mantis caught

in an earlier post this week, found a mantis hitch hiker. today was able to isolate it in a rock, which we removed and now is in a 5 gal pail. used tank water to fill it, and have a heater also. theres no water circulation . and since its xmas, no lfs's open. i will be going to 1 tomorrow and getting a 10 gal to house him in. will he be okay for the next 18 hrs or so as i have him now? thnx for any and all help.

guy

 

he should be fine. do you have an airstone? if so that could help.

 

unfortunately i dont have extra equipment. so just gonna hope for the best. im trying to get a good pic of it but its holed up in a rock. do know its mainly red, with i think blue accents.

another question, would a serpent star survive in the same tank as the mantis? ive got a rogue killer red serpent that i was gonna take back to my lfs , but if theyd be ok together the serpent id keep.

 

Most LR hitchhikers are good at surviving under extreme conditions, because they sometimes live in tide pools, where huge temp and salinity swings are common. Tide goes out, water heats up, salinity skyrockets (evaporation). Tide comes back in, cool water floods the pool causing salinity and temp to drop. Some of those critters experience this daily and live to tell the tale, so he should be fine

How big is it? Inverts don't exactly consume a ton of oxygen. Oxygen in a bucket should last him a good while. Maybe use a cup or similar to stir/mix up the water a bit before you go to bed and after you wake up.

If he gets comfortable, he may come out of the rock wondering where the heck he is. I recommend a camera nearby for just such an appearance

 

thnx jwin. hes about 1 1\2 inches long. ive got the camera ready but havent got a good pick yet. im gonna throw some mysis in later and see what happens. thats how we noticed it eqarlier this week.

 

or you can toss in a rock crab and watch insanity

 

Not to be a hijacker or killjoy, Patrick...but I really hope you don't have a Peacock Mantis in a 3 gallon aquarium

 

i dont look at it that way jwin. its an informational question , and i would learn from it too. is the 10 gal im thinkin of puttin it in a good size or somethin a tad bigger?

 

You could also stick him in your sump.. Good O2 levels and temps and no way back to the main tank.- Paul

 

For a smaller hitchhiker type mantis, a 10 gallon is perfect. There are only a few types of mantis that need anything bigger, and the only commonly kept one that requires a larger tank would be the Peacock. Your normal hitchhiker mantis will probably be a N. Wennerae (Caribbean Rock) or other Caribbean mantis. 99.99% of mantis hitchhikers will grow up to be less than 4 inches long (most will average at around 3, while some might be longer than 4)

To put things into perspective, Princess was 2 inches long, a rescue from hitchhiking in on FL live rock, and she was in a 9 gallon tank. Bo, mom's mantis, is 3+ inches (about fully grown) and is in a 14 biocube which is actually just over 10 gallons.

So yes, a 10 gallon is perfect for your typical mantis. I would suggest either a 20L or a 29 Biocube or similar for a Peacock Mantis. For a Peacock, it's not exactly the gallons, but the amount of room to move around. A young Peacock is a very rare hitchhiker, and are only from Australia/Pacific rock shipments. So I feel that whatever mantis you have (most likely an N. Wennerae or something) will be perfect in a 10g.