All-in-one tanks ok for a mantis?

[Thalast]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking at the possibility of getting a mantis later this year, perhaps as a Xmas present to my self. It will be a few months before I do any serous shopping, but I was wondering if anyone had any tried any of the all-in-one systems like the aquapod 12g or 24g or bio-cubes. What size would you recommend. Is the acrylic thick enough in case they decide to attach the walls?

I have not done research as yet on what type of mantis I would like to have. Just wondering if I need to build another complete system or not. I was thinking perhaps the AP24, with a decent skimmer (I have a hob remora that is collecting dust atm). My last question for the moment would be what type of lighting. They dont require too much so the stock lighting should be fine?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Thal

 

[Pea-brain]

All in one systems are fine. Depends on type of mantis you want. An N. wennerae will be fine in a 5 or 10 gallon or bigger, but if you want a peacock they need about 25 gallon or more to be comfortable. The only common mantises able to break glass are: G. chiragra, O. scyllarus (peacock) and G. ternatensis. Som may argue that H. californiensis is in that list, but IMO its not common enough. If you want a peacock glass should be fine as long as you don't taunt it. You may want to line the bottom with acrylic incase it tries to burrow though. Look at the sticky at top called Roy's list and decide what species you want. Then we can help you some more. Lighting also depends on the mantis. Some mantises are from shallow water (5m and up) and can stand full sunlight or MH, but some like peacocks are deepwater and can get a deadly shell disease if light is too bright. You can keep corals with mntises as long as the coral is secure (It may decide it wants to move it). Good luck

Dan

 

[DanInSD]

I personally am not a fan of all-in-one systems. IMO they tend to have inadequate filtration, especially skimming. I much prefer an "a la carte" system where I can choose my components.

However, as long as you maintain a relatively light bioload, it should be just fine. For example, a "small" mantis (most gonodactylus, neogonodactylus, etc species) in the 12, or a "medium" mantis (O. havenesis, G. ternatensis, G. chiragra) in the 24. I would not put a peacock in an all-in-one 24.

Dan

 

[Thalast]

Thanks for the info.