Have you ever had a Mantis shrimp in your aquarium?

I was just thinking about my old 40 breeder and this big gray Mantis shrimp I used to have in there that came with some rock. The thing was wild to watch - it would get to the food at feeding time faster than any of the fish. It was always first!

Have you ever had a Mantis shrimp in your aquarium?

 

I never have, but i really whant to get a mantis tank!!!!

 

I have not but from what Inwall said, they are not as bad as they are hyped up to be. They have to eat too!

 

no mantis in my tank but I got a pistol hitchhiker which I hope doesn't become a problem for my cleaner shrimp.

 

It depends on species and size. I've kept fish in small mantis nano's successfully before for ages. It's not something I would recommend for everyone because I knew what species of mantis I had and knew what it's capabilities were.

For those interested in keeping mantis, here's an article I've written for my local reef club. I've been keeping them for years. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). http://www.seasl.org/wave/Vol 1 Num 3 Final.pdf

On the other hand, my current peacock mantis named Spot (he has a white spot on his telson) is a different story altogether. Peacocks can be VERY dangerous to fish and humans. They aren't ever hitchhikers though so you don't need to worry.

 

I had two of them in my quaratine tank, came in on some local rocks. I really like them although they aren't that pretty so I've been trying to catch them. I got one so far and have him in a tiny 1 gallon acrilic container with sand and live rock. I'm planning to use this little tank as a species tank of the sorts. If a peacock mantis was available for sale where I am I'd definately buy it.

 

Never had one but really want to setup a nano for one.

 

Yes! But mine was there on purpose

 

Yes, I had one that tagged along on my live rock I had just purchased. Fortunately, I saw it in a hole and was able to take the rock back out and stick something in the hole to get it out and sell it to the pet shop!
Not good for my reef tank!

 

Same here. I have a beautiful, female Gonodactylaceus Ternatensis. Nice to look at, but not the slightest bit friendly. :