i got some questions

[teckt]

Well i have just aquired my first mantis. He's the smasher type and he's red and a sort of dark olive with blueish tail. A friend of mine recently gave it to me after getting a new interesting bright yellow spearer. I have a 25 gallon eclipse tank and i've been keeping the water at about 79 F. I put in two full bags of live sand and various sizes of live rock wich i made a small cave for him to hide in. He's about 5' and has only been in his new tank for 2 days now. Now i've heard that the smashers are for the most part verocious eaters and will eat fish, snails, and crayfish. Well i've tried a few times now to feed him a goldfish and i also put in a small crab. With the goldfish he just did not seem the least bit interested and i took it out relativly quickly. When i put in the crab near the enterance to his cave he quickly sprung from his cave and just kinda shoved the crab away and then ran back to his den. Though everytime i fed him a few peices of frozen krill he grabed them relativly quickly. I got the mantis not only becouse i am really facinated by them i also love there feriocious personality's. My friend told me also that since he has had him he has been for the most part agressive. So i guess my question is can a mantis become distrot from a tank change? or are there signs that mantis shrimp show when ill? I really probably should'nt worry too much about it i know but i just want to make sure.


>thanx<

[Scotty]

First, give him a proper 'burrow'. If he can't hide he'll never be happy. In the wild a bug that size lives in a burrow 2 or 3 feet long, so try and build him a cave that's as long as possible with an entrance at either end. The best 'cave'is pvc pipe. 1.5 to 2 in diameter. they sell it in black and for about 7 bucks you can get enough pvc elbows and pieces to make a cool burrow. Mantis like a burrow that they can turn around in so if the cave is too narrow he won't like it. Don't worry that you won't ever get a look at him, if he has a burrow he feels secure in, he'll venture out plenty to check out his territory. Personally, I build the most intricate live rock cave/tunnel I can design within the confines of an Eclipse 6. I enjoy watching them run back and forth peeking out of each door and window. And Dr. Caldwell says that excersise is important. Try feeding him pieces of frozen krill or small pieces of fresh shrimp from the end of a feeder stick. If you need ideas on cave designs,(live rock or black pvc) I'd be glad to email you some pictures.

[noidster]

Yo Teckt!
Just give it a little time to get aquainted with his new setup. I have never personally used pvc to make a burrow but alot of people do and if you can hide all but the entrances under the substrate it might be something to try. I just dont like the idea of having un natural stuff (plastic) in my tanks so if you can provide a good enough burrow with rock you should be ok. Biggest thing is that he or i mean she feels safe. So if it has good shelter it should be ok. Let me know though!

You know who

[Scotty]

Hey, I agree with Noidster, I eventually got rid of my plastic tubes for the beauty of live rock cave tunnel. I just think it's important that mantis are given more than a 'garage' style cave. Go for it!
And btw Noidster, I think that unidentified spearer you got is probably Pseudosquilla Ciliata. Dr. Caldwell identified what sounds like the same species when I asked him once. His reply was:

The species is Pseudosquilla ciliata. It is a spearer, is very common
world wide (except the west coast of the Americas) and is probably the best
stomatopod to be able to match the color of its background. The yellow is
fairly common. In fact, I have one in my lab right now. More common are
greens and browns, often with stripes down the back. If you put the animal
in a live reef tank with a fair amount of brown and green, it will change
after a molt or two. This species lives in burrows that it digs (like O.
scyllarus) and occurs from intertidal to at least 40 m. Perhaps its
strangest behavioral feature is that the males are coy and the females are
sexually very aggressive often "raping" the males. They do well in tanks,
but are death on small fish.

Roy

[noidster]

Hey Scotty, thanks for the possible ident on the spearer!

[moviegeek]

Tekt,

You have gotten good advice so far. I think it's reasonable to expect any intelligent creature that gets moved from one home to another to take a few days to a couple weeks to adjust.

The only thing I can think of that has been overlooked so far is the depth of your sand bed. I'm not too clear on how deep "two bags" of live sand in a 25 gallon tank is (or on the sizes of the bags). My O. scyllarus mantis seemed to utilize every inch of depth I gave them at one time or another. I'd recommend a minimum of 4-5" depth. How deep is your bed currently?

Don't be too surprised if your mantis refuses to eat gold fish. The smasher type mantis prefer shellfish (crabs, snails, etc.) while the spearer types prefer fish. If there is an easier way to feed that the mantis likes (i.e. krill) your bug will probably wait for the less-than-lighting-quick all-you-can-eat-buffet style feeding strike.

Keep us posted on how the little guy is doing!

[teckt]

Well to answer your question moviegeek i put in two large bags of live sand. It's easily enough for him to make a proper burrow. She seems to be doing alright for now only perfering to eat the frozen krill. I also have been informed from noidster(who gave me the mantis) that the shrimp molted only 5 days before i got her. On top of the getting aquainted to her new tank i think her new molt had something to do with her actions. I think im going to just wait awhile and see how she does. Im sure she'll come around. Thanks to everyone who replied i appreciate all your input.


>PEACE<

teckt

[moviegeek]

How deep is your sand bed?

[teckt]

About 5'.

[moviegeek]

Teckt,

How is the mantis adjusting to its new home now that some time has passed?

[teckt]

Hey moviegeek,

Well im glad to say that "Virgil" is doing just fine. Over the last 2 months my bug has constructed it's burrow into a masterpeice of architecture. I plan this week to upgrade my lighting in my eclipse 3 from 32 watt PC's to 110 watt PC's:). I just need to figure out how to fit the fixture im getting under the eclipse hood. Im sure it will be a serious rig job. Current residents in the 25 gal are:

1 6' O. scyllarus
1 med size frog spawn
1 figer leather
1 hawk fish
1 galaxia frag

As well as a few other fraged yellow pollops and mushroom corals.

All the ocupants of this tank see to being dong very well.:)

I would like to post some pics if i knew how. Mabey you can help me? How is your mantis doing these days?

pea's

teckt_