Peacock vs Zebra (Mantis Shrimps)-which one is a better pet?

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Title says it all. I was considering getting a mantis shrimp, and I wanted your guys' input. Which one;

• lives longer
• is easier to maintain
• is less expensive in the long run
• won't smash through its tank
• is less picky about food
• is more active
• is just a better pet in general

 

[AnimalNewbie]

Well as far as I know (it’s not that much) the zebra shrimp are a type of mantis shrimp that basically spears things and probably won’t break your glass. While the peacock basically punched things and I’ve heard rumors of them cracking glass. As far as being active that would go to the peacock since the zebra just lives it’s whole life under the sand. Zebra shrimp live longer than the peacocks but are more expensive I believe.

 

[TeamNinjaBug]

I used to have a peacock mantis named Stix. He was a great pet. They're very intelligent, curious, and learn to recognize your face and sometimes meet you at the glass! They also like to watch you... creepily....

It's not so much old age that determines the mantis shrimp's lifespan; they just reach a size where the process of molting becomes deadly. Since the Zebra mantis is larger than the peacock, it'll take longer before it reaches that deadly size where their molt kills them.

Easier to maintain... Well, I can't speak for zebras, but peacock mantis's are quite hardy and able to tolerate changes in water condition and are forgiving. That said, don't be just be dumping it willy-nilly into any old water and expect it to be fine XDD

Less expensive. The main price will be food, and since the zebra lives longer, it'll need more food in the long run. You can feed live from your pet shop or pre-killed from the grocery store. I'm not sure which option would be cheaper for you in your area.

Won't smash the tank. The peacock mantis shrimp is often the main culprit of this. That said, the breaking aquarium glass is greatly exaggerated. It can happen, but it's very rare and tends to happen when the peacock mantis is burrowing and reaches the bottom of the tank (they mistake the glass for rock and try to smash it to break through). The problem is completely solved by either getting an acrylic tank, or putting a slab of acrylic on the bottom. The mantis shrimp can't break through it.

Less picky about food. The peacock has more food options available for it. The zebra mantis shrimp will eat mainly fish and shrimp. The peacock will occasionally eat fish, and also eats shrimp. Alongside that, they'll eat clams, crabs, hermits, snails, any other mollusc/crustacean that you put into that tank.

More active. The peacock, hands down. A lot of peacock mantis shrimps tend to redecorate their tanks, if you don't mind that. They don't like bright light, and will hide more if the light is too bright. In fact, it's encouraged to not use lighting at all or very weak light as lighting is debatedly the cause of shell rot. While the zebra mantis shrimp will be mostly a pet hole and not be as interactive and outgoing from what I've been told, the peacock mantis will also spend a lot of time in their burrow, but will venture out to explore and inspect any new thing you put into the tank. Those burrows are in and under the rocks though, so if you don't mind them smashing up your live rock as they burrow.... I just gave Stix a PVC pipe surrounded by live rock, and he adopted it as his burrow.

You may also wanna think about if you want a type of communal tank. Obviously, the type of mantis you get determines what other animals you can house alongside it. Fish is generally a bit more safe to keep with peacocks, as they tend to be too fast and are not a preferred food source, while fish in a zebra tank will be picked off relentlessly. But crabs and snails and whatnot will not last long with a peacock. Vice versa for the zebra.

I think the peacock is the better shrimp (should say stomatopods, since they're not actually shrimp...), but I'm probably biased because I had one.... The way I think of it: which one is the most likely to greet you at the glass when they see you? That's right, the peacock. XD

 

[Ajohnson5263]

I've owned two mantis shrimp now. Both were smashers, but neither were peacock mantis shrimp. i would definitely recommend a smasher over spearer. however, i would not recommend either to a beginner. if you dont have serious knowledge about the chemistry of saltwater tanks then i would try getting a large crayfish, they're much easier to keep and hardy. i kept freshwater tanks for 6 years before trying saltwater. all the factors that you mention arern't of high concern, the cost and experiences needed to maintain water parameters will always be the most difficult part. even though it is durable for a saltwater organism, it's still very delicate.

If you're still set on getting a mantis shrimp, i would not reccomend a peacock or a spearer. why? bot get way too big. a tank that size will costs hundreds if not a thousand to purchase all the supplies, while the actual food and stomatopod is cheap. i would recommend G. Smithii. it tops out around 3" and is the most interactive of all mantis shrimp species (this is a direct quote from Roy Caldwell, one of the leading experts in stomatopods). It's a smaller smasher species that is equally as entertaining and colorful as a peacock, yet is a fraction of the size. it can easily be housed in a 10 gallon, while a 20 is recommended. other smaller smasher species also work, most of these are unidentified since they arrive in live rock and don't have any noticeable characteristics though.

to sum things up, i wouldn't recommend a mantis shrimp. This speaking from personal experience. i spent months of research and still killed two of them. when most care guides claim they're a beginner species, they mean beginner for saltwater species, which is a league of it's own compared to any other inverts.

PS Thanks for asking about mantis shrimp, they dont recieve much attention in the saltwater hobby, but i feel that they can have a wider audience with the invertebrate keepers rather than the fish.

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

I've owned two mantis shrimp now. Both were smashers, but neither were peacock mantis shrimp. i would definitely recommend a smasher over spearer. however, i would not recommend either to a beginner. if you dont have serious knowledge about the chemistry of saltwater tanks then i would try getting a large crayfish, they're much easier to keep and hardy. i kept freshwater tanks for 6 years before trying saltwater. all the factors that you mention arern't of high concern, the cost and experiences needed to maintain water parameters will always be the most difficult part. even though it is durable for a saltwater organism, it's still very delicate.

If you're still set on getting a mantis shrimp, i would not reccomend a peacock or a spearer. why? bot get way too big. a tank that size will costs hundreds if not a thousand to purchase all the supplies, while the actual food and stomatopod is cheap. i would recommend G. Smithii. it tops out around 3" and is the most interactive of all mantis shrimp species (this is a direct quote from Roy Caldwell, one of the leading experts in stomatopods). It's a smaller smasher species that is equally as entertaining and colorful as a peacock, yet is a fraction of the size. it can easily be housed in a 10 gallon, while a 20 is recommended. other smaller smasher species also work, most of these are unidentified since they arrive in live rock and don't have any noticeable characteristics though.

to sum things up, i wouldn't recommend a mantis shrimp. This speaking from personal experience. i spent months of research and still killed two of them. when most care guides claim they're a beginner species, they mean beginner for saltwater species, which is a league of it's own compared to any other inverts.

PS Thanks for asking about mantis shrimp, they dont recieve much attention in the saltwater hobby, but i feel that they can have a wider audience with the invertebrate keepers rather than the fish.

Yeah. Thanks for the advice dude! I was thinking about getting a mantis shrimp only after I graduated* from smaller saltwater species to be more experienced (should amade that more clear lmao), and was thinking about getting a crayfish next anyways (after the horrid king and jerusalem cricket of course). And wow, Gonodactyllus S is beautiful! Just looked it up, impressed with those colors. It's also good that they don't reach immense sizes like Zebras and Peacocks. Where can you get G. Smithii, would you know?

*in case you're wondering, this is my progress thing:
1. get and become familiar with terrestrial inverts
2. get and become experienced with freshwater inverts
3. get and become experienced with brackish water inverts
4. get and become experienced with saltwater inverts
5. mantis shrimp

 

[TeamNinjaBug]

Ah, I was under the assumption you already had saltwater experience XD In which case, I agree with johnson!

And I also agree that mantis shrimp need more attention; in the reef hobby, they're treated more as pests to get rid of than actual things you keep as pets, which is a shame. While my parents were more into fish and reptiles and I was more into inverts and small mammals, Stix was a great middle ground and very rewarding, but we already had the experience and equipment to keep a large mantis like him.

Your list seems great, so glad to hear you weren't just going to jump straight into saltwater. However, according to my folks, brackish water is particularly difficult to get right and maintain compared to fresh and salt water. Not sure if that was just their opinion or general fact, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

[Ajohnson5263]

Yeah. Thanks for the advice dude! I was thinking about getting a mantis shrimp only after I graduated* from smaller saltwater species to be more experienced (should amade that more clear lmao), and was thinking about getting a crayfish next anyways (after the horrid king and jerusalem cricket of course). And wow, Gonodactyllus S is beautiful! Just looked it up, impressed with those colors. It's also good that they don't reach immense sizes like Zebras and Peacocks. Where can you get G. Smithii, would you know?

*in case you're wondering, this is my progress thing:
1. get and become familiar with terrestrial inverts
2. get and become experienced with freshwater inverts
3. get and become experienced with brackish water inverts
4. get and become experienced with saltwater inverts
5. mantis shrimp

Glad your taking your time with this! However, i might skip the brackish step if i were you. While i dont believe that they're necessarily more difficult, most brackish fish (besides mollies and a few others) aren't very common to come across. the only brackish inverts in the trade that i know of are nerite snails and some crabs, unless you have a tidal river near where you live ( i live near the chesapeake bay, so i have a 50 gallon with small marsh crabs and shrimp in it). after you're comfortable with aquariums, try getting something small and cheap like damselfish or chromids. as for the G.Smithii, i got mine at a store called that pet place/that fish place. if you've ever looked into ordering fish online, you've probably seen them. fortunately, they're about a 2 hours drive from me. surprisingly, they have many mantis shrimp in stock. however, many of them are unidentified species, so you have to call and ask if they're available. i visited twice in a years time, in both visit they had at least 3 mantis shrimp available. Since you're chances of finding one online are slim, i would find a nearby store that imports live rock and call and ask if they have any. other than that, check pet forums or ebay (i've seen a few people auction of shrimp they got in there live rock for only about 15 or so bucks).

 

[schmiggle]

Brackish is certainly no easier than straight saltwater. A salt concentration is a salt concentration. I think my main concern would be that evaporation would drive the salinity too high more quickly (because brackish fish are used to being able to move around to find their ideal salinity), but I don't know if that's actually correct.

Are mantis shrimp picky about ion concentrations? I imagine they might need a high concentration of calcium carbonate and a high pH to build their shell, but that may not be true.

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Glad your taking your time with this! However, i might skip the brackish step if i were you. While i dont believe that they're necessarily more difficult, most brackish fish (besides mollies and a few others) aren't very common to come across. the only brackish inverts in the trade that i know of are nerite snails and some crabs, unless you have a tidal river near where you live ( i live near the chesapeake bay, so i have a 50 gallon with small marsh crabs and shrimp in it). after you're comfortable with aquariums, try getting something small and cheap like damselfish or chromids. as for the G.Smithii, i got mine at a store called that pet place/that fish place. if you've ever looked into ordering fish online, you've probably seen them. fortunately, they're about a 2 hours drive from me. surprisingly, they have many mantis shrimp in stock. however, many of them are unidentified species, so you have to call and ask if they're available. i visited twice in a years time, in both visit they had at least 3 mantis shrimp available. Since you're chances of finding one online are slim, i would find a nearby store that imports live rock and call and ask if they have any. other than that, check pet forums or ebay (i've seen a few people auction of shrimp they got in there live rock for only about 15 or so bucks).

I was thinking of getting Red-Claw Crabs at ly local PetSmart (only 5$ a pop-can you believe it?), but yeah good point, you don't see a lot of brackish water fish in pet stores nowadays

 

[AnimalNewbie]

Petco and Petsmart are evil.
Lol

 

[Ajohnson5263]

Brackish is certainly no easier than straight saltwater. A salt concentration is a salt concentration. I think my main concern would be that evaporation would drive the salinity too high more quickly (because brackish fish are used to being able to move around to find their ideal salinity), but I don't know if that's actually correct.

Are mantis shrimp picky about ion concentrations? I imagine they might need a high concentration of calcium carbonate and a high pH to build their shell, but that may not be true.

From my experience, mantis shrimp usually require the same concentrations as most other coral reef inverts, with the exception of iodine. from what iv'e read, slightly overdosing iodine can be used to help other inverts with molting, but with mantis shrimp it causes them to do so prematurely and die.

as for brackish fish, the wild caught fish that i keep in my tank are extremely durable. i take salinity readings from the basin they came from and it fluctuates all over the place. in fact, some of the larger brackish killifish i moved to my outdoor pond. they've been doing fine for over a year now. im sure this doesn't apply to all fish, but usually if they can adapt to it when they're smaller, they can survive in a wide range of parameters.