jarrod13
New member
Greetings! As with most of us, I have always wanted to keep a peacock mantis shrimp, which means a long and patient wait for the right one to come along. Well that finally happen! Was at the lfs yesterday picking up some water, and on my way out I happen to glance in the "invert" section and what did I see... a beautiful little 2.5-3" peacock! I was completely in shock because it's the smallest one I've ever seen, usually they are full grown when I see them. They had it priced at $40, but when I went to cash out the girl said "I think we got him for super cheap, you can have him for $20". I just smiled and said ok. I've been going there a long time and they like me so they hook me up without me even asking. I told them I'd pick him up in a few days. Immediately the wheels start turning in my head, and this is the plan I've come up with:
My DT is a 90 gallon heavily stocked macro algae tank. I run a wet dry with a seperate 10 gallon fuge that is plumbed into it. I designed it so if need be I could disconnect the 10g for a holding/quarantine tank, which is exactly what I did last night. Pulled out all the macro and rocks, siphoned out the 1/2" thick detritus lol and since all the water was out I pulled the tank out of the stand for an external cleaning (I never pass up an opportunity to knock off the dust and salt creep.) but left the inside alone as I didn't want to kill the beneficial bacteria. My DT runs super high nitrates (100+ ppm) to keep my macro algae healthy, so obviously I'm replacing all the water in the 10g and going to add a small layer of sand (unless it's not needed because it's only a temporary holding tank) plus the rocks that were in there and some lower light macros as well. I hate buying something without having a space already set up for it but sometimes you have to improvise, it's not like I'll just find another one this small again anytime soon.
He/she will stay in there for a few weeks while I set up my 28 bowfront again, which will be it's more permanant home. As it grows I will decide if I need a 40 breeder or not, I know most people recommend them for a peacock, and it just so happens my girlfriend is about to upgrade her 40b so I'll have one laying around. But due to to space limitations the 28 will have to do for a year or so, which I think is fine due to the smaller size of this shrimp.
I've kept 2 mantis before, a G. smithii, and a N. wennerae. Both were awesome. Very excited about having another. I was actually looking for one to keep in my fuge permanently but I certainly don't mind setting up another tank for a peacock.
As far as lighting I am going to be using a 10w led flood light I got off amazon. The one I usually run on the fuge is a 5 or 6k white that is non dimable, but I replaced it with another one I have that is basically the same except it has like 16 different colors and is dimable, so I plan to run it on the lowest setting when I do turn it on, when it's set that low it's barely enough light to see in the tank so I figure that should suffice. This light has an option to slowly FADE through all the colors, and I was wondering if it would be ok to use that setting or if it would upset the mantis?
This is the colored one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005KYOE2Q
This is the regular white one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008X...qid=1395754476&sr=8-28&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
Both are awesome lights and I highly recommend the white one for a fuge, one is perfect on my 10g.
Anyways enough rambling, two quick questions...
I'm gonna make a PVC burrow tonight, does it have to be a U-shaped, or can in be a E-shape with three exits/entrances?
The main color of his body is the tan color, will peacocks change shades like some of the other species if I have a bunch of green macros in there? It would be cool if I could get it to turn that emerald green color that some of them are.
More updates to come...
My DT is a 90 gallon heavily stocked macro algae tank. I run a wet dry with a seperate 10 gallon fuge that is plumbed into it. I designed it so if need be I could disconnect the 10g for a holding/quarantine tank, which is exactly what I did last night. Pulled out all the macro and rocks, siphoned out the 1/2" thick detritus lol and since all the water was out I pulled the tank out of the stand for an external cleaning (I never pass up an opportunity to knock off the dust and salt creep.) but left the inside alone as I didn't want to kill the beneficial bacteria. My DT runs super high nitrates (100+ ppm) to keep my macro algae healthy, so obviously I'm replacing all the water in the 10g and going to add a small layer of sand (unless it's not needed because it's only a temporary holding tank) plus the rocks that were in there and some lower light macros as well. I hate buying something without having a space already set up for it but sometimes you have to improvise, it's not like I'll just find another one this small again anytime soon.
He/she will stay in there for a few weeks while I set up my 28 bowfront again, which will be it's more permanant home. As it grows I will decide if I need a 40 breeder or not, I know most people recommend them for a peacock, and it just so happens my girlfriend is about to upgrade her 40b so I'll have one laying around. But due to to space limitations the 28 will have to do for a year or so, which I think is fine due to the smaller size of this shrimp.
I've kept 2 mantis before, a G. smithii, and a N. wennerae. Both were awesome. Very excited about having another. I was actually looking for one to keep in my fuge permanently but I certainly don't mind setting up another tank for a peacock.
As far as lighting I am going to be using a 10w led flood light I got off amazon. The one I usually run on the fuge is a 5 or 6k white that is non dimable, but I replaced it with another one I have that is basically the same except it has like 16 different colors and is dimable, so I plan to run it on the lowest setting when I do turn it on, when it's set that low it's barely enough light to see in the tank so I figure that should suffice. This light has an option to slowly FADE through all the colors, and I was wondering if it would be ok to use that setting or if it would upset the mantis?
This is the colored one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005KYOE2Q
This is the regular white one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008X...qid=1395754476&sr=8-28&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
Both are awesome lights and I highly recommend the white one for a fuge, one is perfect on my 10g.
Anyways enough rambling, two quick questions...
I'm gonna make a PVC burrow tonight, does it have to be a U-shaped, or can in be a E-shape with three exits/entrances?
The main color of his body is the tan color, will peacocks change shades like some of the other species if I have a bunch of green macros in there? It would be cool if I could get it to turn that emerald green color that some of them are.
More updates to come...
