.

Yea I buy them off eBay. Link. He also dose free shipping.

Think I’ll drop 100 of these bad boys in there and keep the mantis fed slowly with crabs. Too bad he doesn’t clean his plate lol...

Brady4000 · Jan 19, 2021

Or is even 100 a bad idea? Lol maybe 50? And 50 in the sump?

vetteguy53081 · Jan 19, 2021

They eat them one by one. A mantis shrimp can easily spear or slice the prey in very short timing. The spearer mantis shrimp live to eat the soft-bodied prey such as fish, worms and said. The other type is the smasher which primarily eats shelled fish (snails, etc).
Crustaceans are among their favorites, so they love eating crabs and even fellow shrimps. Crabs will usually fight with them first, but with the Peacock Mantis Shrimp’s smasher, it can easily defeat a crab.

Brady4000 · Jan 19, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
They eat them one by one. A mantis shrimp can easily spear or slice the prey in very short timing. The spearer mantis shrimp live to eat the soft-bodied prey such as fish, worms and said. The other type is the smasher which primarily eats shelled fish (snails, etc).
Crustaceans are among their favorites, so they love eating crabs and even fellow shrimps. Crabs will usually fight with them first, but with the Peacock Mantis Shrimp’s smasher, it can easily defeat a crab.

Yea my main concern was, that he was going to through the tank parameters sky high. If he ending up leaving 100 1/2 eaten snails and 10 hermits.. rotting in the tank. Or if he kills just because he’s bored and never eats some of them.