tank mates?
 

ok, i know this subject has been beat to death by now but what would be the ideal tank mates for a mantis shimp? i'm setting up a 29g reef and (or course) am eventually going to get a mantis shirmp. so far i'm thinking a talbot damsel and black cap basslet because they aren't really perching fish and aren't seditary, also i think i may aclimate up a molly or two. i posted this on another site and someone recommended a flame hawk :rolleyes:

From what i gather, the type of tankmates that MAY last a little while depends on what type of mantis you get. Damsels and other fast fish who swim in the open have a good chance of avoiding death, at least for a while, with a smasher. My spearing P. ciliata however, takes them out whenever she gets hungry. Luckly, largish snails and hermits go relatively unmolested, unlike with a smasher. This is in general though, some matids are pretty tame while others are hyper agressive.

My Libby is a smasher. I had two damsels in with her & they didn't last long. Then some time later & added three more & they have been in with her for a really long time now. The domino even sleeps in her hole with her & picks on the two blue ones with yellow tails. With the first set of fish I didn't keep snails & crabs in with her at all times. After she ate the fish I started keeping plenty of snails in with her & give her a small herd of crabs as a treat now & then. With frozen food & plenty of live food she has left all 3 of my fish alone. She also likes to get ghost shrimp sometimes. Maybe Libby is just to full or to lazy to chase them around.

yea, i'm planning to have lots of food for it in the sump. if it decides it likes malaysian trumpet snails then i'd have an almost endless supply for it. are nerite snails a good food item?

i had mine with 4 damels for over two years. was a smithi

I would think the nerites would be a good food source. I feed Libby Nassarius snails most of the time. Also a turbo or two now & then.

I don't know about the other snails.

Arnt they a fresh water snail ?

kinda, olive nerites are usually sold in FW and do great but just like mollies you can acclimate them upt to SW and they'll still thrive.
here's a SW nerite-
[url]http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1472[/url]
here's what i have-
[url]http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1076[/url]
they're great algae eaters and i can get them for $.89 ea while i paid $2.50 for my nassarius snail.

I was asking about your malaysian trumpet snails you said you had plenty of for food for the shrimp. I was saying that I don't know if they would be good food if they are a FW snail. They might be & if so I can look into getting some for Libby. I get her Nassarius snails because I can get them for around .35 cents each.

my MTS are kinda wierd, i don't know of any other person keeping MTS in SW or even BW tanks. i know of a few people who tried to kill them by adding tons of salt to the tank but they went back to FW after a few days.