I want to start a mantis tank-input wanted

flyyyguy

flyyyguy

King of the white corals
Premium Member
I want one. I am going to make the tank....i have enough acrylic laying around to make a 22"x 18"x 18" acrylic tank.(30 gallons) Is this a good height...or would shallower be better. I will eurobrace the tank and have it open top.......I would have it rimless...but i think they will get out of the tank if i do that.

How much flow should i give the tank??

I want a fairly large colorful one. suggestions??

Im planning on throwing this little pc light I have over the tank, a few inches of sand, and some rocks. I will just do a 50% or ??? water change every week using old water change water from one of my other tanks.

Probably throw some zoanthids and rics in there as well. is that ok??

What else should i consider??

I use a acrylic rod program to lift my rocks off the sandbed on my dsb tank. Im curious as to what kind of a stacking rpogram do you think would encourage him to still have the cover he needs...but be visible most often??

thanks......
 
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There's a lot of info out there on this. Go for surface area rather than height, mantis generally stay on the bottom anyways, so more room to roam, the better.

Plan the tank as you would for soft corals -- moderate flow, good water parameters, etc. I like a skimmer and a refugium, your choice. Mantis generate lots of waste, you'll probably add one or both of these in time. PC lighting is fine.

That tank size would be good for Odontodactylus scyllarus or Odontodactylus havanesis (if you like smashers) or would be a "wonderland" for a wandering spearer like Pseudosquilla ciliata.
Might want to plan on a cover of some sort, either eggcrate or plexiglass with holes, depending on the species -- some jump.

Any of these would need/appreciate a PVC burrow at least twice their length (I'd do a foot-long tube at least).

Dan
 
I think the 50% water change is too much, I personally think you would be fine doing 25% but thats up to you. Make sure the sand bed is as deep as the mantis shrimp, certain species require more than that. I would go with a Peacock like Dan suggest, however the Pseudosquilla Ciliata is a very neat active mantis as well, but that is more personal preference of spearer or smasher. I have 3watt-4watts/gallon over my mantis shrimp tanks and they dont seem to mind that. Take some pictures though once you get it set up and keep us posted.
 
Thanks Dan :)

What kind would be the best combination of looks and activeness in your opinion?? Im not partial to a smasher or a spearer...at least not at this point.

so the 3" eurobracing isnt enough??

I have a 225 and a 90 and run very clean systems. So a 50% water change weekly with my old water change water from these tanks i think would substitute for a skimmer and fuge very well and be simple for me to do in the midst of my other water chagnes. Do you agree that is sufficient?? I could do more or less......but 50% weekly seems like a good number for me.

Thanks for the input. :)
 
did you look at Dr Roys site on mantis shrimp? He has them listed and explains the differences in sizes, activeness, color, etc. It is in a sticky on this thread.

And if you go with a peacock they grow larger than 3inches so it is my understanding that you would want a larger sand bed for them, I have a 5inch sandbed for mine and I have a 2inch pvc pipe for his burrow.
I also have about 30lbs of LR in the tank(it is a 29gallon biocube)
 
thanks tmpoften.

no...sorry.....i pretty much posted this thread without looking at the FAQ's. My bad. I will go read it now.

so the 30 gallon tank i am planning is good it sounds like

Do you keep softies in your tank??
 
Yea, if you hit me with your email address I can send you some pictures of my tanks and the corals I keep in there. But what I keep in there right now are : Star polyps, Mushrooms, Zoas, Candy Coral, Bubble, Brain, Leathers, and a few others. I would def look at his thread it is very useful and has a lot of information
 
The bracing is fine for stability -- the issue is JUMPING! Think "blenny" or "jawfish" here -- both notorious jumpers. This varies by species.

Choice of species is personal. I have a peacock (O. scyllarus) and love her. Personality even varies between individuals of a given species -- some are more "outgoing" and some are more "reclusive". Mine is more on the shy side. YMMV. Your ultimate choice may well depend on availability. From what you've said (colorful/active) you want one of the three species I listed previously, and perhaps also add G. ternatensis to the list for consideration. Stay away from the large spearers (L. maculata, etc) and G. chiragra which tends to be reclusive.

Personally, 50%/week seems high, but would almost certainly keep nutrient levels "tolerable". I like more filtration (biological/mechanical/chemical) and less water changes, because I am lazy. So, I do 'fuge, skimmer, PolyFilter, and PhosGuard. Oh, and 25%/wk water changes.

I have softies in my tank -- xenia, zoanthids (yellow and button), mushrooms, aiptasia (grrr). Mantis have a tendency to rearrange rockwork, so don't put that prized $50/polyp ricordia in your mantis tank, it might end up part of the burrow opening (in pieces). Aside from that admonition, gopher it.

Have fun,
Dan
 
Sweet. Thanks guys. Im going to do some more reading....then build the tank in the next week or two......pick a animal and i will post back with some progress.

I normally would agree with you on the skimmer Dan, but I dont like to look at equipment in any of my tanks and this one will be sumpless. I will probably hook it up with a closed loop and doing a 25-50% waterechange every week(whatever it takes) will actually be very simple considering i will just be taking it from the "dirty" 50+ gallons of water I change out of my other tanks anyway. Im guessing less than 5 minutes with no mixing required....and no skimmer to buy or deal with.

With that being said.......I WILL have to deal with good aeration somehow......hmmmmm
 
Good point on the aeration -- O. havanesis is particularly sensitive to low oxygen. Might want to avoid.

Don't cycle the tank with the mantis present -- wait for stable conditions.
 
I wont be cycling the tank period. I want to reaquacape my 225 anyway and will just pull rock out of it. I will use new dry sand and let it run for a week or two before adding the animal.

I should have some means of aeration besides surface agitation with any species I would think, and for the rics and zoas i will inevitably throw in there.....

a skimmer may be needed for this purpose anyway......
 
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