Ordered a Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Need an Equipment List

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wwarby

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Hi all, I'm new to this forum and to fishkeeping. I've had a fascination with mantis shrimps since reading The Oatmeal's comic Why the Mantis Shrimp is my new favourite animal. I've wanted one for ages, and today I found one in stock in the UK and ordered it straight away. I've asked them to hold it for me long enough that I can buy and set up everything I need to house it and learn everything I need to learn to properly care for it. Perhaps I should have worked my way up from a freshwater tank first, but I've only ever really ben interested in the mantis shrimp specifically. Anyway, I've done it now and I'm ready to put in the time, money and effort required to look after it responsibly, so to that end I've been doing a lot of reading and YouTube watching over the past few hours but I'm definitely a long way short of fully prepared yet, I'd be very grateful for any specific advice on how to get up and running and what I need to buy in the following specific areas:

Tank
For the tank I'm looking for a cabinet-style unit in black finish that will fit in a footprint of roughly 80cm wide by 50cm deep, such as this one or this one. I'm inclined to line the bottom of the tank with acrylic just in case, but all indications seem to be the risk of them breaking the glass is minimal. I've seen conflicting suggestions of minimum tank size but the consensus 120 litres (26 gallons) seems sufficient, though I've heard as little as 10 gallons may be adequate. Bigger is presumably always better for the shrimp, but are there any other tank considerations I should be aware of? Is wider better than taller for example? And does higher capacity have any bearing on the frequency or effort required for cleaning / water changes etc?

Equipment
Lots of tanks come with lighting, a heater, pump and filtration system. Should I consider upgrading any of those to better models? I know the lighting should be quite low for mantis shrimps. What other equipment should I consider buying from the outset? I've read up a little on protein skimmers to help remove uneaten food particles etc. am I right in thinking that a skimmer would generally improve water quality and reduce the need for frequent of water changes? Any specific recommendations would be appreciated. Also any small things that I might have forgotten about? On my list is a bucket, a net, a manual gravel vacuum, forceps (I don't want to put my hands in the tank unnecessarily to move things), salt water (or salt and deionized water), food for the mantis shrimp. Anything else I should be thinking of buying immediately?

Substrate: What kind of substrate and rock should I put in my tank? I've come to understand that mantis shrimps prefer a gravelly substrate to fine sands - any recommendations on specific types or the amount of it would be appreciated. I plan on building a lair using black plumbing fixtures and covering it with substrate and/or rock.

Rock
I think I'll be going for ceramic rather than live rock - is that sensible? there seem to be lots of different types of artificial rock out there. Any specific recommendations would be appreciated. I understand I should be aiming for at least 1kg per 10 litres of tank capacity. I'd like colourful rock, especially if it's going to be the only colour in the tank apart from the shrimp.

Decoration
Most mantis tanks I've seem seem to be pretty sparse. I'd like my tank to be somewhat colourful and visually appealing. I've read that mantis shrimps will rearrange anything you put in the tank, rendering efforts at aquascaping futile. Aside from coloured rock (and avoiding corals for now - I've got enough else to learn already), are there any (real, not artificial) plants I could put in that would make the tank less sparse without much of a downside?

Noise
At least a couple of the videos I've watched have had a noticeable "hum" on the soundtrack which seemed to emanate from the tank. Others have been silent. I'm planning to put this tank right next to my desk where I work all day and need to concentrate. Is that going to turn out to be a mistake?

Tank Mates
Recognising the risk of murder-by-mantis shrimp, it does seem like at least some tank mates may be beneficial. Specifically some cleanup crew snails and hermit crabs / urchins etc. and possibly a couple of small fish to make the tank more interesting. Would it be wise to put a couple of cheap fish in there that I don't mind losing before the mantis shrimp arrives to make sure the water has been cycled correctly? I'm thinking I can easily replace a fish, whereas mantis shrimps are hard to come by in the UK. Conversely, would it be better not to distract myself for now and focus on the mantis shrimp alone given my inexperience?

Reading Up
I've been reading up on the procedures for tank cycling, acclimation, water changes, mixing salt water and testing water quality. I've seen various tank setups and got a sense of how to go about it. Is there anything else I should look into specifically?

Apologies for the very long first post and thanks in advance to anyone with the patience to read it and offer any advice.
 
Last edited:
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Mantis shrimp should not have any tank mates. They are predators and will kill anything else that moves in the tank, including shrimp, snails, fish, starfish, urchins, etc. A mantis shrimp tank will either house one shrimp or a pr, and nothing else.

There are 2 types of mantis shrimp, club and spear. The club and spear refer to the front claws that they use to hunt things with. The clubs have a round hammer like claw that they use to smash things with, including glass. The spear type have a long pointed claw that is used like a spear. They don't normally damage glass.

Some mantis shrimp remain smallish 5-6 inches, while others can reach 10-12 inches in length.

Have 2-3 inches of fine shell or gravel on the bottom of the tank. Add lots of rocks and pvc pipe for them to hide in.

They will eat anything and frozen but defrosted fish foods are suitable and can be fed 1-3 times a day.

A tank with a power filter is sufficient for these things. A heater guard is recommended or use a stainless steel aquarium heater so there is no glass to get damaged.

A protein skimmer can help keep the water cleaner and growing macro algae (Caulerpa and Halimeda) can help keep the water in better shape for longer.

You do water changes when needed, maybe every 2-4 weeks. But you will need to monitor nitrates and do water changes to keep that as close to 0ppm and below 20ppm at all times.

You will need to cycle the tank before getting the shrimp. It normally takes around 4-6 weeks to cycle the tank. This can be reduced a bit if you add a liquid filter bacteria supplement. It's beneficial filter bacteria in a bottle and sold by most pet shops. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week, then pour the remaining contents into the tank. try to add the filter bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.
 
Hi Colin, thanks very much for the detailed response, all really useful information :) I've chosen my tank now - a 240 litre model from Juwel so I'll hopefully have that arriving in the next few days and I'll get started preparing the tank for it's inhabitant. The aquarium store is being really helpful too and providing a lot of useful information about the equipment and bits and bobs I'm going to need.
 
Hi Colin, thanks very much for the detailed response, all really useful information :) I've chosen my tank now - a 240 litre model from Juwel so I'll hopefully have that arriving in the next few days and I'll get started preparing the tank for it's inhabitant. The aquarium store is being really helpful too and providing a lot of useful information about the equipment and bits and bobs I'm going to need.
Just a reminder to be very wary of advice given by aquarium store employees
 
Hi Colin, thanks very much for the detailed response, all really useful information :) I've chosen my tank now - a 240 litre model from Juwel so I'll hopefully have that arriving in the next few days and I'll get started preparing the tank for it's inhabitant. The aquarium store is being really helpful too and providing a lot of useful information about the equipment and bits and bobs I'm going to need.
Before you buy anything that is recommended to you by the store, post it on here and we can verify if you actually need it. Sometimes shops get a little over enthusiastic in recommending items for tanks and some of that stuff might not be needed.

A basic list includes:
Tank with coverglass and polystyrene foam base to put between the tank and stand. Use coverglass that are 4, 5 or 6mm thick. Most shops only sell 2 or 3mm thick covers and these are cheaper but more likely to chip or crack compared to thicker glass (4, 5 or 6mm thick). Shops can order in thicker glass or call a glazier (glass company) and find out how much they charge.

Stand/ Cabinet. Get a decent one (metal or proper timber), not something made of chipboard/ particle board or MDF. These types of wood swell up and fall apart if they get wet. You can get a hood for the tank if you like. I never bothered with them but lots of people do like to have them.

Filter. A standard power filter that turns the tank volume over 5-10 times an hour is fine. If you want to get a trickle filter, you can. Trickle filters need to be plumbed into the tank and this should be organised before buying the tank. Heaters, filter media, and macro algae can all go in trickle filters so they aren't in the tank.

Heater, any good quality one. Get a 200 or 300 watt heater with a decent warranty (1 or 2 years). If you get a glass heater, get a heater cage to keep the shrimp off the heater glass. If you can get a stainless steel heater, go for that.

Thermometer. Get a basic one that floats around the tank. It doesn't have to be anything special, the same as you use in freshwater.

Light Unit. A normal LED light unit with a 6500K rating (K is for Kelvin) is fine. You can get a higher K rating (8000K) if you like but it isn't necessary for shrimp or fish. 6500K is close to sunlight and provides a nice even colour spectrum (red, blue, yellow, orange, UV, etc). Most new LED light units can be adjusted to provide more or less red, green, blue, etc, light. For all tanks, you want an even spread of red, blue and green.

Marine Salt. Most brands are very similar so get whatever is available. If you have access to natural sea water at the beach, and it is clean, you can use that and it is a lot cheaper. If you use artificial marine salts, they need to be made up 24 hours before going into a tank with fish, shrimp or other life forms. The marine salts take time to dissolve and you normally use a couple of large containers filled with dechlorinated water, add the marine salt and aerate for 24 hours. Check the salinity after this and adjust if necessary.

When you first get the tank and set it up, you don't need to make the water up 24 hours before because there won't be any life forms in it. So you can just add the salt to the tank full of water, check the salinity 24 hours later and adjust as required.

Hydrometer to measure the salinity (salt level). They come in 3 main types, floating glass chamber, plastic and refractometer.
1) The floating glass hydrometers are the cheapest but can break and aren't that easy to read.
2) Plastic chamber hydrometers are easy to read, durable but only measure the salinity around seawater. They are no good for brackish conditions. However, you are dealing with pure seawater so this is not an issue.
3) Refractometer is the most accurate way to measure salinity but they cost more than others. however, they have become a lot cheaper over the years and are not much more expensive than the plastic chamber type.

Test Kits include ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. If you want to keep corals, you can get other kits including calcium, strontium, etc. But for shrimp you don't need anything but the 4 basics (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH).

Protein Skimmers come in 2 main types, air operated and power skimmers. Air operated skimmers run off an air pump and turn over the water slowly. Power skimmers use a powerhead (water pump) and work faster. Protein skimmers are not necessary for marine tanks but they do remove protein waste from the water and help keep it cleaner for longer. So they are useful. The main thing is to have them set up correctly with the right water depth in the skimmer unit.

Ornaments/ Rock. You can buy live rock to go in the tank and this can help speed the filter cycle up, however it costs a lot. Most people use limestone or sandstone as the base rock and then add a few nice pieces of live rock on top. Limestone and sandstone both become live rock after 6 months in the aquarium due to bacteria and other things growing on them.

You can use any ornaments for freshwater aquariums in salt water tanks too. So if you see a sunken ship wreck and you like it, you can use it in the tank. Plastic aquarium plants for freshwater tanks can be used in marine tanks.

Pvc pipe (with or without an end cap) can be used and covered in rocks or left to grow algae on them.

You can also grow macro algae (Caulerpa and Halimeda species). These can do well or die straight after you add them to the tank. Marco algae don't tolerate sudden temperature or water chemistry (pH, GH, KH & salinity) changes. A light with a 6500K globe is fine for macro algae.

Water pumps/ Powerheads can be used in marine tanks to help provide extra water movement. Mantis shrimp don't normally need it but corals do appreciate water moving from one side and back again. You can buy programmable pumps/ wavemakers that pulse and push lots of water for a few seconds then only a bit, then lots, then a bit, etc. This simulates waves moving the water. It's not essential but if you want to spend money, you can look into it.

Fish nets can be used for removing uneaten food (unlikely to be any with a mantis shrimp). Don't get tiny nets, they are useless. Get a 5-6 inch net and a 10-12 inch net.

Picture for the back of the tank to make any occupants feel more secure.
 

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