Mantis Shrimp

Thats crazy, that article I posted says that they are a pretty ancient species.

 

It's a good thing we usually only find the small spp. becuase I have seen preserved specimens that were about a foot long. That kind can definitely break aquarium glass. I am sure it would break your fingers too.

I am fascinated by their apparent dog-like behavior. I would love to see that someday. Too bad they aren't reef safe--they would be such a cool addition. The colors in the video are amazing.

 

This is common in the larger species such as that Peacock mantis in the video. Some of the real small species hide all the time.

Fluffy was my first peacock mantis. He watched everything I did and liked my computer monitor. He had better taste in women than I did.....he hated my ex-wife. LOL

He loved my cat and my chocolate lab. He hated my yellow lab. Those two would drive me insane. Cheyenne would stick her nose on the tank. Fluffy would smack at her nose. Cheyenne would bark and then put her nose back on the tank. Smack, bark......lather, rinse, repeat. (Mind you, I'm trying to get work done with this going on).

 

Ive been watching some video of mantis shrimp on youtube for about the last half hour and I just dont think I could have one.
They having amazing color, but they still creep me out a little.
I watched one where it grabbed a fish midswim and killed it. Clicking away.
Kinda cool but disturbing at the same time and like I said earlier I still feel like I got bugs crawling all over me from watching them but yet I still continue to watch because its interesting

 

well if it bothers you then you definately should not own one. But I have kept fish and even snails in the tank with Bob. As long as you keep them well fed they will not go after fish. The snails is a different story...they will eventually eat them...smashers have to in order to keep from loosing them in the next molt and basically dying. But Bob most of the time will eat only the ones I drop right in front of him into his den and leave the ones I place as clean up crews alone. After about 3 months I have to replace the clean up crew cause he has slowly ate them as midnight snacks!

Again, the videos posted on youtube are usually of larger species....not the kind typically found as hitchhickers. I would say my peacock is at least 8 inches long. But honestly like I said I dont fear him. He has not ate a fish and in fact I posted in one thread earlier I had my hand in there and Bob was in his den and when I looked a damsel was in his den hiding with him.

Now I would not put all fish with him. I would never place an expensive fish with him as I might forget to feed him and then he would go hunting. Also certain fish like clowns (stay in one place), bottom dwellers, gobies should never be placed in there....as we have to remember it still has its natural instinct and might be too much of a temptation for them!

But like I posted in another post, mantis and pistols are very misunderstood. We ahve all heard the stories about mantis breaking glass of tanks....and I am not saying that it is not true. But a sound quality made tank with a mantis that has the proper home established for them will not be at risk. Bob has rocks in his tank that he decides to redecorate all the time....he has 3 dens right now and changes them frequently. Most of the time a tank breaks is because the glass was chipped or some kid is at the otherside tapping and teasing at the tank!

I was very fortunate..I was exactly like most of the people on this forum...mantis bad, very bad. But my LFS brought in mantis and kept them in the store to show people how they really are (inwall brought his in) Saw that they live with fish, and over time learned more and more about it.

Not all stores in my area like mantis and have all the facts. True story I went into another LFS one day shortly after I got Bob and bought some snails for him. I was talking to the guy (I know all the LFS people very well in my area!!!) and told him I have a peacock. He tried to talk me into getting rid of it right away, that they will break my hand and my tank etc. When I did not do it, he actually went and told my MOTHER later how dangerous they are..thank you very much! My mom told him I was a grown up and would be ok,,,,,,but came home and lectured me over it!

 

If u dont want him, post him to meeeeeee!!!

 

Back off fishy face I got dibs! Can you say 10g species only tank? I can.

 

Man I hate mantis shrimps...

A couple of months ago, we got dispatched to a call and all it said on our pagers was aquarium accident. I can't say name or anything due to hipaa. And the weird thing was that it was a priority 1 (code red) call (for those not familiar with ems, P1 has 2 codes, red and green. Red is with lights and sirens...green is without, but it's still a priority 1. There are 4 priorities in all EDIT: well by nysdoh standards, but thats beside the fact) And on the way there i kept on thinking, aquarium accident? What, did it fall on someone!?

So we got there and we saw a man on the floor bleeding from the hand and one of his fingers cut off. His wife said he was cleaning his tank and then this happened. I looked at the tank and I couldn't seen any broken glass or anything. He had a very nice tank, but I was really confused...so we controlled the bleeding and put the finger in a bag with some ice and took him to the hospital. On the way there I asked him questions about what happened. He said a shrimp attacked him. and being the salt water junky that i am...I tried not to laugh and said, "mantis shrimp?" and he looked at me and swore. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. By far the most interesting call i have ever been on.

Not that i'm saying don't keep it because it cut some guys finger off, but just be careful. Just like with everything else in this hobby...Good luck my friend!!!!

 

i found a mantis in my tank

i have one in my tank, i got some live rock on a school feild trip out in the gulf stream off cape hatteris in NC. i love him he doesnt bother any of the other fish.he breaks holes into the rock and digs.I can hear him snapping while im watching tv.im thinking of doing a speices only tank with a zebra mantis? im not sure if thats the name of it but i do have a spare 55 gal that is calling his name. does anyone know where i can find one i been searching all over but i can only find peacock mantis and the green mantis.

heres a vid of him, i have another im going to upload soon.

 

Yeh that Zebra Mantis's are the striped ones, in black and white, or sometimes black and yellow. They are spearers, so they spear their food rather than smash them, and are more likely to go after fish and leave crustaceans alone. They are very cute, but rare as far as I know.


I would have any Mantis if one came my way...