The Official R2R Mantis Shrimp Thread!

Davesgt · Feb 20, 2013

yea it seems to be hard to find them that small now. i got mine around 2 1/2 " and thats the last ive seen at that size, which stinks cause he was awesome at that size lol. this is the last pic i had of mine. :sad:

matty0206 · Feb 20, 2013

I am new to keeping mantis and am slowly finding they are awesome creatures. Here is mine she is an appx 3" O. Scyllarus.

ritter6788 · Feb 20, 2013

Dang it! You guys are making me want to get another.

FragBuddy · Feb 20, 2013

I have a zebra mantis in my refugium with a coin bearing frogfish..they leave each other alone

ritter6788 · Feb 20, 2013

FragBuddy said:
I have a zebra mantis in my refugium with a coin bearing frogfish..they leave each other alone

Pics! :smile:

FragBuddy · Feb 21, 2013

ritter6788 said:
Pics! :smile:

believe it lol can't take pics cause the mantis is always in the sand

matty0206 · Feb 24, 2013

Here is mine eating Vermatid snails off the rock:

Sorry for the crappy quality, it was with my phone real quick.

JuanGutz · Feb 26, 2013

Here is my peacock, I picked him up yesterday he seems a little out if it but did eat a peppermint shrimp and flares up when my hand is close to the tank so hope those are some good signs! He hasn't really gone into his rock maze yet just stays in the sand if there's anything I should know please share and enjoy the pics( crappy iPhone pics but is what it is)

Forgot to turn the flash off he didn't like it

madehtsobi0109 · Feb 27, 2013

Nice! How much was it?

kschweer · Feb 27, 2013

Wow guys! Very nice. I have always wanted to keep one of these guys.

JuanGutz · Feb 28, 2013

madehtsobi0109 said:
Nice! How much was it?

$54 but I didn't pay that price idk if you guy can tell but I think he has shell rot on his left side, he has rust spots. So right now I'm over feeding him hoping he will molt it off.

madehtsobi0109 · Feb 28, 2013

Thats not a bad price!

Oh yeh I see it. Hope the molt helps!

ritter6788 · Feb 28, 2013

JuanGutz said:
$54 but I didn't pay that price idk if you guy can tell but I think he has shell rot on his left side, he has rust spots. So right now I'm over feeding him hoping he will molt it off.

I've found that not using bright reef lighting helps too. I had one with shell rot that got progressively worse. I turned off the white light and used only dim blue actinics and the shell rot seemed to stop. After a couple of molts it was gone.

matty0206 · Feb 28, 2013

From what I understand for peacocks especially, you need to keep the water very clean and/or keep the lighting very low. In the wild they are a deeper water species and live in low light. There are other species that are better suited for reef tanks but they are much smaller. I don't run any lights over my peacock tank and just use room light. I keep a damsel with mine for more movement but it is pretty much a species tank just for the mantis.

madehtsobi0109 · Mar 10, 2013

Got a question!

Do smaller peacock mantis not exhibit the colors as in larger ones?

Saw this at the LFS today

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1362951815.132953.jpg

Is this a peacock?

ritter6788 · Mar 10, 2013

Not a peacock. Hard to tell what exact species it is.

O. Scyllarus keep the same brilliant colors no matter the size.

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madehtsobi0109 · Mar 10, 2013

The guy at the store said he might be one just small so not showing the colors...

Man these guys are hard to find!

ritter6788 · Mar 10, 2013

madehtsobi0109 said:
The guy at the store said he might be one just small so not showing the colors...

Man these guys are hard to find!

I can tell you 100% that's it's not a peacock. That mantis will always be that color. There are a few that change color due to conditions, surroundings and lighting but not that one in your picture and not O. scyllarus.

O. scyllarus come from deeper waters of Indonesia meaning someone has to go down there and collect them. They aren't as common as the hitchhikers that come in on live rock.

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