http://s458.photobucket.com/albums/qq308/fiorano77/ i've never tried posting photos before hahaha but i hope this works if not tell me how someone please. and this is the best pic i could someone let me know if u can id him? http://s458.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=IMG_2551.jpg

Lysiosquillina maculata. the biggest spearer around so watch your fingers. These guys need a DSB at least as deep as they are long. 1.5 to 2X would be even better. If you don't have that or don't want a dsb, return the mantis or give it to someone who does.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthrop...ame=l_maculata

well right now the sand bed is pretty deep its about 5 inches but eventually it'll be to small and the area he is in is to small for him when he gets older. right now hes only around 4 inches long so what should i do? because i really want a mantis shrimp now that i have one but i dont want this one to be unhappy

It reaches lengths of 15"....I'm thinking you should probably trade it back to the store where you got it.

garbage... i thought there was hope a site told me only 20cm well if thats the case i guess ill have to return it. does anyone know of a smaller mantis shrimp you can keep? if not would it be that bad of an idea to get a good sized acrylic tank for him?

You might try a Peacock Mantis (Odontodactylus scyllarus), Wennerae (Neogonodactylus wennerae) or Smithii (Gonodactylus smithii).

well doesn't the peacock get almost as big as the striped one i already have? out of the other ones u suggested i kind of like the smithii but i guess i could pretty much pick any of them that require a small tank size couldn't i? thanks for the help by the way i dont really know much about mantis'

Hey, it's all good :) I guess I never asked how big your sump is. Taking that into consideration, maybe the Peacock isn't your best choice. Anyway, those I listed were just some of the more popular kept by aquarists.

i just have a little area set aside its about 18" by 12" and i asked one of the guys at ocean aquatics what would be neat to put in there and he said a mantis would be good but i didnt know this one gets so massive hahaha so i guess i learned that one ill probably try and keep my eyes peeled for a smaller one though cause there such a cool thing to have in a system. where is a good place to buy any of the smaller ones do u know any?

lol, well i guess most of us have to learn the hard way not to impulse buy :)

Yeah in that small a sump space, pretty much any of the smaller mantids would be fine. Hard part is actually getting one because most lfs and online dealers don't even try to ID properly. man, I was sort of avoiding having to do this, but I happen to have a G. smithii that I am looking to get rid of. It has red intersegmental lines (an uncommon colour morph) and is a gorgeous interactive specimen. 40$. throw me a pm if you're interested.