Originally Posted by Speg
Thats partially correct Mantis shrimp really are not a shrimp at all.
Nope, they are stomatopods. nice mantis, does look like an Odontodactylus Scylarrus, peacock mantis. more pics especially some with him and his new den.
just pray to god that his lunch doesnt swim by the glass. a mantis like that, if it strikes the glass, would probably shatter it. if i could, i would love to shrink myself and a bass boat, go float in your tank, and git-r-done
Well, so far the mantis is a wimp. He hasn't bothered the damsels that are in there with him. Even when they almost swim right into his face. I've been stick feeding him. He's very gentle taking the food off the stick. So far, hasn't showed any signs of aggression.
Not all amntis shrimp are the evil scourge some poeple think. I kept a 4" mantis fed well in my 72g and he left everything else alone. Anthia's and damsels would swim right next to him when he was running around the tank and he would ignore them. I dont think your mantis will attack any of animal unless he's provoked or he's hungry.
Originally Posted by matt_m
Actually, there are 5 damsels in there. He hasn't touched them yet, or the snails. But, he loves frozen brine.
perhaps with his frozen brine, he would enjoy a cosmopolitan or malibu bay breeze?
is kind of scares me and shouldnt be here
i think you should keep feeding that guy and let him stay docile. i mean they are beautiful and if you could train him well enough, maybe you could throw him in with some other fish. he would add a lot to a FO tank (they arent reef safe right :notsure: )
cool new critter!! they have one like that in a local tampa shop here right now for 15 bucks. its in a plascis back with cracks all over it from him thumping on the sides lol
Give him a while, He'll probably get the snails sooner or later. Mine never really messed with fish. But if you are looking for a good fight, put a large hermit crab in their. He'll know what to do with that !! Or any size hermit crab for that matter. Inverts and crustaceans make up the majority of there diet in the wild. The fish are just to fast. Now if you had a slasher, the damsels would be toast in no time.