Mantis hitting bottom of tank

baller71ss

New member
I had a mantis that died suddenly about a year ago, and I'm currently putting together a new setup for another one. I remember the last one would dig up the sand and break open shells by holding them against the glass bottom. This could lead to a very bad situation, and I was wondering if it's OK to lay a piece of acrylic on the bottom of a glass tank to avoid this possible catastrophe??? Should it be sealed with silicon to prevent any thing nasty from getting under it?? Thanks
 
Try putting a square of egg-crate in there, it wouldn't need to be kept down with glue or anything, and it would keep the snail shells off the bottom perfectly.
 
We often use egg-crate for temporary barriers, but long term, large O. scyllarus will break through it. In fact, once they break off a piece, they well continue to work on it until there is a large hole.

There is a difference between the animal using a hard subrate to break shells and attempted digging. We often put a piece of plexiglass under a burrow to give the animals a hard surface to break on. A piece of flat rock also works. However, when animals dig and find an obstruction, they try to break it off. They do this in the field all the time when digging a burrow. Once they hit a bit of rubble, they try to dislodge it or break it off. You see the same thing in an aquarium. The animal starts to dig, hits the bottom, and tries to go through it. If they can't see through it, they usually don't try to break it, but no guarantee. I've lost most of my tanks when they dig in a bottom corner and chip the edge of the glass. I usually smear a healthy bead of silicone along the bottom edge and corner of new tanks and this stops the problem.

The major problem with a false bottom is that it provides the perfect place for some critters such as bristle worms that you dont want. I would just protect the edges with silicone and provide a small breaking surface and not worry about the animal breaking out the bottom - unless you are using glass less than 3/16".
 
Gono, what would be the issue with having bristle worms in a mantis environment? Is there a compatibility issue? I'm pretty new to the mantis fascination and I don't have one yet, but I have a tank earmarked for it this summer. Just trying to cover my x's and o's.
 
I was very surprised that our O.S. chopped up and ate bristleworms!

I put a 1/4" lexan sheet at the base of the tank under the substrate and glad I did so. I cringe whenever I hear a loud "click" on the glass.

-Rogue
 
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