Anyone keep their Mantis shrimps by choice?

[pecan2phat]

Just wanted to see if anybody has kept those hitch hiking Mantis shrimps that came with your live rock by choice. I know that sometimes they are almost impossible to get out of your tanks but has anyone captured and kept them in say a non-reef tank?
I threw out a 2.5" Mantis that I saw in my Gulf rocks order from LR.com, I felt kind of bad but I was just afraid of the devastation it could do. Today, I just caught another Mantis that was about .50" that was hanging around my baby Maxima. I was thinking about throwing him in my 10g that only has some LR, hitch hiking crabs from my two previous orders of LR and a couple of damsel fish. What do you think, chuck him?

 

[sumphead]

Sure do, I gotta run for now but will post my critters in just a little while. It's a blast. Trying to teach mine to eat out of my hand now! 8O

 

[Guest]

A lot of people will pay shipping for you to send them to them. Rather than killing them, it would help some people out. They are becoming quite popular in species specific tanks just for them.

 

[sumphead]

Hey, I'm back-

I expected a mantis or two from a large shipment from liverocks.com only to have shipping woes like so many this last winter. I even went to the point of having a hospitible home for them until I could make other arrangements. Eventually I just talked myself into keeping them in a JBJ 12G nano cube. But, alas since my rock was nearly void of life when it arrived, other than a couple of crabs that made it I was lifeless. However the great people at Liverocks hooked me up with some replacement life. In that box I ended up with two mantis. One nearly 4" long! All I can say is, WOW! They are happily kept in the 12G nano. I contantly find frags of snail shells and even dropped in a margarita and watched the the big one go to work! They are constanly watching every move I make following me from side-to-side as I walk through the room. I love em' and reccoment them highly. Eventually I would like to feed them frozen by hand. So far they still tend to be curious and get close, but still shy away from me when I get too close.

 

[Brisc0]

I am considering getting a 10G nano and a decent sized mantis just to watch them. Like sumphead was describing, I hear they are pretty interesting to watch and fun to feed.

 

[KLN]

I have mine in a 10g tank by himself. He killed anything in the 55g until I got him out. He is not particularly interesting so far, since he stays dug in under a rock.

 

[MiniReef2004]

I traded the 2 that surived the trip from LR.com to my lfs. The smaller one became lunch for the bigger. Once I feel a little more comfortable with my system my lfs guy will get me some xenia. I was told there is a big demand for the peacock mantis right now

Steve

 

[24 hours? NE!]

Do you have to have anything special to keep them?

What are their parameters?

I'm intrigued, my 12 gal nano is occupied right now, but if they aren't an incredible amount of upkeep, I might get one just to watch.

 

[jamal-188]

I had 2 in a 10g tank. They always hide and to tell you the truth I"m not even sure they are both alive, I've only seen one in the last week. I'd like to redo the tank so they are more visible.