10 Gallon Mantis Reef

[SaltyPup]

Introduction:
Hey guys, my girlfriend and I have been long time lurkers here at Reef Central and I decided it was finally time to make a build thread.

The Plan:
Our goal is to build a 10 gallon nano using parts from other tanks we've had in the past, to keep the cost low. We plan to stock it with a variety of softies, LPS, perhaps some SPS, and a mantis. Also possibly a hardy fish that might survive with the mantis (open to suggestions). My LFS recieved a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis and I currently have it on hold until the water in the tank is good to go.

Equipment:
The pieces that we already had include
-10 gallon aquarium
-Whisper 20 Power Filter
-Aqueon Pro Heater
-Vortech MP10
-Current 150 watt metal halide
-6 pounds dry rock

Additionally, we bought
-3 pounds of Pukani live rock - $20
-RapidLED PAR38 mixed UV bulb (80 degree optics) - $90
-Office Depot clamp on lamp - $18
Total we've spent thus far on this project: $128

As for the filtration media, we are using Chemipure Elite along with a filter pad.



Here is the G.ternatensis still at the LFS, looking very angry with his punching sticks out

And here is the tank with the halide over it, we are not too happy with the color spectrum it is providing, everything looks too yellow/brown.

 

[KirbyBTF]

That tank is FAR too small for a peacock. 40b is the recommended minimum. And don't quote me on this, but I think your lighting is too high as well peacocks are prone to shell rot in high light. Also, there is a mantis shrimp section on the forum I highly suggest you take a look at, lots of people over there that know just about anything about mantis shrimp. Please do more research before your bring this little guy home.

 

[TundraGuy]

Not a peacock. Looks more like a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis to me. They come from shallow waters in sps coral so I dont think the light will get it. But the heat of a 150 watt on a 10 gallon might. A couple things to note on this guy. They are sensitive to water quality so be diligent on the peramiters. They are known to smash coral and decorate with it as they see fit. And most important it is a controversial species. Being that the collection usually consist of breaking coral heads open to harvest them causes damage to the reef systems they are harvested from. All that being said I know a few people that love these guys. I personally would would like one but am not out to support bad harvesting practices. So I try and educate stores to avoid bringing them in. But it has been collected and is at the store so get it. I would re think the coral thing though maybe go for the macro forest instead. Looking forward to seeing your updates.

 

[SaltyPup]

Not a peacock. Looks more like a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis to me. They come from shallow waters in sps coral so I dont think the light will get it. But the heat of a 150 watt on a 10 gallon might. A couple things to note on this guy. They are sensitive to water quality so be diligent on the peramiters. They are known to smash coral and decorate with it as they see fit. And most important it is a controversial species. Being that the collection usually consist of breaking coral heads open to harvest them causes damage to the reef systems they are harvested from. All that being said I know a few people that love these guys. I personally would would like one but am not out to support bad harvesting practices. So I try and educate stores to avoid bringing them in. But it has been collected and is at the store so get it. I would re think the coral thing though maybe go for the macro forest instead. Looking forward to seeing your updates.

It is a G. ternatensis and they do stay small, this one was a hitchhiker on the live rock so no corals were smashed during the collection.

I ordered a PAR38 bulb so as to avoid the overheating of the tank, and to provide a better color spectrum.

I am aware that they decorate with coral, do you think softies and LPS are safe?

 

[SaltyPup]

Alright, so I just set up the PAR38 bulb which will help decrease evaporation.
RapidLED's mixed color UV bulb looks fantastic, the color is supposed to be between 17k - 20k. Any more blue and it would have looked too blue for me, but this is a good balance.

And here is how the whole setup looks:

 

[TundraGuy]

I would do soft stuff for sure lps may get broken may not its up to the mantis personality. But they tend to be a target. Pur 38 are going to be a lot of light for most softys in a 10 gallon but they can adapt. I am looking forward to this build for sure. I would try things like duncan corals as fast as they grow and as harty as they are it should be a good bet and a good way to test the waters with the mantis.

 

[SaltyPup]

Ideally, we wanted to put a hardy fish such as a damsel in with the mantis, but is that out of the question with our setup? I don't want to have too large of a bioload in there.

Another question I had - what kind of housing would this mantis need? There are lots of nooks and crannies that potentially could be a good burrow but should I add a U-shaped PVC? And is sand something we should consider? We went bare bottom to reduce the amount of bioload buildup.

 

[KirbyBTF]

Depends on the temperament of the mantis, some will go after the damsel and some won't. But I would so some research on your mantis, I think it's safe to say a sand bed is the way to go, like you said with a u shaped pvc. Most mantis burrow if I remember correctly.

 

[SaltyPup]

Depends on the temperament of the mantis, some will go after the damsel and some won't. But I would so some research on your mantis, I think it's safe to say a sand bed is the way to go, like you said with a u shaped pvc. Most mantis burrow if I remember correctly.

This species normally lives inside of SPS coral, so I thought maybe live rock with lots of caves would be the most appropriate burrow. But can anyone confirm this?

 

[SaltyPup]

There's a few inhabitants in the tank already, some zoas, a mushroom, and a tiny yellow cup coral frag that I got free of charge as it had broken off of the main colony.

Everything seemed to be a little angry lookin' at first when the PAR38 went on, but are now adjusting and opening up. These photos were taken soon after the lights went on so they aren't fully open yet.

 

[TundraGuy]

You can find spa skeletons him. Or drill holes into the larger rocks. Or you could drill rocks slide them over some PVC. Or do like Kharm did and and paint PVC with sand to make it look like rock. Lots of options. Foam rock wall with tunnels in the wall. The creative side of the hobby.

Generally speaking with mantis you can add what ever you are willing to lose.

 

[ReachTheSky]

Probably a noobish question but since the glass in 10g tanks is usually super thin, wouldn't a strike from the mantis damage it?

 

[Salinity01]

Nice little tank.

 

[peasofme]

i wouldn't put an aggressive damsel in with him. could cause damage. maybe something like a small green chromis. it would add to the bioload though. a glass tank shouldn't break with a small mantis but it can happen.

 

[SaltyPup]

Nice little tank.

Thank you!

i wouldn't put an aggressive damsel in with him. could cause damage. maybe something like a small green chromis. it would add to the bioload though. a glass tank shouldn't break with a small mantis but it can happen.

Yeah, you're probably right. We'll just keep it simple with the one mantis!

 

[Calappidae]

The more light, the more it will hide. Everyone is right about it living in SPS but they need the corals distroyed to collect it because it hides really deep in. Mantis shrimp ingeneral can get shell rot as lighting is one of the key factors of shell rot developing.. lower light levels are enough to cause it.. metal halide are definitly not safe.. niether is high par lighting... I had this mantis before and these are definitly a pain to have.. they are very sensitive to water quality unlike most mantis and the second one I got refused to eat anything I gave it and it starved itself.. they also hit the glass when I enter the room. Its not a species noted by roy or any one else to break or chip glass so I wouldn't worry there. Nice find Nonetheless. This species however does get pretty decent sized for a Gonodactylaceus. Its my favorite mantis looks wise, but suitability is horrible... tankmates avoid as my first one killed feeder fish and chirstmas tree worms with joy. These, litterally, IMO are not a truely reef safe mantis as they will destroy corals and dig in them to hide from the light..

Definitly take it on and get it they are amazing but for the build your trying to make no mantis is good and this mantis is the worst IMO..

and btw, the one your getting is a male. Males have blue antennal scales and tails while females are yellow.. my first was a female and my second was a male.
Also I agree, sandbed definitly, both of mine lived in the sand not the rock... it also promotes extra bacteria (if live).

 

[SaltyPup]

The more light, the more it will hide. Everyone is right about it living in SPS but they need the corals distroyed to collect it because it hides really deep in. Mantis shrimp ingeneral can get shell rot as lighting is one of the key factors of shell rot developing.. lower light levels are enough to cause it.. metal halide are definitly not safe.. niether is high par lighting... I had this mantis before and these are definitly a pain to have.. they are very sensitive to water quality unlike most mantis and the second one I got refused to eat anything I gave it and it starved itself.. they also hit the glass when I enter the room. Its not a species noted by roy or any one else to break or chip glass so I wouldn't worry there. Nice find Nonetheless. This species however does get pretty decent sized for a Gonodactylaceus. Its my favorite mantis looks wise, but suitability is horrible... tankmates avoid as my first one killed feeder fish and chirstmas tree worms with joy. These, litterally, IMO are not a truely reef safe mantis as they will destroy corals and dig in them to hide from the light..

Definitly take it on and get it they are amazing but for the build your trying to make no mantis is good and this mantis is the worst IMO..

and btw, the one your getting is a male. Males have blue antennal scales and tails while females are yellow.. my first was a female and my second was a male.
Also I agree, sandbed definitly, both of mine lived in the sand not the rock... it also promotes extra bacteria (if live).

While researching G. ternatensis, Dr. Roy states that they are found in "bright, shallow waters" which leads me to believe that they are better adapted to bright light than a peacock or etc. This mantis has been in my LFS for over six months now and happily feeds on frozen krill and mysis and whatever else it gets its hands on.

As for the destructiveness, we're just going to go for it and find out which coral is safe and which is not through trial and error. Most of the corals we are planning on putting into this tank will be inexpensive and small frags.

 

[Calappidae]

While researching G. ternatensis, Dr. Roy states that they are found in "bright, shallow waters" which leads me to believe that they are better adapted to bright light than a peacock or etc. This mantis has been in my LFS for over six months now and happily feeds on frozen krill and mysis and whatever else it gets its hands on.

As for the destructiveness, we're just going to go for it and find out which coral is safe and which is not through trial and error. Most of the corals we are planning on putting into this tank will be inexpensive and small frags.

Go ahead, it will probably leave them all alone except for anything hard like SPS. It should be alright if the water quality is good. However it will hide more as the purpose of going in corals is to have a darker place to hide. All mantis requir a point of the tank where there is absolutly no light and they are in complete darkness for them to molt which normally is their burrows they close up. Normally Mantis like these don't get shell rot as easy because they are structured differently (smaller) and unlike peacocks where they travel and are out and about these guys tend to stay at home. I'm curious, how much was he?

 

[SaltyPup]

Go ahead, it will probably leave them all alone except for anything hard like SPS. It should be alright if the water quality is good. However it will hide more as the purpose of going in corals is to have a darker place to hide. All mantis requir a point of the tank where there is absolutly no light and they are in complete darkness for them to molt which normally is their burrows they close up. Normally Mantis like these don't get shell rot as easy because they are structured differently (smaller) and unlike peacocks where they travel and are out and about these guys tend to stay at home. I'm curious, how much was he?

I'm going to make a nice U-shaped PVC pipe that hopefully it will adopt as his burrow, he already lives in a PVC at the LFS. He was $60... I'm not sure if that's standard or not though.

 

[Calappidae]

I'm going to make a nice U-shaped PVC pipe that hopefully it will adopt as his burrow, he already lives in a PVC at the LFS. He was $60... I'm not sure if that's standard or not though.

I spent 67 on my first one. The second one I spent 120 for...

funny story on how I got my second Orange spot.., I ordered a peacock mantis from liveaquaria (or as they call it clown mantis..) and they sent me an orange spot instead... my lfs also told me that my first one was a peacock as well. After I gave it back to them (first saltwater animal.. it was kinda scary to me! Now I'm addicted to them) and browsed bluezoo I relized the truth.