Experienced a mantis breaking glass?

[Feclar]

Experienced a mantis breaking glass?
Has anyone here *personally* witnessed a mantis break glass or the aftermath?

Or know someone creditable directly that witnessed it. (no 2nd hand knowledge, no 3rd or 4th or your cousins roomates girlfriend's sister who's LFS told her it happend)

Always hear differing stories
Seems the consensus is they have very little chance (under 10%) to break glass till 6" (O.S or Chig)

Wondering how big the mantis was, species, and how thick the glass was

Also, have any or do any of your mantis strike the tank walls/bottom?

 

[yankeereefer]

My O.s. was tapping the glass on Sunday morning. My fiancee and I mistakenly did not acknowledge it's presence when we woke up on Sunday. It wanted some attention apparently.

Then last night, it decided to take a couple "whacks" at the stealth heater - One of it's strikes missed the heater and hit the glass wall - No damage to glass or mantis.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I've lost a few tanks, but it is rare.

Roy

 

[Feclar]

Thanks for the responses

Roy, how big were some of the mantis that broke your tanks? Did they usually do it the first time or were they continual glass strikers?

 

[justinl]

Ive talked to a couple lfs workers that have had glass broken. Dr. roy, also had a few as he mentioned. That's all i can recall. So, considering the number of stomatopods that go through those places (especially Dr. Roy's lab) it is easy to see that tank breaks are rare.

The majority of tank breaks are in the bottom pane. This is because the mantis digs, finds and obstacle and tries to smash through it. So, to answer your qustion above, the repeated strikes did the glass in. acrylic or unusually thick glass of course wouldnt break in such a case, but if you go glass, there are a few safe guards. line the bottom of the tank with strips of acrylic and fill gaps with beads of silicone. Cover the bottom of the tank with a layer of silicone/acrylic up to about an inch of the glass on all sides. Use a deeper sand bed; 2-3 inches is usually recommended as a minimum for smashers (though admittedly I dont use more than 3 inches in my O.s. tank). dont tease the mantis from the outside of the tank.

 

[siren]

mine smacks the glass all the time, and can't break through

 

[Feclar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11668736#post11668736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siren
mine smacks the glass all the time, and can't break through

What species and how big? What type of glass?

 

[siren]

he's a 5" O.S. in a regular 10 gal tank. I'm getting ready to get him a bigger tank though.

 

[LovinDaReef]

I just saw 2 at the store today, they looked like they wanted to jump out and were a dark green color. I asked an employee if they ever broke any glass, and they said 'nope'.

 

[KafudaFish]

My daughter likes to play with my mantis. She traces her finger on the outside of the glass and it follows her finger and every now and then I hear a pop.