Mantis Shrimp

What makes me think it would work space wise is it has more floor space than a 10 gallon that many people keep them in and they don't do too much vertical moving.

 

Like Inwall stated, not sure about the substrate....from my expierence with Bob I would say that it needs sand! He likes to kick his swimmettes around and stir it up...plus will bury food in it. I would think if the bottom was eggcrate material he would break that up.....But again, I would contact that person inwall stated as that person is an expert on mantis and would be able to tell you right away!

size wise, I thought it was a little cramped myself as Bob does us all the tank that he has..a 29g tank and will often come to the top and swim around at time. However it sounds like there are many options you can do but I think the best thing right now is to contact that person!

Good luck and post pics if you get one!

 

Sounds like a mantis isn't the creature for this space. Does anyone have any ideas about other cool inverts that are not reef safe that would work here. I say not reef safe because if they are reef safe they would be in the display. I just want to utilize all the space I have in my setup.

 

I just looked and found that I can remove the grate, which is white plastic, not egg crate. then I could have about a foot of water space overhead. It would still only be a one foot squared floor space with tenish pounds of live rock and it would be bare bottom, but thats better than having the floor be a grate. This still wouldn't really house a mantis happily, but what other cool inverts could live here?

 

This is a little off subject, but I need to know.....if a Peacock Mantis decides to nail you from the front end....what happens in terms of tissue damage with your hand?

 

I know that they can pierce to the bone and cause damage, but are you referring to long term damage?

 

No, just what would happen if they nailed you good. I want to know what I am up against when I get one. Pretty much sounds like what I expected.

 

I hope I dont find out...mine is about 6-8" long so I assume it could really do some damage!

Peacocks mantis are both smashers and spearers....unlike most mantis that only have 1 or the other! So from what I have seen the spears that he has is just as if not more dangerous! And he has spears on his tail.....

One of the LFS that hates mantis, there is a guy who got his finger smashed by a peacock and showed me the scar...said it was to the bone.

BUT....while I would not recommend everybody having one...I am not afraid of Bob at all! I know right away what type of mood he is in when I walk in. He gets into this stance...merral stance that means get away. You have to be at attention whenever you are in that tank....have to keep an eye on them and not get lazy like I did....and of course dont mess with their dens!

 

In all of my years, I've only been hit once. This was a mantis I had on the counter and customers used to torture this poor thing with a magnet scraper. They were stressing him out so I sold the whole setup....tank, mantis, fish, rock, corals etc. just to protect him.

Everyone knew not to tease Snuggles. Heck, he was the most popular thing in the entire store besides Tyson. When the local paper did an article on the shop, Snuggles was the picture. When a charity children's hospital did an article, Snuggles was the picture, when the city did an article on the store, Snuggles was the picture. LOL