Keeping a mantis shrimp

[stevebydac]

Hi all, does anyone have advice on keeping a mantis shrimp? I got a Neopgonodactylus Wennerae as a hitchhiker in a Florida live rock delivery. Green, maxes out at 3", looks to be about 2" now. I got lucky & was able to catch him by pulling his rock out of my 25g reef with him inside. Hadn't killed anyone yet. His new home is now in a spare 10g I had. Sorry for the lack of a photo but he's been hiding.

My plan is to put some mushrooms, GSP and zoas in with him, along with some snails (which I expect he'll pick off eventually). Maybe 1 cheap fish (damsel?) If you've ever kept a mantis, what prepared frozen and/or supermarket food did it like? I'd prefer not to feed live (though accepting some CUC casualties). Any other tips?

I'll post a pic or two when he gets more comfortable & strolling around. Oh, & his name is Murder Pickle.

 

[stevebydac]

A little update on Murder Pickle...(Sorry, still can't get a good pic of this guy. Hopefully in a few days) Very interesting critter. For the 1st 3 days he barely emerged more than one inch from his favorite hole. The he started moving between overhangs on three connected rocks. Always checking me out from his safe confines.

Feeding: On day 4 he ate from a mussel I cracked open & placed right in front of his hole. Day 5 he took a piece of shrimp off my tongs & dove back into his hole! Has done it once more.

Then I later saw him cruising the front glass of the tank for the 1st time, & he ROCKETED diagonally from the bottom to the top of his 10g. Much faster than I expected. As fast as any fish we keep in our reefs. That's really the only time I've seen him out & about so far. Mostly just peering out from his favorite safe spots. I've noticed he's piled up small rocks in various spots for security.

Lots of banging sounds over the last couple of days. Easily heard from the next room. And just now I found two tunnels he carved. I have a small piece of rather porous live rock that he tunneled a 1/2" diameter hole straight through, bottom to top, about 2 inches in length. Much more jaw-dropping is a 2nd tunnel he blasted through a VERY hard piece of dead coral, also about 1/2" diameter and about 2 inches long. Both tunnels are smooth sided like you'd see a boring machine make. It's astounding how powerful the hammers on a 2" mantis are.

I put a misbehaving scarlet red hermit crab in his tank, and will probably place a 2nd one. They have been bothering and perhaps even eating my expensive new scoly in my reef. We'll see if he considers them lunch or not. Will also be adding some snails & perhaps a peppermint shrimp (aiptasia issues) in the next week.

EDIT: spelling.

 

[Slombardi]

Very cool, following along!

 

[stevebydac]

It's been a month now with Murder Pickle, and so far he doesn't seem to be doing any murdering. He's approximately 2 inches long, maybe a tad more. His current roommates in the 10g are 3 scarlet red hermits I banished from my 25g reef, plus two cerith snails. Tomorrow is a big test -- I'm adding a Springer's Damsel. And I plan on adding a few more snails of some type. I feed him about 4 times per week. Bits of shrimp that he'll take off my tongs. He's also had mussel but doesn't seem to like it as much. I'm going to add supermarket scallops and squid to his rotation.

Honestly, Murder Pickle's activity level is less than expected. A bit disappointing, as I had read this species is quite active. I'd compare it to keeping a moray in your tank. He's usually lurking, watching me from an entry hole. I sense that he's quite intelligent, far more interested in me than the snails and hermits. If I move from one side of the room to another, he'll also often move to another hideaway to keep an eye on me. And he has tunnels everywhere, under and in-between every rock. You'll see him zipping from underneath one rock to another. But I've only seen him out in the open, far away from the security of rocks, only about 3 times in a month. Perhaps he'll get braver in the weeks ahead.

Note the 3rd pic below shows an aiptasia between his hammers. It looks like he has some funky looking extra legs, but it's the angle of the shot.