Nano Reef With Mantis Shrimp?

[Synirr]

Why don't you stop breeding Bettas and you'll have the space already

DD

Stop breeding bettas?? Blasphemy!!

 

[Ben]

think of it this way?

On Mantis Shrimp in a 5-10g reef tank, easy to keep.
or 200 Bettas crowding your house and water changes everyday,loads of hard work, and finding homes
What would you choose?


DD

 

[Synirr]

Ok, a question about lighting.... I'm planning to get a fixture with 2 x 18W bulbs, one of which is actinic; that's a little over 7 watts per gallon. What kinds of corals and things should I avoid? I'm going to go with mainly button polyps and mushrooms, but I want to know what I can't have just incase something else catches me eye

Dwarf_Dude -- Have you seen baby bettas in person? Come on, they're totally cute!!

 

[Navarre]

Great feeder fish too!

Sorry that was just a joke and please dont take that comment seriously.

You should be fine with most soft polyps. Mushrooms etc will be ok in a tank withthis lighitng. Fish of course are out of the question as are cleanup crew so you need to carefully plan the structure of the tank so you can see the mantis most of hte time. Place corals carefully as you dont want them covering the mantis home.

 

[Synirr]

Great feeder fish too!

Oh you non-betta folks! You're all just jealous, that's what it is!

Thanks for the info. I'm going to be ordering in a bare-bones 5 gallon from my LFS after Thanksgiving (oddly nowhere around here keeps them in stock) and picking up the filter, so as soon as the light hood gets here I can get things underway

 

[Christs_Knight]

Synirr...
Most mantis shrimp are noctornal. I have just a compact fluro on my 28 L and he is still very shy of the light, but he is getting used to it. I turn the lights off and he is out and about hitting everything.
Its up to you really, some mantis get used to it and some dont. But if you want corals and stuff get minimal light as you can.

 

[Synirr]

I'm not bothered by nocturnal critters... I've got a bumblebee catfish I practically never see, for example, so when I do see him it feels like a real treat . The light hood I've ordered has a lunar light so I can see the mantis at night. I'm usually awake until around 2AM and it's lights off for the tanks at about 10, so that's plenty of time to enjoy him

 

[Synirr]

YAY, my LFS finally got in a bare-bones 5 gallon for me today, so tomorrow I'll be setting it up and it will get to sit completely empty except for the water until Friday, when my light hood is supposed to be coming in. My plan was to add live sand and rock at that time, but I was wondering... is it ok to add them both at the same time, or should I add the sand first a let it sit a while before going for the rock? I'm trying to take this very slowly and ease into it, so once I have the rock it'll just be sitting there for several weeks if not several months before I try anything else... I was just wondering if I've got a better chance of getting this thing set up without a horrific crash of some sort if I let the sand settle first before getting rock?

 

[Ben]

IMO, you can add them both at the same time, but it is a very good idea to add the rock first, then sand.
It's a good thing to do because for example, your Mantis might get scared or angry etc, push over a rock and cause them to topple over, maybe unfortunatly killing the shrimp.

But yeah, you can put them in on the same day

HTH
DD

 

[steelhealr]

I side with DD......I added a layer of rock first to avoid blind areas...filled in with LS....then built my aquascape and then put in the rest of the LS. You can do it the other way, but, just make sure you don't have so much sand under that it shifts and you get a rockslide. IMO, get everything in at once and cycle. SH

 

[Synirr]

Alrighty, thanks for the input.

 

[Opcn]

I have a G. viridis in a 5.5 gallon with a power head and a heater and some mejano, i tossed in some hermits and some feeder shrimp, the feeder shrimp disapeared right away but some of the hermits were around for a while, and the biger hermits and snails weren't even touched.

 

[Christs_Knight]

my mantis is going awsome, molted 3 times since i have had him.
he has crushed almost completely a 3kg rock, its awsome.
basicly rubble in my tank now.
I love him as much as i did the first day.