Mantis shrimp questions

[greymach]

Hi, if i wanted to start a tank for a mantis shrimp, how big would the tank have to be? Also is anything else compatible with a mantis shrimp? Do you need live sand for a mantis? How much LR? Would a small NANO tank be ok for a mantis?

 

[watertight]

I kept a mantis for about 3 months in a 10 gal nano tank. I just used a bit of sand on the bottom, gave him a nice sized piece of L/R to hide under, a heater and a small submergible power filter. He did eventually die, but I'm not sure why. We were feeding him frozen pilchards that we bought from a fishing shop's bait freezer, so not sure if that's what killed him.
I've got another one in my tank clicking away ATM, I'll be getting him out asap and putting him in the nano. They are a pretty cool critter to keep, I was actually sad to lose the last one!