Show off your Mantis Shrimp......enter at your own risk!

underwatergarde

underwatergarde

Member
:bluemad: Howdy!

We all know Mantis Shrimps aren't shrimps at all....poor misunderstood critters.... & we all know how cute & cuddly they are. Tell us your story on how you acquired your new friend & show us how photogenic they are!!!

Here is our pride and joy...Mr. McMantis.............

Mr. McMantis arrived at our doorstep one day hiding at the bottom of a box of live rock! He was teeny weenie then. He's about 4" now. Luckily he wasn't transfered into the tank because it would have almost impossible to find and/or catch him at his tiny size. We made our 10g quarantine tank his new home :chair: .

Here he is in all his glory.....

mrmantis9.jpg


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see how much he loves his dinner guests? He's hugging it, oh he's sooo cute I just wanna pinch his lil cheek

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underwatergarde

underwatergarde

Member
BEELZEBOB said:
wait, you have a peacock mantis in a 10 gallon tank?

homeboys gonna need room to grow!
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We're in the process of building him a 29g. He won't be in it for a couple of months but right now he seems fine in the 10. All joking aside, we really do love him. He's very active and so smart!

Thanks for the thread, it's awesome to see so many mantis! They have such beautiful colors!
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
mines coming saturday or sunday, was supposed to come yesterday but i guess it got backed up. hes a peacock from the Philippines, he gets my 55g breeder
 
underwatergarde

underwatergarde

Member
chrome91 said:
mines coming saturday or sunday, was supposed to come yesterday but i guess it got backed up. hes a peacock from the Philippines, he gets my 55g breeder
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Good luck with your new Mantis Chrome! He's going to have lots of space to roam in a 55g. Are you expecting him for a home delivery? I hope he doesn't get stuck over the weekend in the PO (or how ever he's coming), it's a holiday weekend. Usually live stock is overnighted to keep down the stress of the animal.

Will this be your 1st Mantis? Mr. McMantis is our 1st. I actually heard audible gasps from people when I said we were keeping him. I shudder to think of all the helpless Mantis's that are done away with. They're so misunderstood!

Mr. McMantis keeps us entertained all day long. He's very active & very healthy. I believe he recognizes certain people too. There are 5 adults here, only 2 of us feed him. When he sees one of us he flies out of his cave & dances for us but if one of the other 3 are there he pays no attention to them.

I'm thrilled we found him in the live rock shipment.

Will you let us know when you get him & possibly post a photo?
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
he will be my first, i order stuff from a guy 3 hours from me since he has really cheap prices. i waited 4 weeks to see if he had any hitchhike, and he didnt find any so he ordered a peacock from the Philippines. something happened and it got delayed in the Philippines so hes expecting it tomorrow or sunday, he ships to me by greyhound bus. i have 10lbs of premium Jakarta live rock coming with him too (will stay submerged all the way, so no curing needed). hes only charging me $25 for the mantis, while big als here has them for $50-$60

ive already got a scooter blenny in the tank that he hopefully wont bother, some people told me if i feed him enough some fish should be fine. if my scooters left alone i have a few fish in mind to try. ive got ~8wpg of light so quite a few soft corals and a few hard corals will be in the tank in a few weeks, and maybe a bubble tip anemone in a year.

i will post pics!
 
panmanmatt

panmanmatt

Well-Known Member
I hope you don't feed him goldfish on a regular basis. Freshwater fish lack the proper vitamins and minerals that SW animals need. That and a smasher type mantis should be fed snails and crabs on a semi regular basis so they can keep up the muscle tone in their appendages. Feeding them soft foods all the time can lead to loss of muscle structure in their smashing appendages.
 
underwatergarde

underwatergarde

Member
panmanmatt said:
I hope you don't feed him goldfish on a regular basis. Freshwater fish lack the proper vitamins and minerals that SW animals need. That and a smasher type mantis should be fed snails and crabs on a semi regular basis so they can keep up the muscle tone in their appendages. Feeding them soft foods all the time can lead to loss of muscle structure in their smashing appendages.
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No that was his only freshwater fish, the LFS was out of inexpensive SW fish & crabs & my live shipment was delayed. He loves damsels, emerald crabs, snails & of course hermits too. We have given him shrimp & sm amounts of flounder from the supermarket. He eats a nice variety. Yes, Ive read about them losing their appendages if unused, I think thats wild. I wonder how fast evolution would catch up if pairs of clubbing mantis's mated over generations? Would they become like the spearer's? HMMMMM.....
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
mr. mantis is now expected mid-late next week, he said because of the long weekend things are backed up. i dont really mind though, i did the same thing to him. i had a huge coral order a couple of months ago from him and i hit a nasty construction bump with my car and the brakes shot and i had to delay it for over week since i couldnt get a ride from anyone to the station
 
BigJay

BigJay

Well-Known Member
can you guys not get live blue crabs? They sell them in Florida for bait usually running only a dollar a piece and about the size of a silver dollar. Would be perfect mantis food. Might want to see if you can order some and keep them in a seperate tank. They are very easy to keep alive and can live in a varied salinity level.
 
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schackmel

Member
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This is Bob, my peacock mantis. I have had him now for a couple weeks and I absolutely love him! We have already "bonded" though I dont want to test that bond...however his tank is across from my desk that I work from and he sits and looks at me all day.

I am thinking he might be going through his first molt since I have had him and I am worried a little....as I know it can be difficult on them. I tried to give him a turbo snail yesterday and he could not break it open and today he did that "I am big" pose to me. But he is still readily taking krill from his feeding stick so hopefully he will pull through this...just so soon after the move! I am not looking forward to finding that shell!

But when I first saw mantis at the LFS I thought WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD ANYBODY WANT ONE OF THOSE? Well a year later, lookey what I have..and I actually spend more time looking at him then I do my 135g tank. Something about him just amazes me...maybe the puppy dog face:yehoo:

I will be so happy when this molt is through...
 
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schackmel

Member
underwatergarde said:
Good luck with your new Mantis Chrome! He's going to have lots of space to roam in a 55g. Are you expecting him for a home delivery? I hope he doesn't get stuck over the weekend in the PO (or how ever he's coming), it's a holiday weekend. Usually live stock is overnighted to keep down the stress of the animal.

Will this be your 1st Mantis? Mr. McMantis is our 1st. I actually heard audible gasps from people when I said we were keeping him. I shudder to think of all the helpless Mantis's that are done away with. They're so misunderstood!

Mr. McMantis keeps us entertained all day long. He's very active & very healthy. I believe he recognizes certain people too. There are 5 adults here, only 2 of us feed him. When he sees one of us he flies out of his cave & dances for us but if one of the other 3 are there he pays no attention to them.

I'm thrilled we found him in the live rock shipment.

Will you let us know when you get him & possibly post a photo?
Click to expand...

Yeah it is so funny to watch the expressions of other people when you say you have a mantis shrimp. One LFS has always carried them as one guy that worked there loved them and was really good about teaching people about them, but the other LFS that I go to sees absolutely no good for them.

Well I went to the second LFS one day and was talking to some of the guys there. I said I have a mantis shrimp and they automatically went and got this trap for me. I explained to them that I bought it....first words out of their mouth was WHY? People kill those and you bought one? I was like absolutely...explained Bob and they just shook their heads. They then went into this schpeel about how dangerous they are, how he could break or even cut my fingers off, how his smashers is like a 22cal bullet, he can smash the glass. When I was not overly impressed by that, they ran and told my mother which then that made it worse....even though I am 35 she freaked out! I had to spend a lot of time reassuring her that "no mom, my hands are NEVER in Bobs tank...blah blah blah" and since I got Bob, every animal planet show has had something about Mantis shrimp apparently that she has seen and how bad they are
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
just gotta ask, does anyone who posted pics here keep theirs in a glass tank? (cant see no corners to check for silicone. lol) my 55g breeder has 1/4" glass but im still a bit paranoid about him breaking it. do they smash for no reason ever?
 
underwatergarde

underwatergarde

Member
schackmel said:
Yeah it is so funny to watch the expressions of other people when you say you have a mantis shrimp. One LFS has always carried them as one guy that worked there loved them and was really good about teaching people about them, but the other LFS that I go to sees absolutely no good for them....
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Bob is a handsome dude! I'm not really sure what Mr. McMantis's gender is but he looks like a male. I know what you mean about people freaking out that you have a mantis on purpose & you happen to think he's the bees knees. I get it all the time. Look, anyone who bluntly puts there hands into ANY SW tank without care is looking to get injured! Common sense is all that's needed. There are so many more dangerous animals out there kept as pets. If your knowledgeable & cautious there shouldn't be a problem.

I always worry when he molts. I add a drop more calcium to his tank when I see he is about to molt. One time he lost a leg but grew it back on his next molt. It's crazy how they can do that isn't it? I freaked out when I saw he lost a leg. I thought he was a goner but found out that they grow their appendages back. I hope Bob has a nice easy molt.
 
BigJay

BigJay

Well-Known Member
all I can say is tell everyone you can. Education can end the ignorance. If it wasn't for this forum I'd still be one of those ignorant fools thinking the only good mantis is a flushed one.
Alot of those people that scoff you to your face may actually get home and start doing some research on the net to prove themselves right. Lets hope those people find this forum and realize how great of a pet they can be.
 
underwatergarde

underwatergarde

Member
chrome91 said:
just gotta ask, does anyone who posted pics here keep theirs in a glass tank? (cant see no corners to check for silicone. lol) my 55g breeder has 1/4" glass but im still a bit paranoid about him breaking it. do they smash for no reason ever?
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Ours is in a 10 glass right now & I hold my breath each time he beats a shelled critter! The 29g is Not glass but it's still cycling. He was sooo tiny when we found him in the box that I thought our 10g qt tank would be safe fore a while but man this guy grows quickly! Ive heard from several people , 1 from the LFS that a mantis broke their tanks. Plus an employee from that LFS had his nail ripped off from a spearer they didn't know was in a live rock tank.
 
S

schackmel

Member
chrome91 said:
just gotta ask, does anyone who posted pics here keep theirs in a glass tank? (cant see no corners to check for silicone. lol) my 55g breeder has 1/4" glass but im still a bit paranoid about him breaking it. do they smash for no reason ever?
Click to expand...

Bob is in a glass tank. He is in a 28g biocube and they said that the bowfront provides more protection from breakage then a normal glass tank...however from what I read most of the breakage occurs from people "poking" at and teasing the mantis causing prolonged stress to a particular area of the glass.

I am not quite sure how they know Bob is Bob and not Bobita as I sure do not want to lift him up and check his underside!!!! They did have another mantis in the store and said it was a she and her colors and her size was not anywhere as remarkable as his was

Not sure if you posted but how long have you had Mr. McMantis? He looks cool also!

Now I am not sure if he is going through molt or not. Since I have never seen a mantis go through one, I am not sure what to expect. I saw him do the meral spread and not eat his favorit food a couple days ago....turbo snail after trying to smack it around a few times, but today he is out and swimming around back to his old self. So maybe he was just having a bad day?
 
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