general care

[sean-820]

this would be my first SW setup (currently have FW) and i want to do a mantis shrimp tank
what is the general care?
tank size,food,habitat needs

and i read in a topic about pvc piping in sand and how it would like.. is the pvc piping like a cave or something ?

thanks

 

[Lehman]

Just depends what mantis you want. Id say the most popular around here is a N wennerae which you can put in as little as a 5g tank and a Peacock ( O. Scyllarus) which you should have at least a 20gal for preferably acryllic.

Tank setup you would need enough sand for a 3" bed and about 1 lb of Live rock per gallon would be nice as well. As for the pvc tubing it just acts as an artificial cave for the mantis but its not necessarily needed if you can aquascape an opening under LR for them. Check out my thread a page back as I am in the process of cycling my mantis tank and asked some questions that should help you.

 

[Lehman]

Sorry but as for food they like snails, crabs , and will pretty much eat anything they can catch. Also frozen foods like kryll and shrimp will do as well but make sure you give them a snail or crab monthly so they can keep there smashers in shape.

 

[sean-820]

thanks
im thinking of a 20-29 gal and a mantis
but this would be my first sw and i dont know the types of mantis so it would probably be a more commen one

also does anybody have pics of their mantis tank?

 

[sean-820]

also ive read about spearers and hammerers so what is this?
they way the mantis prefers to attack/kill prey or somethingl ike that?
and can mantises be either one of another?

and for peacock mantis' can they break heaters cuz i may wantone of them in a 20-29 gal with hob filter but may do sump (10 gal) to put heater and sump in there
would it be worth it?

what do yo do for a sw sump drill the tank with overflow covers (can you buy of covers for a 20gal(i would prefer not to make then as i would screw it up and it would be ugly, and is the bottom of a 20 gal tempered usually?

and how much sould a 10 gal sump cost (with pluming, pump, drilled holes, overflows filter media?

thanks

 

[Pea-brain]

Spearers have an elongated, sharp and serrated raptorial appendage and eat shrimp and fish. Smashers have a shorted, more clublike raptorial appendage and they hunt down mostly snails and crabs. One spearer that does well in a 20 gallon is P. ciliata, which gets about 4 inches long and is active and fun to watch and comes out unlike most spearers which just sit in a hole all day waiting for food. Common smashers get about 3" and would be a bit small to be the only animal in a 20 gallon. A peacock needs at least 25 gallons when full grown and usually gets about 6" long. They can break glass heaters so get a plastic heater like the stealth heater.

Dan

 

[sean-820]

so a peacock would do good in a 29 gal (30x12x18) or a 20L (30x12x12)?
how active are peacocks?
how do you tell the difference between a peacock and other mantis'?

so what all would i need for a setup?
tank (20L or 29g),
stand,
tank cover,
plastic/acrilic heater,
SW mix,
hydrometer,
sand,
20-35lbs of Live rock,
HOB filter (would a Penguin be good?),
mantis shrmp,

any thing else i would need?
ive already got a test kit for FW that has the main teats for SW too

 

[Hutton]

If you go to roys list you can see what a peacock looks like, very different from most smashers as far as coloring goes. 29 would be a good tank size. The list sounds ok but i would add some powerheads for more flow. Also if you can fit some acrilic to the bottom of the tank so if the mantis wants to dig he wont break the bottom.

 

[sean-820]

ok thanks
i forgot to add powerhead to the list but i did think of it after i logged out so i will mostlikly do a power head or a water pump (mayby attached to a flow directer kit kinda think)

can they actually crack through the bottom glass?
do they scrape through a hole or is it just if there scared or somethingand go to their hole to hide and just go into it hard and hit the glass bottom?

and can mantis' be kept with anything living (besides LR and LS)?
ive heard they eat snails but what about a starfish and other crustations like that?

 

[Hutton]

Only way i could see a peacock breaking glass is if he tries to dig, their first thought when they run into the glass might be something like "big rock in way, smash it". This can easily be solved by acrilic covering the bottom and a deep sand bed.