First mantis!!!!!!!

dallascwbyz

dallascwbyz

New member
Hiyas everyone. Well I just got back from the LFS where they were kind of enought to order me my first Mantis. I have done some reading and now I am just looking for basic ideas on what people do for their Mantis. I got a Peacock, and hopefully soon I will be able to get some pics up here. He is awesome!!! Spectacular colors and very engaging. He is about 2 inches long and living in a 5 Gallon acrylic, until I grab a buddies 20G from him. I have 4 other salt tanks now 3 reef and one FO. I am a Mantis virgin :cool: So if anyone could give me some advice on how often they feed theirs, what light cycle do you generally keep for them, do you ever pet yours(j/k), just general advice it would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance.
~Shawn

P.S. I think I am going to name him Stampy
 
I'm pretty sure the Mantis don't really need alot of light. If you're keeping coral with him, just set a 12 hour pattern for them. A 20 Gallon? What are the dimensions of it? Peacocks can get to 8 inches long, that may be a bit large for a 20 gallon, they're supposed to be housed in a 25.
 
Firstly, Dr. Roy says that they almost never exceed 6" in captivity.
(Dr. Roy, if this is a misquote, forgive me). A 2" peacock will be fine for a long time in a 20 gallon. I have 2 that are 5" or so (I just under that size), temporarily housed in 12 gallons,until 30's are cycled and set up.
A 2" peacock will take quite some time to reach a large size.
Secondly, are you sure that it is an actusl peacock? That name only applies to Odontoactylus scyllarus, and they have a very particular look.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...ostraca/royslist/species.php?name=o_scyllarus

It seems that every fish store wants to call every mantis a peacock, since there are only a couple of other nicknames floating around (Zevra for L. maculata, Rainbow or False Mantis for P. cilata).

I don't profess to be an expert, but I have been keeping them for a couple of years now, and you tend to see the same types of posts/comments a lot.

Make sure that you give it lots of small live rock rubble. They like to build, and both of my peacocks are tireles little masons, day and night.It's very cool to watch as it happens.

Cheers, and enjoy your new little friend.


-Uriel/Ron
 
i have never heard of a 2" peacock being kept in a lfs, the smallest i ahve seen are 4" and that isnt to often at my lfs.
 
Congrats, make sure you have a deep substrate and rubble rock my peacock sure loves digging and rearranging her digs. I feed mine live Ghost shrimp and housed in a 20G long acrylic with PC lighting, you can see her in my gallery.
 
I actually just found out that the tank I am getting from my buddy is a 25G acrylic. I'm not sure of the dimensions of it though.

Hutton: Now you have :-)

Uriel: I will have to look at Roys list again to be sure it is an actual Peacock. There was one other Mantis on there that looked similar. I haven't gotten the chance to compare the 2 pics to tell just yet.

How long have you all had your manits'? What is their approx life expectancy? How often do you generally feed yours?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7330633#post7330633 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefGeekster
Congrats, make sure you have a deep substrate and rubble rock my peacock sure loves digging and rearranging her digs. I feed mine live Ghost shrimp and housed in a 20G long acrylic with PC lighting, you can see her in my gallery.
Click to expand...

nice mantis tank, im picking up my 29 acrylic tomorrow and my T5 fixture came in yesterday YAY! i cant freakin wait. Is your mantis pretty active and interactive in that 20?.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7336110#post7336110 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JmLee
im picking up my 29 acrylic tomorrow
Click to expand...

Scratch that, i just called and they said its in now! yay im gona go pick it up after work. sweet.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7336110#post7336110 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JmLee
nice mantis tank, im picking up my 29 acrylic tomorrow and my T5 fixture came in yesterday YAY! i cant freakin wait. Is your mantis pretty active and interactive in that 20?.
Click to expand...

Was inactive for a few weeks now she's allover the place.
 
Mine is certainly not active yet. It just kinda lays there sometimes in a ball sometimes on it side. When I drop in some food, whole different story. Stands right up and, and we play tug with krill :-) I just crushed up a piece of LR I had to create some rubble for my mantis to play in. I also live near the ocean, and I threw in a couple small rock crabs. I found 1/2 of one this morning, looked pretty beat up and emtpy :-)

akrimmel: my tip on how to get rid one is PM me for my address and I'll take it off your hands :-)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7338441#post7338441 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dallascwbyz
Mine is certainly not active yet. It just kinda lays there sometimes in a ball sometimes on it side. When I drop in some food, whole different story. Stands right up and, and we play tug with krill :-) I just crushed up a piece of LR I had to create some rubble for my mantis to play in. I also live near the ocean, and I threw in a couple small rock crabs. I found 1/2 of one this morning, looked pretty beat up and emtpy :-)

akrimmel: my tip on how to get rid one is PM me for my address and I'll take it off your hands :-)
Click to expand...

Do you have a deep substrate were it can make a burrow?
 
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