Mantis Shrimp in Sump???

[SteveVai9708]

Is a mantis shrimp in a sump a good idea? I just upgraded from 5.5gallon to a 65 gallon and I got a eshopps R-100 sump.My little brother is begging me to put in a mantis shrimp, but my biggest worry is that the psychotic thing will break the acrylic, or baffles. I've gotten quite a few answers such as "it wont break through it, but there's no point since nobody sees it." The other LFS said once it gets bigger it can chip away the acrylic because the eshops's sumps have very thin acrylic. I'm thinking about getting him a smaller mantis like the lime green, or the caribbean rock one

 

[paradox_of_reef]

They cannot break acrylic. Its the safe bet when owning a mantis shrimp. How big is the sump and what species of mantis do you have? Depending on the size of the sump and the mantis your glass will be safe. Mantis shrimps are only capable of breaking aquarium glass if too large a specimen is put in too small a tank (smaller tanks typically have thinner glass.)

 

[SteveVai9708]

The compartment I plan on keeping the mantis is 7" in length and 11.5" wide. I don't have the mantis because my tank is cycling. I plan to keep a carribean rock mantis, or a lime green one...I want the smallest mantis I can get. I was told the acrylic on eshops sump's are thin, so that's why they were unsure if it would break it or not.

 

[Kharn]

I wouldn't bother personally.

A compartment that small will only be able to house something very small, Neogonodactyloid probably be the largest species you could keep in it.

Me personally, I have pretty much stopped looking for species less then 5"-6" in total size because photographing and filming those small buggers is tough.

 

[Jlentz]

Eshopps r100 is REALLY thin acrylic. I'm paranoid when I'm working in mine I'll break it.

No way would I put a mantis in it.

 

[EI Gringo]

I also wouldn't bother even a neogonodactyloid could break through a plastic holding container like one of those beginner tanks/reptile tanks you see so if this is really really thin acrylic then I'd be a little paranoid about that, plus what's the point, you'll never see it anyway. What's in your main tank? A species that would fit into that sump really wouldn't do too much damage to livestock so you could potentially think about just whacking one in the main aquarium if you want one. Once domesticated and skewer fed regularly they usually become pretty tame, especially smaller species

 

[EI Gringo]

Obviously if its full of big triggers, puffers etc then don't even think about it

 

[Jlentz]

I also wouldn't bother even a neogonodactyloid could break through a plastic holding container like one of those beginner tanks/reptile tanks you see so if this is really really thin acrylic then I'd be a little paranoid about that, plus what's the point, you'll never see it anyway. What's in your main tank? A species that would fit into that sump really wouldn't do too much damage to livestock so you could potentially think about just whacking one in the main aquarium if you want one. Once domesticated and skewer fed regularly they usually become pretty tame, especially smaller species

I'm tempted to put a smithii in my reef next time I come across one. My main concern is my flasher wrasses that hide in the rocks.

 

[EI Gringo]

It's always a risk but I had a flasher wrasse with a g smithii and there was no drama between them

 

[SteveVai9708]

I can't put a mantis in the main display....I have a emerald crab that I hand feed and he knows who I am...sometimes he comes to the tank and starts pinching his claws :3. I also have a scarlet skunk cleaner, and clownfish that I have to move to that tank when it's cycling. I was planning on to buy sheets of acrylic to make it thicker or use the 5 gallon tank. How many millimeters of glass and how many millimeters of acyrilic is adequate for them?

 

[paradox_of_reef]

If you use any acrylic that is suitable to hold water then you can rest assured that it will be fine. Acrylic does not shatter when struck like glass does, which is why hobbyists prefer it if possible for mantis shrimp tanks. if you plan to construct an aquarium you need to be sure the the acrylic is of suitable size to hold water in when filled. If you get that accomplished no mantis will be breaking it.

Back to the root of the issue, if you are getting a mantis because your brother wants you to why not consider getting a different tank for just a mantis. Then you can get a larger species which will be better for viewing, not to mention things in the sump are hard to view anyway. It just seems like everything would be better off in a species tank for your situation.

 

[Hadla]

^what he/she said! The small ones are hard to see compared to live rock

 

[Calappidae]

If you use any acrylic that is suitable to hold water then you can rest assured that it will be fine. Acrylic does not shatter when struck like glass does.

Through several experiences, and several witnesses, this would not be the case.


Acrylic bends, making it tough to crack, but hard acrylic such as crittle containers, or acrylic betta kits, will break from something as smalll as a neogonodactylus. In this case glass would be the 100% safer option. Back in the day I made a refugium out of an acrylic betta container, and it lasted a week before cracks were made, I soon realized it's as sturdy as a critter container and tore the whole thing down.

However a "shatter proof" acrylic setup such as what seaclear 30 gallons and what not are made out of, will not break, and the acrylic sheets you buy will also not break, IF they are not supporting each other (basically don't build an acrylic tank yourself, only line an existing glass tank with it).

Just go glass. Not much more needs to be said, if you're really paranoid just silicone a sheet of acrylic at the bottom of the tank.

But in this case, I would reconsider a mantis shrimp not for your sump, but for it's own little setup. You can set up a 5-10 gallon with a G. viridis (lime green) easily.

 

[SteveVai9708]

Okay, I think it would be cool to have a mantis in the 5 gallon when the 65 is done cycling. What I would be worried about with that would it smashing the filter(keep in mind this tank has no skimmer, sump, refugiu m ect.). Is it okay to not have a filter with this guy? The tank has 10lbs of live sand and 4lbs of live rock.

 

[paradox_of_reef]

As long as you aren't putting a full grown peacock in a standard five gallon tank then you can still have everything a small tank is going to need on its own (heater filter powerhead.) Again tanks and equipment get broken when you have too large a specimen in too small a tank. if you stick with a lime mantis in a five gallon or a wennerae in a ten gallon you are going to be fine. I have never seen a mantis attack or damage tank equipment, so I don't think you will have to worry about it attacking a filter.

 

[Kharn]

A while ago I had a small 10g nano setup which housed a G.smithii the only filtration on the tank (besides water changes) was a very large HOB filter (AquaClear 110) which I modified to be a HOB refugium, the large 110 HOB filter has lots of storage inside it and is very easy to mod.

All I did was place 1.5inchs of live sand and then 2 pieces of live rock on top and then the Macro Algae, finally I bought a small cheap clip on light that clamped to the side of the aquarium with the light positioned over the HOB filter refugium.

I set the pump power on the HOB filter to the lowest setting and it worked really well.

Plan to do this again sometime what I liked about it was how clean it all looked, the large HOB filter basically stretched the entire length of the small aquarium and even on its lowest setting the amount of output from the large HOB overflow was basically perfect because I needed no powerheads!

I'm replicating the same design but in a much larger tank (670Gal) with a much larger pump (4,280GPH) in the hopes I can get by without powerheads in the display tank for my own plans.

 

[corvettecrimson]

The pet store I got my mantis shrimp from had it in a tiny acrylic betta bowl for a few weeks before I bought him, I put him in a 10 gallon glass tank with no problems for a year now.

 

[Jlentz]

A while ago I had a small 10g nano setup which housed a G.smithii the only filtration on the tank (besides water changes) was a very large HOB filter (AquaClear 110) which I modified to be a HOB refugium, the large 110 HOB filter has lots of storage inside it and is very easy to mod.

All I did was place 1.5inchs of live sand and then 2 pieces of live rock on top and then the Macro Algae, finally I bought a small cheap clip on light that clamped to the side of the aquarium with the light positioned over the HOB filter refugium.

I set the pump power on the HOB filter to the lowest setting and it worked really well.

Plan to do this again sometime what I liked about it was how clean it all looked, the large HOB filter basically stretched the entire length of the small aquarium and even on its lowest setting the amount of output from the large HOB overflow was basically perfect because I needed no powerheads!

I'm replicating the same design but in a much larger tank (670Gal) with a much larger pump (4,280GPH) in the hopes I can get by without powerheads in the display tank for my own plans.

Sounds like an awesome setup for a smithii.