Mantis Shrimp Not Smashing

[schonerz]

Hey all! This is my first post on this forum but have been lurking gathering information for quite awhile, so thank you for all of that!

I had a question for any mantis shrimp experts out there. About a little over a month ago now, I purchased and received a peacock mantis shrimp and it's been doing well, very interactive when I do see it outside of it's burrow.
One thing i did notice about it is that it seems to be pretty docile towards the snails and hermit crabs I purchased for it to eat. I did give it a couple of goldfish and it swooped them up and took them into it's burrow. I recently purchased a crayfish from my LFS and put it in the tank but my mantis shrimp didn't do much to it. I maybe saw one or two punches but it didn't really go after it. I have been giving it thawed out pieces of shrimp until now. I wanted to try to get it to eat live foods but it doesn't seem to want to kill it's food besides goldfish.
Has anyone ever had an issue like this? Is there some sort of concern? Thank you all!

 

[TheDragonsReef]

You sure its a smasher and not a spearing mantis? They tend to go after fish more and leave inverts alone

 

[schonerz]

You sure its a smasher and not a spearing mantis? They tend to go after fish more and leave inverts alone

It's a smasher, I have been able to see it's smashers and it's a beautiful peacock!

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

Hey all! This is my first post on this forum but have been lurking gathering information for quite awhile, so thank you for all of that!

I had a question for any mantis shrimp experts out there. About a little over a month ago now, I purchased and received a peacock mantis shrimp and it's been doing well, very interactive when I do see it outside of it's burrow.
One thing i did notice about it is that it seems to be pretty docile towards the snails and hermit crabs I purchased for it to eat. I did give it a couple of goldfish and it swooped them up and took them into it's burrow. I recently purchased a crayfish from my LFS and put it in the tank but my mantis shrimp didn't do much to it. I maybe saw one or two punches but it didn't really go after it. I have been giving it thawed out pieces of shrimp until now. I wanted to try to get it to eat live foods but it doesn't seem to want to kill it's food besides goldfish.
Has anyone ever had an issue like this? Is there some sort of concern? Thank you all!

I’ve seen mantis shrimp do weird things before even befriending a fish but the thing is it’s only a matter of time till if wants to put the effort into killing them. Domes morbid but it’s true

 

[Brady4000]

Toss a Emerald Crab in there. That would be the true test. Hermit and snails are hit and miss.

 

[nmotz]

- How big is the mantis? Some large Peacocks won’t bother with small blue leg hermit crabs.
- You might be feeding a bit too much. If you feed daily I’d make the portion about the size of your thumbnail or slightly less. Whole goldfish or whole pieces of krill may encourage a bit more laziness and less striking.
- Mantis shrimp aren’t as inclined to strike after a recent molt. Might just need to give it some time.
- I’ve had Peacocks refuse to strike in the first month or so inside the tank. It’s an acclimation thing and they normally grow out of it.
- Some recommendations: get virgin Nerites and avoid dwarf ceriths and blue leg hermits. Avoid large turbo snails or others with really thick shells. Peacocks often learn to leave them alone bc they trust that you’ll eventually feed them. Try small clams too. Reefcleaners.org occasionally has some.

Best luck!