Heaters and Mantis

[ReneX]

Yep, just about what the title says. Who's had experience with mantis breaking their heaters or striking at them? I don't have one yet (a mantis...I do have a heater ) and given how much thinner the glass on heaters seems, I'm worried about a mantis giving it a good smack and causing catastrophy. FYI, I've got a three gallon tank up with plans of getting a smaller mantis species (hoping for one of the neogondactylids) and after reading something in the very early days of the mantis boards, I'm wondering if I ought to yank the heater out of the tank or not. It's a Hagen thermal compact and doesn't look robust at all. Currently running the tank for a few days with the heater unplugged to see how stable the temp is.

So. Has anyone had a heater catastrophy involving a startled mantis? How big was the mantis? Do little ones have the firepower to break a heater?

And on a second question, what do you use in the way of hand protection while working in a mantis tank? I was thinking about getting some thick rubber dish gloves, washing them off good, and dedicating them to working in the tank. Not that it'd do much good if the mantis was really angry, but gloves in tanks aren't a bad idea anyhow.

 

[goldberg]

i have a clown mantis that's popped me a couple of times when i had forgotten about it while moving around some stuff in the tank. he's about 4 inches. it's not that bad. but i was really startled. i wouldn't worry to much about getting gloves. just keep an eye on him when your hand is in the tank.

 

[Calfire]

I dont own a mantis but you could look into one of the titanium heaters. He cant break that forsure JMO

Jason

 

[brekurboy1]

This is what refugiums are made for The 2 mantis tanks I've made both have refugiums that I can use for:

Heaters
Caulerpa for nutrient export
a holding area for snails and crabs serving as food for the mantis

just a good idea I think

 

[ReneX]

If I were setting this up from scratch, I now know that I'd definately get a tank made with a refugium. I need one of them things. But alas, tank is already up, and I won't get my refuge until I get ancy enough to build/have built another tank Titanium heater, here I come. Thanks for the suggestion. I'd heard of them a while back but wasn't sure they were reef-safe, and have since found a lot of people using them in tanks with healthy inverts.

Heh, I'm not so worried about actually getting -hurt- by the mantis. It's just that whenever I get nipped by something in a tank, I tend to startle like crazy. I'm more worried about knocking over the LR and squishing the thing

 

[PRC]

I've had a N. wennerae in a 10G with a glass Ebo Jager heater for about eight months now with no problems. I'm not sure if it could break the heater or not, but it would have to really try to do it. Titanium is one option if you're really worried or you could just get one of those plastic mesh heater guards.
Mine will actually "sit" up on the heater suction cups sometimes to get a better view of the tank.

 

[BKtomodachi]

tronic heaters have thicker glass, dont worry about it breaking it.

 

[Dexter1334]

I have two in a ten gallon. They have their PVC caves and tunnels under the rock. There is no reason for them to try to break the glass on the heater and I wouldn't worry about it unless you have it buried in the sand where they are nesting .

When I do water changes in my 125 I use the old water from the 125 to do a 50% water change in the 10 holding the mantis. they have killed one snail but haven't bothered the crabs or fish in the tank.

 

[brekurboy1]

The thing about heaters is they have lights. When they turn on it riles up the mantis and he says." what's that thing invading my space?" then it tried to kill it.

 

[PRC]

brekurboy, is that a hypothetical or did your mantis actually attack your heater?
The Ebo's have pretty thick glass and I think a N. wennerae would have a tough time breaking one even if it wanted to.
But if it's going to keep you up at night just get the titanium and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[brekurboy1]

There are stories in addition to my own mantis showing aggressive reaction to the heater light. It hasn;t ever hit it to my knowledge but it investigates the light very often. but he's a small N. Wennerae so I'm not concerned. I'm talking about your full grown N. Wenneraes and larger mantis'

 

[ReneX]

Thanks for all the replies. Since I'm hoping for a small LR mantis, N. wennerae is probably what I'll end up with. For now, I've decided to stick with the Hagen heater since it's keeping the tank temp really stable and it's easier to buy a $5 heater guard than replace what works well with an unknown more expensive heater. Hopefully if the perfect mantis comes in before the heater guard does, the two will coexist peacefully.

As for hypotheticals, Dr. Roy wrote very early on in forum history that he'd had a number of mantis break heaters either in response to the light coming on, or by striking the heaters in pain if they touched it when hot. For a little mantis, a heater guard should hold 'em.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I've lost two or three dozen heaters over the years. Most were taken out by O. scyllarus although a few were broken by G. chiragra and N. bredini. You do not want to have an animal break a heater. Not only is there the problem of a short, but the nichrome wire will quickly corrode and the heavy metals will basically poison the tank for many animals such as stomatopods. I usually had to take the tank down, throw out all the substrate, and start over. The animals seem to strike the heaters either when the light comes on or when they bump into the warm glass. I would always recommend taping over the light. You can also use a protective, loose fitting plastic tube placed over the heater.

I now keep my animal rooms at 25 C and have done away with heaters entirely.

Roy