Mantis Shrimp - "Nano Wave 9" combatible?

Pretty much. Species only tank and I'm crossing my fingers for a gonodactylus smithii mantis aka Purple Spotted Mantis. They're supposed to be really interactive and very hardy, so that's what I'm hoping for. If not I'll join stepho's club and get a Wennerea. But, like I said, crossing the fingers...

There will probably be a little damsel buddy in there with him. If he kills it, I won't cry over it.

 

Why not just set up a tank from scratch? If its not going to be a reef you could probably do even a 20L for a hundred bucks, specially if you can source used equipment.

 

I'm leaving my options open with the "reef ready" setup. I might toss in a few zoas if the mantis plays nice and doesn't move his rocks around too much. And, if the mantis thing doesn't work out, then I have a tank to mess around with that's coral compatible. These tanks seem to be very popular, I just noticed that the link I put up has them on back order at $160. My LFS is on their 3rd shipment of 10 of them. So newbies and experts alike seem to like the concept of a little tank to play with.

 

Ah, I see. Yeah the lighting game would drastically change things

 

The common hitch hiker mantises are almost always the smaller ones. You won't get a peacock mantis as a hitch hiker. You can also identify them using Roy's list to determine how big they will get.


I am in the process of setting up a peacock mantis tank. I am addicted to them. I am trying to figure out how I want to set it up.

I love mantises they are so easy to take care of and awesome.

 

Good point. I would ask your LFS to watch out for mantis hitchhikers. Why couldn't you get a small peacock hitchhiking in?

 

Well I suppose it isn't impossible... Typically they make their burrows under the rock. Common hitch hiking species like the N. Wennerae like to hang out inside the cavities of live rock, which is why they become hitch hikers.

I have actually noticed my guy going into the cavities of live rock. He will go in head first and I can hear him banging in there (i think he is making it bigger), then he will crawl back out and turn around and put his tail in first. I watched him do it for about 30 minutes the other night. He kept changing holes and going back into his den (under the rock) then back into a hole.

 

Oh man I can't wait to get a mantis. I'm hoping for the gonodactylus smithii (wow...I spelled that on my own...wow) aka the Purple Spotted Mantis, or the Wennerae as a backup.

I want to see you do a peacock setup Stepho. That would be awesome.

 

It is going to take me a while to get it set up. I am taking my time and collecting parts one at a time when I have extra cash.

 

Oh, the things I get myself into....