I would like to get your opinion on this setup...

[Thalast]

I happen to come across a 90g acrylic tank a while ago, that I was planning on building into a sps dominated reef. The problem is the tank is 36x24x24. After alot of thought I decided to not make a reef out of something that was not exactly the specs I wanted...I want my naso tang and I am turning this into a mantis tank. The tank is made from 1/2" acrylic so I should be safe from anything trying to smash the walls.

The equipment that the tank has, is a huge sump/refugium, as well as extensions for a "dark tube" refugium that I will be building this weekend. A 6in x foot pvc pipe that is filled with rock rubble and basically is there to promote the growth of those little sponges that grow all over everywhere, and packed with live rock rubble. I have a asm g3 skimmer, modded as a mesh wheel. Lighting is way overkill, I have a 250w MF (I dont think I will even bother hooking this up) and 4 36w T5 bulbs.

Now, my question is... What do I need in the tank itself for a nice big peacock mantis? (I assume a large peacock will be fine in this tank). What do I need in regards to sand bed, I have several bags of sugar sized argonite in the garage, that should be enough to put about a 3" deep bed thought the whole tank. I was thinking of an 18" island of rock in the middle of the tank that he could make his burrow out of.

What else do I need for this little guy?

Has anyone kept a mantis in a larger tank like this? One thing I have not been too clear on are the lighting needs. I assume I do not need tons of light for these animals, but does spectrum matter? This will be my first mantis so let me know all the hints you can.

 

[Pea-brain]

These animals are from deeper waters. In high light environments large peacocks can succumb to a deadly shell disease. unless you can provide alot of shade avoid anything stronger than PC. You can keep corals with the peacock as long as they are well secured BTW. Also, any rocks in there will most likely be moved unless they are pretty big, so decorate how you want and he'll decide if it is good enough (avoid large, delicate stacks)

The sand will be fine for a peacock tank....buuuuut.....you have a large enough tank to make a natural peacock burrow if you wanted, which would be VERY cool. Someone a while ago though about it but i don't think he did it. It's a little expensive but if you have the money I would suggest this if it interests you: A mud bed. A substrate suitable for natural burrowing. I think it would be very neat. Maybe to save on mud a mixture of aragonite, all natural clay and maybe something else.....just saying....

Dan

 

[Thalast]

I like your quote Pea-brain

So for the lighting, I am planning on using 4 T5 bulbs, but perhaps I could change this a bit. What do you think about two actinic bulbs and one 10k, or 15k bulb for the daylight period. The depth of the tank is 24 inches. Would the 4 bulbs running 2 actinic, 1 10k, 1 15k or something like that be too much light for them?

Second question, do you know of anywhere that has more information on the natural peacock burrow? If it requires a deeper sand bed, I can always try and angle the sand. Put the rocks back in the back side of the tank, and made a 6"or 7" deep sand bed below them (around them I suppose, so his reorganizing the rocks does not make them topple) then let it slope out to 2 inches or so at the front of the tank.

What does anyone else think? Any other ideas or recommendations?

 

[Thalast]

One more question for everyone. How much flow is recommended for a peacock mantis? I am trying to get all the rest of the supplies I will need in one order so I don't have to pay tons on shipping. At the moment all the flow in the tank is being provided by the return pump a Eheim 1262 i believe.

 

[Joel A]

they can handle turbulent flow, but they dont need it either. However much you want really, just dont cause sand storms. =).

 

[justinl]

just dont have flow pointed directly into the burrow and it should be fine. peacocks can be found anywhere from low to ripping current

 

[Thalast]

another random question.

Since this is a bit larger tank than people usually put a mantis in, I can fit a bit more in here. I was thinking of something along the line of having some live feeder fish for him to pick off if he decides to get bored with snails and hermit crabs. What would you guys think about me keep 4 or 5 green chromis in the tank with him? Would they do any harm to him? Keep in mind this is a 90g tank. They would have plenty of room to swim, and he would have his own area of tank to retreat to.

I am just trying to think of ways to add a little enrichment to an otherwise very boring life of sitting in a plastic box. What other fish are cheap and might be suitable as a random feeder every now and then?

Right now I am planning on having about 15 or so snails to help with possible algae issues, maybe one or 3 hermits, an emerald crab, and some sort of live (feeder if he chooses) swimming something to add a bit of color to the tank. Again I am planning on having everything that goes into the tank ending up as his dinner at some point in time.

 

[justinl]

wow, and i thought my 60g was overkill for a peacock. for feeder fish, i would go with whatever is cheapest in your area. chromis might be a good choice because they have a somewhat ("somewhat" because they are still known to pick each other off anyways) better tendency towards each other than damsels. They are, however, more timid than damsels so will probably get hunted faster. You will have to weigh out what is more important to you. only pick either chromis or damsels though; if you mix, the damsels will probably kill off the chomis.

In my 60g, i have a blue damsel and a red honey damsel. the blue has been there for a month, but i dont expect it to last too long. my peacock has already killed a chromis, it just waited until the fish got complacent... But then, all mantids are different and whether or not they eat hunt fish depends on how well fed they are and what their personality is like. Some kill on sight, some wait for the right moment and some are hippies (live and let live).

you also have to realise that the mantis may be a little less outgoing with fish in the tank than without. You may want to let the mantis assert itself in a fishless tank for a month or two before adding the fish. Another thing is that your invert crew will go first, then the fish (i dont know if that makes a difference to you).

 

[Thalast]

Ultimately it will depend on the mantis, but the idea isto try and give it as little human mteraction as possible. Meaning I dont want it to have to eat from a stick every two days or so. I want it to have a constant supply of hermits, snails, and fish, maybe some shrimp occasionally to hunt as it likes. I intend for everything that goes into the tank to end up as dinner at some time. since you have a decent size tank justinl, if you had it to do over what would you different? Do you have any pics of your system I could see? I am curious to see how you have the rock and sand setup. Also what lighting do you have?

 

[Thalast]

Ultimately it will depend on the mantis, but the idea isto try and give it as little human mteraction as possible. Meaning I dont want it to have to eat from a stick every two days or so. I want it to have a constant supply of hermits, snails, and fish, maybe some shrimp occasionally to hunt as it likes. I intend for everything that goes into the tank to end up as dinner at some time. since you have a decent size tank justinl, if you had it to do over what would you different? Do you have any pics of your system I could see? I am curious to see how you have the rock and sand setup. Also what lighting do you have?

 

[justinl]

lol, all that live food runnig around, your mantis is going to LOVE you. I suppose the $ isnt really a concern for you huh?

hmmm, I would have definitely gotten a sump from the get-go. I might have used thick glass as opposed to the acrylic tank i have now, but that one isnt really a big issue to me. Right now i have a ghetto temporary egg crate canopy which is just a fence to prevent carpet surfers; come summer, I will build a proper canopy. I also would have just started out with the right amount of rock instead of adding to it slowly... which is what i did. there's no point in having to cure small bits at a time before adding to the tank; it's just a hassle. Well okay, I do admit there is an upside to slowly adding; it allows you to cherry pick rock, get the right interesting shapes and more porous rock to serve as better filtration (than the dense stuff). Whether or not that's worth the hassle for you is up to you. lol, don't ask me how much it weighs in all though, I haven't got a freakin clue. I put in a base of rock on the bottom pane and added sand around it. The sand bed around the edges of the tak is about 1.5 inches, towards the centre of the tank it gets to about 3inches or so; that bit i wouldnt change. The solid base of rock is important o give stability to your aquascaping (you dont want to crush your mantis as it engineers its burrow.)

Now just so we are clear, there are a couple of rules of thumb involved with keeping a peacock. Generally, no metal halide lights unless you can provide a nice dark burrow. I also always tell others that peacocks are not reef safe because they just get too big. I went and broke the last rule as an experiment (i know, shame on me, the hypocrite!). I do not encourage following in my footsteps in that regard.

I have always sort of assumed a large peacock would be trouble for a reef because of its size, crawling around, stealing coral, and producing a lot of waste. In my tank, I glued all the coral to large (softball size or bigger) pieces of rock so i could be sure the mantis couldnt steal the stuff. I wish i could have a better skimmer as well as a sump, but it just isnt going to happen anytime soon; the 60g volume helps greatly though.

Right now Im letting a few monti caps and some birdsnest represent the SPS, and zoos palys and shrooms representing the softies. I have yet to test LPS beyond a chalice i have in there currently so I wont draw any conclusions there. softies are untouched, which i expected so Im removing them to make real room for LPS; I think it's plenty safe to say a peacock is safe with softies. For SPS, the only damage so far is a chunk out of a green monti cap that was a bit too close to the opening of the peacocks burrow... I want to explore that proximity thing a bit more. I have yet to test at all with large colonies; that's why i chose birdsnest though. Fast grower, so the large colony test comes along as the birdsnest/caps grow; I am a bit anxious about risking big colonies... but hey, in the name of science right? I have a 20 headed Duncan colony in my 8gal G. smithii tank, but i am quite reluctant to risk that one.

fts. The MH shines from above (obviously) and just behind the actual rockwork. That way the burrow is shielded from the light by solid rock (a large flat piece and the arch just above it) and unless the peacock actually fully ventures out, he can easily manage to get out of the light.

close up of the burrow. you can see one of the two exits the mantis uses. Just a bit to the right of the photo, that wall of rubble used to be a big hole. the peacock built that wall entirely by himself in a couple hours. Just illustrates how important rubble is to these guys (very).

 

[Thalast]

thanks justinl,what is the wattage on that MH? What bulbs do you use? I actually planned this tank as a SPS reef a while ago, but I want a bigger tank for that that being said, most of the equipment I bought was for an SPS tank. I have a 250w MH sitting unopened that could toss on if I want, since the tank itself is 24 inches deep, and given enough shade it might work. I am currently planning on 4 T5 36W each. Maybe I could put 2 more on and go that route for more lighting. I think I will see how the mantis does with the 4 T5bulbs first though. Maybe make a zoa-garden around his burrow or something. The plumbing on the tank is almost finished, hopefully by tomorrow. I will take some pics of the setup so far.

 

[justinl]

oh did i forget that bit, my bad. I have a single 175W 10000K XM bulb on there (soon to be replaced with 15000K); Im debating whether or not to add on a 65W PC i have kicking around. Like I said, I broke rules for my tank and it isnt something i would suggest anyone do as well. For your case, I would definitely at least start with T5s. I would save the 250W MH for your sps tank. You have to remember that O. scyllarus is a deeper water species and doesn't like really bright lighting; they are prone to shell disease, especially in large males. I keep a close (and sometimes nervous) eye on my peacock's carapace.

I think, regardless of what light goes on, you should be aquascaping to shelter the burrow from direct light. Brighter lights just make the need to block light more necessary.