# Mantis Shrimp (neogonodactylus Wennerae) Update



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

Here are a few pictures for u guys of my Mantis Shrimp...

(Btw, the orange part u see right below his eyes near his mouth is a piece of a Cichlid pellet i just fed him.)


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Those things are awesome, what do you keep it in?


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> Those things are awesome, what do you keep it in?


In a species only 5 gallon Eclipse tank. He's got like 3-4 larges pieces of live rock boulders to dig thru and under, (about 3-4" of sand bed).

lol, he still gets his food via a chop stick that i spliced in the middle so it can hold food untill he knocks it out of the groove. (gets his smash excercise)


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Definitely would like to see some FTS and a video of this guy in action, I have wanted to do a little tank for a mantis since I first saw one at the LFS that had snuck in on some live rock about 5 years ago.


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

I stopped giving him live food about a year and a half ago, i used to give him hermits until i found out i can get him to excercise his smashers with the chopstick i feed him with. In these animals, if they dont use the smashers, they will loose them in their 2nd or 3rd molt. (they can get them back tho, but i didnt want to risk it).

Ill take a feeding vid soon and post it in here.

btw, whats FTS?


----------



## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

Very cool you need to get a feeding video.


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

thanx, will do.


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

FTS = Full Tank Shot


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

oh haha


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

looks similar to mine. Too bad i never see mine more then its head poking out of its burrow.

How often has yours molted?


----------



## RedneckR0nin (Nov 5, 2008)

Wild looking man, I will halt this time on the smart ass comments about deep frying him. I am however interested in these guys. You have any preventive measures on the bottom of your tank as are these not the little suckas that will pucnh a hole through the bottom??


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Wild looking man, I will halt this time on the smart ass comments about deep frying him. I am however interested in these guys. You have any preventive measures on the bottom of your tank as are these not the little suckas that will pucnh a hole through the bottom??


He's relatively small, about 2 ~ 2.5" so he wont be able to crack thru the tank he's currently in. Bigger Mantis shrimp, like a peacock mantis shrimp might be able to.

I do have a thin piece of slate rock all the way at the bottom which covers a good portion of the middle area.


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

I've never seen a mantis shrimp before except for pictures.
And, I've never seen a picture of a green one before... is it common?

They're pretty cool from what I can tell... are they pretty easy to keep in a small tank?
Ya gotta provide 'em with a saltwater setup... is it easier than most SW setups though?


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

Piranha_man said:


> I've never seen a mantis shrimp before except for pictures.
> And, I've never seen a picture of a green one before... is it common?
> 
> They're pretty cool from what I can tell... are they pretty easy to keep in a small tank?
> Ya gotta provide 'em with a saltwater setup... is it easier than most SW setups though?


They are awesome! This one is a green Wennerae, the colors vary from species, etc.

They are pretty easy to keep, u cant keep much of anything with them tho, not even corals (soft or hard), they will take em out or burry them lol.

As far as how hard it is with keeping their SW setup, its pretty easy, this is my first attempt at a SW tank. I saw this Mantis at shark aquarium one day out of the blue, i requested it to be held for me and i setup a SW setup for it then i picked him up when the tank was ready and here we are. On a 10 point scale, 10 being hardest, id say care for this mantis is about a 2.

Just gotta keep up with the water level (when it evaporates, just add more fresh water (salt doesnt really evap). and then check salinity when you do water changes to make sure its at the right area.

I keep his tank at 1.023 ~ 1.024. Wennerae are the hardiest of the mantis, they can take fluctuations in salinity much better than other mantis/SW animals.


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

That's great info, thanks!


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

are u looking into getting one?


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

I've considered it over the years...


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

When i get a chance, maybe in the summer, i may setup a 10 gallon for him.

And then turn his 5 gallon into a freshwater shrimp tank.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Mines only like an inch and a half and seems to be growing so slow. I don't even know if it's molted yet and ive had it for like a year. Im assuming it has as its closed its burrow a couple times but i havnt noticed any significant increase in size. It hides in its burrow almost always and i havnt seen him out of his burrow for months (since i moved him tanks). I know he's still fine as he pops his head out of his burrow but will dart back in if i go close. He eats from chopsticks but always has at least 1/4 of his body in the burrow so he can retreat. I beleive i took some pics in my sw reef thrend a bit back and i havn't even seen him out fully to take pics. I've probably had him around a year.

Mantis shrimp can be with coral colonies usually but especially smashers will move small rocks and possibly frags around. If you have kept frags you know they can die easy if they get knocked over and you don't notice for a bit so if you keep them with any coral you want it to be well established so they can't move it. I wouldn't do lps or sps though i don't think they would bother it. Soft corals on large rocks should be fine.



RedneckR0nin said:


> You have any preventive measures on the bottom of your tank as are these not the little suckas that will pucnh a hole through the bottom??


Small ones can't but for big ones acrylic tanks are recomended. Some people will put a acrylic sheet under their substrate though a mantis shrimp shouldn't be able to break an appropriatly sized tank. Mines in a 10g sump. For their size they do have pletny of power. Mine has hollowed out a solid rock for his burrow.


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

The more I look into these guys, the more fascinated I become.

Check out this video of a 10" mantis vs. octopus.

http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/1927370/shrimp_vs_octopus.swfShrimp Vs Octopus - The top video clips of the week are here

I wonder why the video wouldn't embed...

Ah well, here's the link: Mantis vs. Octopus video


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> You have any preventive measures on the bottom of your tank as are these not the little suckas that will pucnh a hole through the bottom??


Small ones can't but for big ones acrylic tanks are recomended. Some people will put a acrylic sheet under their substrate though a mantis shrimp shouldn't be able to break an appropriatly sized tank. Mines in a 10g sump. For their size they do have pletny of power. Mine has hollowed out a solid rock for his burrow.
[/quote]

so he's afraid of u huh?

Mine likes to roam around the tank often, maybe ur feeding him too often, have u tried hermit crabs for him to venture out and capture?


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I havnt even seen him roaming at night so to me it seems hes always in his burrow I feed him periodically but mostly he gets whatever flows through the refugium from a feeding in the main tank so more or less he survives on what he can find. He's had hermits before but ive nver seen him actually eat them but he takes food from the chopsticks. Im thinking mayby moving this guy to the return pump chamber aand getting another mantis for the refuge part of the sump as this guy doesnt seem to use any space.


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

what mantis are u looking for?

If i was to get another one, id get a peacock mantis!


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I don't have the tank size for a peacock. Ideally something like a smithii but if not any small spearer would be cool. It all depends on what i can get though as im sure you know they arn't the easiest to find. A store near me often has zebras and peacocks but Id need a smaller species so its more take what i can get then anything else.

I'd do another Wennerae if I cant find anything else. I'd probably prefer a slighlty larger one this time. A ciliata spearer would be cool if i could find a small one.


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> I don't have the tank size for a peacock. Ideally something like a smithii but if not any small spearer would be cool. It all depends on what i can get though as im sure you know they arn't the easiest to find. A store near me often has zebras and peacocks but Id need a smaller species so its more take what i can get then anything else.
> 
> I'd do another Wennerae if I cant find anything else. I'd probably prefer a slighlty larger one this time. A ciliata spearer would be cool if i could find a small one.


yea, a spearer would be awesome to have as well, would be cool to see their attack habbits.

I have my tank close to my computer desk, i often catch the Mantis just staring in my direction from its tank, and then when i get up itll dart to the nearest rock and then poke back out to see whats up.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Mine does the same though he pokes his head in and out of his rock. Im not even sure how big his burrow is as theres a couple rocks piled up for his home. I always see him poking out of the same crevice but i dont know if he's hollowed out any of the other rocks. If I can find another small mantis I will probably get it and move this guy to the return chamber with his favourite rocks


----------



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Mine does the same though he pokes his head in and out of his rock. Im not even sure how big his burrow is as theres a couple rocks piled up for his home. I always see him poking out of the same crevice but i dont know if he's hollowed out any of the other rocks. If I can find another small mantis I will probably get it and move this guy to the return chamber with his favourite rocks


Lol, ur gonna have fun trying to catch him when ur ready for his move.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Dawgz said:


> Mine does the same though he pokes his head in and out of his rock. Im not even sure how big his burrow is as theres a couple rocks piled up for his home. I always see him poking out of the same crevice but i dont know if he's hollowed out any of the other rocks. If I can find another small mantis I will probably get it and move this guy to the return chamber with his favourite rocks


Lol, ur gonna have fun trying to catch him when ur ready for his move.
[/quote]
The good thing is I can count on him being in his burrow. I caught him in a 15g tank by just taking out his whole rock that he's usually in which is mayby a round 3" diameter rock. Either way this will be a ton easier then trying to catch some damsels. Their so quick and hard to catch since they are fast, have great agility and can easily weive through small cracks in the rock work


----------



## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

great looking mantis. they are neat creatures


----------

