Mantis Shrimp

I have a wet/dry on my 90 Gallon Reef. I would love to add a mantis as sort of a side attraction. The living situations would be an a 12" by 12" cube with about 10 pounds of live rock in it. There are two catches however. one is that the floor is a grate with about 1/2 square inch holes and i'm not sure if this would be acceptable to the mantis, but he would probably spend more time on the live rock. The other catch is that the water is only about 31/2 inches deep. The mantis would be clearly underwater, but it wouldn't have very much vertical moving space. Thoughts?

 

I could suggest numerous species that would do quite well with the space that you have laid out. However, I'm really not sure what I think about the lack of a substrate.

Please send me a PM so I can hook you up with someone more knowledgeable than me.

 

The lack of substrate was the problem I had with it. However, they do spend the majority of their in the rock, which is what makes me undecided.

 

Yeah....but many species like to decorate, and then re-decorate, and then re-decorate again. Other species get full and bury their uneaten food. To be honest with you, I just don't know. I've always given them sand.

 

And if you have other suggestions for cool critters that could live there but not in the main display i'd be open to the suggestions.

 

Oh, and will they be upset if it stays relatively dark most of the time, or will they appreciate light for half the day?

 

Also, i've heard about their ability to break aquarium glass. The Wet/Dry is plastic that is about a quarter inch this. Could it smash through this and what is the likelihood that it would?

 

the likelyhood of it smashing the tank is unlikely....usually the tanks you see smashed is due to the tank being crappy, cracked or somebody teasing it.

I think I read somewhere that they need a certain amount of light in order to keep up their shell. Maybe Inwall or somebody else can shed some more info on that!

I had a very interesting thing happen to me today with my peacock mantis..Bob. I was working in his tank and had the brilliant idea to rearrange the rock in the tank, including his den. I thought he was out of his den and I did not pay attention to where he was so when I took down his den, I realized he was in there. Before I had the time to react he took out of the den and swam by my hand and actually tapped me with his tail as he swam by. He could have smashed or speared me as the tail has spears on it, however he just wanted to give me a "warning" that he was upset! I finished the redecorating and he seems happy with his new den! And I am happy my hand is fine!

 

Thats lucky. I could very easily add a light to the area. My question is whether the mantis could live without the substrate.

 

i personally dont think its that great of an idea, now a species only tank, heck ya. but those are some cramped quarters... and i know they like their room to play/move around in.