Where to find a mantis shrimp?

[Lisa]

Hi all- I'm looking for a smaller species of mantis shrimp (not a Peacock or Odontodactylus scyllarus), ideally a Odontodactylus havanensis or a Gonodactylus smithii. I can't seem to find any for sale other than peacocks locally....and I'm not having good luck finding either online

Does anyone know of a place locally that has had them or could order them, my husband (Jayel) and I are new to the area...or a good online site?

Thanks for your help!

Lisa

[gastone]

try www.stomatopod.com

 

G.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

try www.stomatopod.com

 

G.

 

 

Roozen's has some. Just don't buy the ciliata, I'm going to buy him in a week

[Lisa]

Thanks! I have looked at Stomapod.com, they just don't have the smaller ones I am interested in this time of year...and I'm anxious to get one

I hadn't heard of Roozen's, I will check it out...and I won't take the ciliata

[extreme_tooth_decay]

try www.stomatopod.com

 

 

I like how they have margarita snails listed under the "live food" section

[gastone]

I like how they have margarita snails listed under the "live food" section

 

 

Tim, I think that's awesome as well. What are they getting at Roozen's? I got a wennerae a few years ago from my local LFS. It was a "pest" that came in on some lr that they sold to me for $3.

 

G.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Tim, I think that's awesome as well. What are they getting at Roozen's? I got a wennerae a few years ago from my local LFS. It was a "pest" that came in on some lr that they sold to me for $3.

 

G.

 

The sole price comparison shows Roozen's prices seem about the same as stomatopod.com:

 

stomatopod.com 4" Scyllarus = $49

 

The Scyllarus I bought from Roozens was 4-5", it was $48. I'm guessing the ciliata will be cheaper since it is smaller.

 

I see stomatopod.com has a bunch of wennerae for $15 (all 1")

 

 

That's a great site, I like how they have pictures of each animal for sale.

 

tim

Edited February 22, 2008 by extreme_tooth_decay

[Lisa]

I just saw the wennerae at stomapod.com, they are cute, the pictures are great...I guess maybe I'm being to picky, I really wanted a more colorful and interactive one, and I read that the O. havanensis and G. smithii are.

Thanks!

[lancer99]

Lisa,

I am currently engaged in a battle with a mantis that came in as a hitchhiker on some FL live rock. He's very furtive, and is mostly green, at least from what I've seen of him. No idea as to the species, and I'm certainly no expert on mantis shrimps...they creep me out.

 

If I can ever catch him, the price is right....0$

 

-R

[Lisa]

Sold...I would definitely take him from you if you can catch him

 

I saw a site about capturing a mantis pest, maybe this will help:

http://blueboard.com/mantis/pest/catch.htm

 

Good luck!

[lancer99]

That article is very detailed, and I got kinda bored halfway and scrolled down...but, d'oh! why not just remove the entire rock?

 

So simple!

 

There's a flower anemone extending between it and the next rock, so depending on where the foot is attached, I may have abort mid-mission.

 

If not, I'll put the whole rock in a temporary holding tank.

 

There's an odd worm that lives in/below the same rock....not a bristleworm, he is smooth and has tentacles around the head. I've never been able to get a pic of him, so haven't been able to post and ask what he is.

 

Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone!

 

I need one, no two beers for Dutch courage....wish me luck

 

-R

[Lisa]

Good luck!

 

Let us know how it goes...

[extreme_tooth_decay]

I wonder if you removed the rock and suspended it above a bucket if the mantis would eventually jump out

 

You could also have just a tiny bit of the rock in the water (where the mantis hole is)

 

Or you could try to lure him out with a rotisserie chicken

[lancer99]

Not quite the result I hoped for.

 

I yanked the rock out of the tank, and put it in a bucket with 1.030 salinity.

 

Nothing.

 

Increased the salinity to 0.32, and waited.

 

Nothing.

 

Half an hour later, my beautiful Manicina was looking very distressed.....and decided that the idea that you can forcibly exit mantis shrimps and other hitchhikers with hypersalinity is just another urban reefkeeping myth.

 

So I still don't have a mantis for you Lisa :(

 

-R

Edited February 23, 2008 by lancer99

[Lisa]

Darn, nice try...thanks

 

I hope he doesn't cause you too many probs in the tank :(

[YBeNormal]

Injecting soda water is supposed to be a very good way to chase crabs and mantis (manti?) out of holes in rocks.

[smarsh97]

Does the soda water kill them or just chase them out?

 

I have some porcelain crabs and florida snapping shrimp that I don't want to kill in my quest to get the gorilla crabs.

 

Sandy

[YBeNormal]

I've never done it myself.

[Guest nickman]

I had good luck getting a small mantis outof a rock at work by submerging only the entrace of the hole it lived in with the rest of the rock upside down over a container of tank water. I placed a small rock in the container as a "better option" to being high and dry. depending on the size of the rock this may or may not work.

 

Also, exotic aqautics has 2 awesome mantis right now. A zebra (spearer) and a HUGE scyllarus (smasher). probably about 6-7". they are in the small acrylic cube on the back wall next to the discus if you are familiar with the store.

 

-nick

Edited March 10, 2008 by nickman

[Lisa]

Thanks for the info. I would love to have a zebra or peacock, they are awesome but too big for my little nano.

 

They did get one G. smithii at stomatopod.com but appartently 30 people also want him, it will be a race to get him on Thursday...hopefully I will win :wink:

 

Lisa

[Leviathan_XE]

Lisa I really do hope you you win the smithii on stomatopod.com. But if you don't locally Roozen's is probably your best bet. I just got my second smithii there last week. They do get them in every now and then. Got my first one from them year before last. They had about 6 different species when I went. They sometimes release them into the larger tanks and it makes them really hard to find. They also say that they can order them for you but I don't think they know much about them and can guarantee you any particular species. Any mantis coming out of florida live rock is probably N.wennerae or N. oerstedii. I've also kept an N.wenn before and most pics really don't do them justice. They are VERY coloful and mine was out and about strutting her stuff more than my first smithii ever was. Also any dark colored wennerae is gonna turn into a brighter color under bright light. I ordered mine from tbs, when I got her she was red with tan stripes but after her first molt she emerged neon green! HTH.

[Lisa]

Thanks for the advice. What's TBS (where you ordered your N. wennerae)?

 

I was thinking of getting a N. wennerae also, but now stomatopod is out of those too...

[Leviathan_XE]

It's tampa bay saltwater, the website is:www.tbsaltwater.com. Mantis are only 10 bucks but the shipping is kinda steep. One mantis to your door is $50. I ordered a couple just to make a little more worthwhile. Got a male and female wennerae. They were packaged very well.

[gastone]

For those of you looking for a smithii:

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1363525

 

G.

[hbh]

HI! I realize not all here really like Congressional Aquarium, BUT they did have a mantis shrimp F/S today. It was small, active, not super shy and a bright green. HTH.