SHOW OFF YOUR MANTIS SHRIMP!!

Daniel@R2R · Apr 2, 2018

MauiMarineAquarium (MMA) said:
Question, are these shrimp anything like the pistol shrimp. And if so are you folks not worried about glass breaking or acrylic cracking. What type of measure for safety do you folks take to safeguard from a busted tank.?
Beautiful shrimp pictures by the way guys. keep them coming.

The idea that a mantis shrimp can break a tank is pretty much an urban legend/hobby myth. There have been no firsthand reports of any mantis shrimp breaking a tank. It's always a person who heard about someone who knew someone...

Joe Rogers · Apr 2, 2018

MauiMarineAquarium (MMA) said:
Question, are these shrimp anything like the pistol shrimp. And if so are you folks not worried about glass breaking or acrylic cracking. What type of measure for safety do you folks take to safeguard from a busted tank.?
Beautiful shrimp pictures by the way guys. keep them coming.

There is debate about this. You can find a few posts claiming online that they have broken aquarium glass. You can also find videos of larger mantis hitting solid glass and not doing damage. A big worry is that they will strike the bottom glass panel when attempting to burrow. That’s why I chose to line my bottom panel with acrylic. I want to hear the mantis man’s opinion though! After research it seems like the general opinion is that they will not break glass unless it is a very large mantis in an aquarium with thin glass.

MauiMarineAquarium (MMA) · Apr 2, 2018

Thanks guys. I just YouTubed a video on mantis shrimp. What I gathered from this video is mantis shrimp accelerate their claws at the speed of a 22 caliber bullet. It does not punch with the force of a 22 caliber bullet. They punch so fast that a small bubble forms creating a small bubble, of voided space, this bubble collapses and disappear with in a fraction on a second.
Joe Rogers smart idea adding a acrylic sheet at the bottom of tank just Incase.

jcmental · Apr 3, 2018

I've just found one on some live rock I bought on Friday, I left it in the tank for now because it was only 3/4" long. How big can they get before becoming a danger to your livestock?
I may set up a 90lt tank for it not sure yet.

Shabalaba · Apr 3, 2018

Probably the best photo I've ever taken haha

Rufus’ goofs · Apr 3, 2018

itisjp said:
You might want to check out radiolab.org they have a podcast episode about the Mantis and it’s vision called Ripping the rainbow.

I will definitely check that out. Thank you very much.

Joe Rogers said:
They actually just published a revised version last week. I would highly recommend listening to it for anyone curious about what a Mantis shrimp "sees". The sad news are that we may have grossly overestimated their abilities. Mantis Shrimp appear to be very bad at identifying colors as we see them. But they also mentioned a paper coming out that might prove the Mantis Shrimp's ability to communicate using forms of light that are not visible to most animals. Super interesting stuff!!

I did not know that. I will definitely be looking for it. Thank you for the heads up.

ncaldwell · Apr 3, 2018

My little buddy that past last summer when the tank got too hot one day

MauiMarineAquarium (MMA) · Apr 4, 2018

Shabalaba said:
Probably the best photo I've ever taken haha

Great picture shabalaba

najer · Apr 4, 2018

ncaldwell said:
My little buddy that past last summer when the tank got too hot one day

Sorry to hear that, gorgeous animal.

Daniel@R2R · May 5, 2021

Bump for mantis photos!

AlgaeBarn · May 6, 2021

We need to see more mantis!

AlexG · May 6, 2021

@AlgaeBarn here are some videos of my spear mantis I had in my old aquarium system.

AlgaeBarn · May 6, 2021

AlexG said:
@AlgaeBarn here are some videos of my spear mantis I had in my old aquarium system.

The first video made me want to get another one! Love watching them hunt!

AlexG · May 6, 2021

AlgaeBarn said:
The first video made me want to get another one! Love watching them hunt!

I had that mantis for 3 years and lost if just before my move. I have dedicated a tank in my new system just for mantis and I am thinking I want to get another spear as they have some very interesting behaviors to observe.