Mantis shrimp diet

Got the tank setup but waiting a bit, I used live sand and rock from the lfs which was kept in water, been a few weeks so I am good on the tank side (20gal) -
Before I get the main attraction for the tank, I am wondering how often do I need to feed it? And what kind of varied diet does it need to thrive.... my lfs has snails and hermits but am sure it will need more then just those to thrive -

Thanks in advance,
Tom

 

What species?

 

Peacock most likley -

 

woot woot peacock mantis's are freakin amazing looking. nice choice. i do however recall- dont quote me because im nowhere near a professional- that these are larger than most. they are carnivores. i think you can easily wean them onto frozen foods. good luck adn oh yea PICS ARE MANDATORY when you get it.

 

It's going to vary depending on size. Hermit crabs don't really contain a lot of protein....just a whole lot of exoskeleton. If you feed those, you'll need a lot of them. Snails have a lot more meat.

I've always fed 3 or 4 times per week but they have always eaten a variety of seafood or frozen fish food. You do want to give them live food periodically so they can keep their hammers hardened.

 

Bob got fed every other day. I would alternate with frozen krill, silversides and raw shrimp majority of the time (I soaked them all in selcon or something like that)
I would give her about once every week or every 2 weeks a turbo snail to keep her smashers up! I would try to get hte biggest turbos I could find (as she was very large close to 10 to 11"

 

feed them bad crabs

 

see now this guys SOUNDS like a professional... psst... id listen to him if i were you

 

I think you mean this lady sounds like a professional.

Also just so you know you are really going to have to stay on top of water quality with a peacock in a 20 gallon. It will be impossible to remove excess food from the tank as the peacock will bury it in it's den.

 

I've been feeding my Peacock frozen shrimp, and he loves it. I throw a crayfish in there every once in awhile to keep him on his toes.