Are you supposed to make sure a Mantis is eating before buying?

[sugartooth]

and other questions...

I was enamoured by a Peacock at my LFS. I have never seen one that was active. So then I seriously considered setting up a tank just for this guy.

So, what are some things I need to look for before purchase? Any special requirements for Peacocks? Are there more beautiful and easier ones?


Thanks, this is completely new and all I can say is WOW he was beautiful and so much fun to watch.

 

[justinl]

you'll need to make sure your tank is properly set up as a mantis habitat first. when you buy, i like to see it eat. i do that with pretty much everything i buy. good rule of thumb.

for a peacock, minimum 25gal thick glass or acrylic is greatly preferred. sand bed (2-3 inches), LR, rubble (small rocks)

for mantids in particular, watch out for shell disease. if it has it, you can easily treat it (given it isnt too bad). If it has algae growing on it, it's a bit worse. if it is advanced enough, the algae rhizomes will penetrate the mantis' carapace and not allow it to molt and will probably eventually kill it.

 

[DanInSD]

If it's not eating there is something very most terribly wrong -- mine will gorge, and then still attack any food.

Are there more beautiful ones? Hard to say, judgement call. I say "no", I think that O. scyllarus is the most "beautiful" mantis. Are there "easier" ones? Oh, yeah. Smaller ones are much "easier". O.s. require relatively large tanks (30 gal), a dark cave/tube, and pristine water conditions. For all of their power and speed, they are remarkably fragile animals. Smaller species, such as the ever-present Neogonodactylus wennerae, will be *much* "easier". As rewarding? Again, a judgement call.

Have fun,
Dan

 

[justinl]

i gotta disagree on one thing dan. Peacocks do need better waterquality than most other mantids you'll see in the trade, but i wouldn't say pristine is quite necessary. Just within "acceptable" parameters are fine imo. mantids in general (including peacocks) are more hardy than fish. there are of course others that are less so, but those aren't very common.

ill agree with the other stuff though dan. like you said, it's really a judgement call. mind you finding the one you want is an iffy question. My advise is buy the peacock (if it is healthy enough). It might not be there long and you may kick yourself later when you want it.

edit: one more important thing. peacocks prefer low lighting. otherwise shell disease may become a problem.

 

[sugartooth]

The one I saw is large, I'm guessing around 6-7". He was very active and smashing the side trying to get to something on the other side of his cube (the tanks were linked together at the LFS)
Are they supposed to eat every time you put something in there?

I watched it for 20 minutes and was amazed at the activity level. It seemed to be "scratching" his back and grooming. Then curled up like my cat does with his head down.

How do you tell on the shell if it's in good condition? (short of algae growing on it) Do I look for things like pitting? Fuzziness?

I have multiple systems running right now and can dedicate the already established system to the mantis while I cycle another one (I was thinking acrylic) Since they are not common here (first one I have ever seen actually) I don't want to miss out on this one.

I have a QT/frag/holding tank I can put him in for a couple of weeks while a get the "home" ready.

I guess, since they need high quality environment, what are the early signs that something may be wrong with it?

Are the Coralife PC fixtures okay for lighting. I have T5's on the rest of my tanks that are non-reef. Would that be okay, or do I landscape so there are many deep caves?

Do they make their own landscaping?

Sorry for so many questions, many of the returns from Google about the care for these animals contain "you should try Reef Central, they have a very active Mantis forum" or "not much is known about these"

I would like to give the best care if I decide to go ahead, but I feel a little scared to pull the trigger until I find out here.....

Thanks again for your help!

 

[sugartooth]

I just realized I had a couple more questions:

No fish as tankmates right? Even with smashers?

If one develops the shell disease, how do you treat?

 

[sugartooth]

Aaaannnd....another question:

Do they always train to eat frozen? Is it easy?

 

[Altpers0na-old]

the forums have some pics of shell disease....

the PC / T5 should be fine for a peacock.

treating shell disease (i could be way wrong here) is basically waiting for it to molt. it should be less bad when it molts, and after several molts it should go away... i don't think iv read anything about supplements or treatments to help otherwise...

sometime they will let you keep fish with them... but nothing is safe....

some things just get to hang out longer than others...

at my lfs, who is holding my peacock while my tanks gets ready, i put a couple damsels in with it to see how it handles fish... if you get a spearer thats a whole other deal... no fish that arnt food.

i dont think i have ready any posts on here about a mantis that would not eat food offered to it, like silversides, or frozen shrimp.... types... iv seen some that say things like ''mine dosnt eat flake food'' but i dont think flake is the only thing available at the time... i mix live and frozen...

they are known to for rearranging your aquascaping. not all of it, just some of it...

i have seen several species i think look better than the peacock, but im more of a begger than a chooser.... crawl roys id list and check out the variety....