Successful Mantis Breeding? Info?

Hello all, I was wanting to expand my knowledge a bit so I have a question. How successful have attempts to breed captive mantis been? I know some lucky souls can get ahold of mated mantis pairs for their home aquariums, and I'm sure those mantis lay eggs every now and then, but has anyone ever successfully raised widdle baby manti from captivity?

 

Don't even think about it. LOL

They are cannibals. You have to use a magnifying glass to find each of the larvae. Then you have to separate each into their own small container. You have to have a whole bunch of airline tubing to aerate each container. Then you have to feed each container and do a daily waterchange on each container. Be happy with these pictures. Picture of the Week: Mantis Shrimp, Stomatopod larva

 

it does look very tricky, but so does breeding clowns. if you want to try it then go for it, im sure theres something on the internet that could tell you what to do, i think rotifiers would be the first food, then baby brine, then copepods, mysis, etc. go for it adn if you can do it, i want one lol.

 

Haha sounds like a full time job to me...so it's possible, but very time consuming and not exactly worth the cost. Got it.

Baby mantis are kinda cute In a transparent, bug looking plankton looking way.

 

Its very tricky, and a lot more difficult then breeding clownfish. A male and female clownfish can be kept together with out killing each other.

Only a few species of mantis shrimp can be kept together and sometimes even those will kill their mate. IIRC the only species that mate for life are spearers but don't quote me on that.

Mantis shrimp typically have to be kept in different tanks. Then you wait until the female mantis is in heat (gonopora will turn pink) and the male can safely be added to the females tank. The male then has to be captured and removed before the eggs hatch.

Once the eggs hatch the larva has to be separated immediately otherwise they will start killing and eating each other. Survival rates for the larva are low.

Considering how common mantis shrimp are in the wild breeding isn't worth it.