Finally got me a mantis shrimp!!!!!! AND A NEW SW RAMSHORN

I was offered the chance to take this guy and took him sight unseen. I had no idea as to what species it was, just that it was a mantis shrimp, something that has been on my gotta get list for some time.

So when I picked it up I got it home acclimated it to my 75g and put him in, and thought very much better of that idea very quickly since the shrimp is only 3.5 inches long I am pretty sure that my panther grouper would make one gulp of it.

So, I looked over at my daughter mahalia's 20g goldfish tank and decided she would not really mind if I stole it and turned it into a mini sw.

Voila, 2 hours later, using established filter media and substrate I had a home for the shrimp. I have a magnum hot hob and a aqua 30 on the tank so lots of flow and lots of filtration.

I did not have my camera with me when I managed to get him out of his shell that he came in, so the pictures I have of him are not the most descriptive. I will try to get him out of the rock with a bit of enticement with some food.

here is a picture of him in one of his hiding spots.


And here is a couple of shots for lupin of the new saltwater ramshorn snail

I PRESENT FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME EVERY THAT I HAVE SEEN

PLANORBIS





HERMITUS





CRABUS




:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

I put a couple of hermits in there and one of them took a moult after one day and took residence in the empty ramshorn shell I put in there for kicks.

froglover007 said:

LOL that is funny! THe mantis sounds cool be sure to post pics. You should be ashamed of yourself for stealing your daughters tank.

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ahem I know no shame :Angel:

I have seen my panther inhale 3 clowns, 2 shrimp and a few other things and the way he was looking at the shell the mantis was in made me cringe. I am all about fish eating fish BUT THERE IS NO WAY THAT I WAS GONNA TAKE A CHANCE THAT MY LONG SOUGHT AFTER PRIZE WOULD GO TO DINNNER AND NOT STAY FOR DESSERT!!!!

Well actually, last night I just finished setting up her replacement tank a 3 ft 65g :laugh:. I figured she has a fancy comet and 2 feeders did a rehome on and they needed a tank bigger than 20g. So her tank is now set up with a 3 stage cascade filter running bioballs and 3 bags of chemi pure. Now it is her job to plan out this water filled cube :clap:


My other daughter will have a tank the very same size for her 3 peacock eels.

My son will have a 4 foot 75g set up for his 2 3 toed amphiuma. He love reptiles, lizards and aquatic creepy crawlies and went totally bonkers when we saw these last week in the store!!!!

peasofme said:

mantis needs its own tank, u did the rite thing. ur tank still will need to cycle but it will proally happen quicker. maybe 2 weeks. so take it slow. don't introduce anything to the tank. watch overfeeding, etc. heres the best place to id ur mantis and provide the correct care.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro.../eumalacostraca/royslist/index.html#directory

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its funny you should give me that site since the guy I got the mantis from gave me the exact same site.

I should have mentioned the filters were already seeded and cycled, the magnum hob actually came off of the 75g so its media and bio wheel are fully good to go.

I will post pics later that I took last night but I coaxed bruce( I call it bruce lee because it is small but packs a big punch) out of his hidey hole with a plastic straw and true to form he boxed the daylights out of the straw but finally came out so I could reset the rock to how I wanted it.

i have a ? I will post pics of it later tonight but I watched it do something last night that had me wondering.

It had this gelatinous mass under it's body that is was constantly rolling about and fanning with its legs. I know its not the body of either of the hermit crabs because they are both still alive. I know it's not any coral or anything as there is just the substrate and the one piece of live rock there.

Is there anyone here that knows anything about mantis shrimp that can give me an idea as to what it was doing or what that stuff it has under its body just behind the head part is? My camera would not pick up clear enough to show it.

ummmm I could not get a totally clear look at it, the shrimp was hiding under the rock. I just knew it was gelatonious glob because it was rolling it around under its bellly and it was maleable. I am at the restaurant for late night petstore work as it were lolol.

That is a serious mess of eggs!!!!!!

If my mantis has eggs do they need a male to reproduce or do they produce their own eggs and fertilize them?

ok so I got the pics uploaded

here is the shrimp from when I first coaxed it out



I tried to place the rock so that there is a little cave passage way under this middle and some upper caves where is can get total privacy if it wishes



and here are 2 shots of my attemp to get the jellly like substance it was rolling over and over




my camera is not that good for macro shots have to get a better lense.

I also added another small piece of live rock with a purple mushroom and a scallop shell with striped green mushroom. No pic though as I did that on my way here.