mantis tube

newreefers

New member
has anyone tried the clear tubes for their mantis to hide in so that you can still see him, or does it have to be solid to block the light?:confused:
 
It depends on the species. Most stomatopods are very thigmotactic (like to touch things) and will generally stay next to an edge or under a rock. Lacking a cavity to live in, some will use a clear tube - although they are clearly not satisfied with it and come and go frequently. They will also often try to cover the tube with rubble, shell, etc.

In some experiments that we run, we use a modified clear tube to view the animals. This will work for many species including spearers such as Lysioquillina, burrowing smashers like Odontodactylus scyllarus and even some cavity living smashers like Neogonodactylus wennerae.

For a burrowing species such as L. maculata or O. scyllarus, go to the electrical section of your hardward store (like Home Depot) and buy an appropriately sized piece of 90 degree grey pvc electrical conduit. These come in diameters from 3/4 to 2.5 inches. Then using a planer, shave off one size until you have cut away about a quarter of the tube. If you want the burrow to look natural, smear the inside of the tube with Silicone Aquarium Cement and pack it with sand. In a day or two, shake out the excess sand and the burrow will look just like the inside of one dug by a stomatopod (we've used this technique in several films). Then place the cut-away tube against the side of your aquarium and fill pile sand up to the two entrances. For permanent installations, I glue the tube in place, but it usually isn't necessary. Also, to make a natural looking entrance, you would probably want to cut the ends of the conduit at a 45 degree angle so that it is flush witht he surface. We then tape a piece of black plastic to the outside of the tank covering the cut-away tube. Whenever you want to look at the animal, you can lift the cover. At night, we can also use infrared viewers to record activity.

For cavity livers, we do the same thing, except I take a natural coralline algae cavity, cut it in two with a diamond or tungsten carbide saw, and place it against the side of the tank. I really like this approach since I can't leave the natural cavity entrance in place and record behavior in a very natural setting., but still film inside the cavity when necessary.

There are other tricks to keeping the cavity or burrow dark when that is necessary, but the general procedure I outlined works well and lets you keep track of molts, eggs, etc.

Roy
 
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