Questions about...Odontodactylus havanensis

[RADERBY]

Can I get some info on this mantis. Anything would be great, personality, size, size tank required. thanks Robert

[DanInSD]

Roy's List -- a sticky on this forum.

[Ab3]

any one personally have one??

[TMPoften]

I have one they are awesomeeeee. very active, intelligent and fun to watch. Mine is around 2.5inches, kills small hermit crabs and is very attentive to me being outside the tank and even reacts if i move my finger towards the tank. Not to mention their awesome coloring . I got mine from a seller on ebay, if you are looking to purchase one.

[Ab3]

do they come our of their cave and move around the tank? Can the break astrea snail shells?

[TMPoften]

Mine comes out of his cave very often, he has a whole network of tunnels set up it appears. I am not sure about snails, I have seen him hit them frequently but I have not seen him break and kill one as of yet. It might be that he is just too small. I have seen him trying to chip away at my zoanthid colonies... lil bugger. But he does come out quite often to grab little pieces of rock and run them back to his hole.

[Pea-brain]

O. havenensis: Mre sensitive to general water conditions than your standard gonodactylid, needs high oxygen levels in the water. Dr. Roy has reported killing them accidentally by stirring the sand. Just keep that in mind. Seem like an awesome mantis otherwise

Dan

[helipilot]

I have two Havanensis, each in it's own 12 gal. cube. Their personalities are close to each others. They are very active and interact with me all day long. They are always building or rebuilding something as I have to add rubble often. They are 2'' and 2 /12" long. I feed them a occasional hermit, but their main diet is Krill, octopus, and shrimp. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Crawling68]

Of all the Mantis ive had, my O.h. was my favorite.

[Ab3]

K, I was thinking of getting one in my 10g. thx

[rwhhunt]

I picked my O. h a few months back from my lfs in Athens. He is great, active, interactive, and colorful. Is meticulous about his burrow, and has an entire biocube to his self (with two small brittles). He does well with coral, and there is a large colony of Zoa's living right outside of his entrance. I believe there is a large network of tunnels throughout the rock. Since he is in my room, when we first got him he would wake up my gf and me bashing LR...

I just got my friend another O h. from sealifeinc, and it has been even more outgoing than mine! He is residing in a 20 G tall tank with two fire clowns, and a GIANT green brittle star, some mushrooms, zoas, crabs, and tons of snails


When I first got him


taken yesteday:



The tank a few months back:


The tank now:

notice the zoas and radial flower head coral have faded back significantly, probably due to the fact that they were under MH, and now are just under 36W of powercompact... but regardless, they still look nice, and have noticed some small colonies starting to spread in the tank...

[helipilot]

BEAUTIFUL TANK, BEAUTIFUL MANTIS!!!!!awesome.

[Ab3]

k thx I think im gonna get one from sealife aswell

[Troyboy112]

sweet- thanx for the info on where to get a Odontodactylus havanensis-

I have a 2.5" Neogonodactylus wennerae in my sump(I made it into a little aquarium with sand and, but I want a havanensis- with both- I'll always have something matiswise going on... o.~

[Gonodactylus]

I've said this before, but it may warrant repeating. O. havanensis is probably not the best stomatopod to start with. They are easily stressed and do not tolerate poor water quality. Also, they jump!

If you do have the chance to get one, try to get an animal on the small side, say under 2 inches. O. h grow quickly and do not live as long as gonodactylids.

Roy

[dismalorb]

Hey Dr. Roy,

What would you suggest their lighting be like?

Also, have you ever had success breeding them in captivity?

I've got a pair of similar size in a 40g "breeder" tank from All-Glass. It's got well over 40lbs of smaller liverock and some caulerpa growing in it. They lived together for two days, sharing krill and guarding both entrances/exits to their burrow. Now they're living on opposite ends of the tank and I haven't seen or heard them fighting or battling. They've got PLENTY of territory to claim, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

[Gonodactylus]

This is a species that lives generally below 15 m, so they do not like really bright, broad spectrum lighting.

I have seen several matings and have had a few females rear and release larvae. With a long planktonic phase, you would not be able to rear larvae until they settle.

These animals are highly territorial and aggressive. All attempts to keep a male and female together have lead to the death of one of them.

Roy

[dismalorb]

Hey Dr. Roy,

What would you suggest their lighting be like?

Also, have you ever had success breeding them in captivity?

I've got a pair of similar size in a 40g "breeder" tank from All-Glass. It's got well over 40lbs of smaller liverock and some caulerpa growing in it. They lived together for two days, sharing krill and guarding both entrances/exits to their burrow. Now they're living on opposite ends of the tank and I haven't seen or heard them fighting or battling. They've got PLENTY of territory to claim, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

[dismalorb]

Originally posted by Gonodactylus
I have seen several matings and have had a few females rear and release larvae. With a long planktonic phase, you would not be able to rear larvae until they settle.

These animals are highly territorial and aggressive. All attempts to keep a male and female together have lead to the death of one of them.

Roy

What was the survival ratio of the young? Is there a link available online of your experiences with the mating O. Havanensis?

[Gonodactylus]

Larvae, after they become free-swimming last only two or three days. None survived longer than 5 days.

I have yet to publish any details on O. havanensis mating.

Roy