Lysiosquillina maculata

[rudyistaken]

I just got one of these so need some help setting up the tank for him. He is only about 3 inches or so so will keep him in a 15 gallon high for now. i guess I just need some guidance on the deep sand bed, whether he needs any live rock etc.

Generally what the tank should look like

 

[Pea-brain]

I would recommend at least a six inch sand bed, a little live rock but not large pieces. These will be used as needed for the biological load. Now here is one of the parts I'm not sure about: they need a U shaped burrow. I don't know if they can make this out of normal sand because of their mucus secretions, or if the sand is simply too loose. A PVC pipe would be a good idea, U shaped, but I don't know the slope or length. I think I would use oolitic aragonite sand.

Dan

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

I have the same setup for my L.Maculata with
a fresh 6 inches or so of live sand and he seems happier than ever. I have about 15lbs of Lrock in the tank but I'm considering
removing 8lbs or so. It seems he builds a new burrow every few
days or so. Each of these burrows are a very long (almost) U shaped. I noticed b/c of this; the rock seems to settle differently and I would hate for the little guy to get crushed b/c he burrows so much. Sometimes he digs a long shallow burrow , sometimes a deep burrow ...pretty intresting though. Enjoy very cool Mantis.