Mantis safety in 180 gallon fish only???

[zues3026]

Hi, I have a mantis shrimp about 1 1/2 inches in a little critter container in my fish only tank. He keeps wacking at the sides trying to get out. I feel bad for him. Will he be safe in my 180 with my longhorn Cowfish, Psuedo, Snapper, columbian catfish, and Cling, or will he actually cause damage to my fish in any way. I have a huge amount of hermits on the sand floor. What do you think I should do. I do not want to get rid of him. He is amazing.

 

[travis99]

i would get another tank. Mantis are not safe with anything. Get an acrylic tank. They have been none to crack glass.

 

[deltablack22]

Yeah if you wanna keep him I know there are some people that post on here and have them. Search for their setups. I hear nothing but good things from those that have them on purpose.

I would NOT let him go in that tank though. I dont think the fish would be at risk but your hermit population would disappear with a quickness... Good luck.

 

[watertight]

I had a mantis in a 10 gal for a while, he was amazing. If he's a basher He'll destroy your snails, but I'd think the fish would be OK. If he's a spearer I think he'd probably take out fish during the night. Just my thoughts...

 

[nycbob]

it will take at least a 6 inch mantis to break ur tanks glass.

 

[dmitry]

I don't think anything will be safe in your tank as the Mantis grows. The hermits will be the first to go and they'll start getting knocked off immediately.

 

[sepulatian]

The columbian cat and psuedo will be the first to go after the inverts if you keep him in there. Set up a tank for him if you like him. It does not have to be acrylic. If you keep him happy then he will not try to break the tank. Set the rock, small pieces piled, in the middle and have sand so he can make a den. They are not hard to keep but are amazing to watch.

 

[zues3026]

Can it be possible to maybe connect another small tank to my main tank like a refugium of some sorts. I have a 5 gallon that I am not using and wondering if I can somehow connect it.

 

[texasmetal]

You could connect the tanks, but a 5 gallon isn't going to be big enough in the long run. Might as well get a 10 or 20 gallon, maybe even a 30 depending on what kind of Mantis it is... the peacocks grow to be about a foot long.

 

[zues3026]

I was told it is a green mantis, and will not get bigger than 4" in the aquarium. I guess I can do a 10 gallon. Is there a way to set one up easily like a diagram or some kink of resource to look at. I am not sure how to, but I do have power heads and a protein skimmer.

 

[stanlalee]

the mantis is just as much danger of getting snapped into pieces by the psuedo and snapper as it is of harming the fish especially that small. neither are safe.

 

[zues3026]

Ok, Thank you, I am just gonna either set up the 5 gallon for him now or get a 10 gallon.

 

[porthosandjazz]

Originally Posted by Zues3026
Hi, I have a mantis shrimp about 1 1/2 inches in a little critter container in my fish only tank. He keeps wacking at the sides trying to get out. I feel bad for him. Will he be safe in my 180 with my longhorn Cowfish, Psuedo, Snapper, columbian catfish, and Cling, or will he actually cause damage to my fish in any way. I have a huge amount of hermits on the sand floor. What do you think I should do. I do not want to get rid of him. He is amazing.
If he gets bigger, I have seen on youtube how mantis shrimp will eat/attack ANYTHING! And I mean ANYTHING. Even if it were ten times as large. They even attack snorkelers, so if they aren't afraid of humans, they surely won't be afraid of a little cowfish. And when that thing gets hurt, everyone dies. That's what I hear

 

[andy51632]

I have read that triggerfish feed on mantis shrimp in the wild. True?

 

[alex4286]

i would say.. get rid of it.
I hope u seriously didn't pay money for one of those.
I found one of those devils as hitchhiker from my LR from the LFS. As i stuck my hand in the tank, placing the rocks where I wanted them, he came out of a hole and BIT ME. It freaked me out so bad & hurt!! I put the rock in the sink and filled it with fresh tap water & just waited for something to pop out gasping for air., it only took 2minutes to find the monster swimming in all sorts of directions trying to live. it was about 3inches big. I think how it works is, if the mantis spots something swimming or just coming by its "home/hole" it attacks. They couldn't possibly be safe with much..