mantis shrimp

are there any mantis shrimps besides peacock and clown mantises?

 

Yes there are..

The Lurker's Guide to Stomatopods - Mantis Shrimp

 

thats alot... how many are available to the aquarium trade?

 

ha alot some are active .. and some just hide all day i have 2 ones in my main tank keeps to himself and hides all day no harm to fish and the other will defend self and pretty much reeks havoc among hermit crabs

still a pretty cool animal!

heres roys list
Roy's List of Stomatopods for the Aquarium

 

all of those are available to aquarium? which one is out and about? because it will be a species only tank so i would like an agressive and showy one

 

these are a few you can get your lfs to try and get but i have a wish list at a lfs for a peacock but so far no word on one yet but you get lucky .. theres a few on the forum that can answer your questions better than i but peacock is one of you best choices for activity and such
Odontodactylus scyllarus-peacock mantis
Neogonodactylus wennerae
Odontodactylus havanensis
Gonodactylus smithii

 

this one caught my eye Gonodactylus platysoma
its only an 8 gal tank btw

 

Any easy one to get, and also quite active, is a G. smithii.

 

Unfortunately you are joining the stomatopod (mantis shrimp) keepers club at a bad time. We recently lost one of our best stores. You used to be able to get several species from a website called stomatopod.com but it no longer exists.

Being an 8 gal limits you as well. O. havanensis is one of the best species and it is available at sealifeinc.net periodically, but is not suited for an 8 gal tank. A 20 long would be better suited.

G. platysoma is a good choice, but difficult to find.

N. wennerae is about the only species that is very easy to acquire and would do fine in an 8 gal. Some are shy and some are really out going. I had one that was very shy for a long time, but once he got to be a good size he was quite active. Swimming and running around every day. You can get them from tampabaysaltwater.com, that is where I got mine from but via local pick up. A member on here had some trouble with them and received a specimen missing several legs though. If you have a local fish store that carries rock cultured in the ocean from Florida or the Caribbean they will likely get them as hitch hikers periodically. I would call all of the local fish stores and see if someone brought one in.

 

wow, i did not realize stomatopod.com went out of business....that is a shame!
I have a N. Weenarea right now and it is very very shy. I dont see it much. I am working on hand feeding it a little. It will take a piece of piscene mysis if I put it right in front of her in her den, however she generally still hates seeing me!

Definately not like my peacock who was out and about all the time and followed me in her tank when i moved around the room...however you are very limited with that size of tank. I have seen peacocks on live aquaria at times, but you would have to get a bigger tank.

Go on your local reef club site and ask if anybody has a hitchicker. Most people who have them are crazy and want them out of their tank and will catch them and kill them. So if somebody is interested in one, it might keep them alive.

I had one in my 135g tank, and sadly when my tank seam broke, i threw a lot of rock in my predator tank. Well Curt heard a popping noise in that tank and all my predators (large golden puffer, large niger trigger (m) and large picasso all went over to that spot and ate him! I was very upset, i would not have put the rock in there if i knew he was in there!