Currently cycling my new FOWLR tank with live rock and live sand. I was inspecting the tank yesterday while I was testing the water and something bright green dart into a hole in the live rock, I watched the spot for a few minutes and some very alien looking eyes appear at the entrance of the hole, thinking that it may be a mantis shrimp I put a piece of frozen krill on the end of a bamboo skewer and held it near the hole and sure enough a small green mantis shrimp darted out and took the bait! This changes my stocking plans all together as I would like to keep him, very cool. I know that the cleaner crew I planned on will be decimated by him in no time so I was thinking of some Chromis and Gobies, any thoughts on this?
Hitchhiker!
- Thread starter BLaw
- Start date
Aquarian
Reef pro
+1 that's exactly what I would do.
Big K
Reefing newb
Definitely do that. Someday I will have a tank for one of those murderous little cuties!
Marines_Wife
Reef enthusiast
Who was it that had a mantis tank?? It was very cool.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I've had several mantis in my tanks. They may bother snails/crabs but that's about it. Unless they are really starving but its a lot easier for them to go after scraps of food that you put in the tank than to go after live prey. It would be best to set up a species specific tank, but people tend to blow the whole mantis thing wayyyyy out of proportion, especially when they are small.
ErinCahir
Sausage Wrangler
@Dana42078 had a mantis tank and I know @ninjafish has kept them before, too.
