New Peacock Mantis has arrived!

[Sandman182]

I picked up my long awaited Peacock mantis yesterday from my Lfs who was kind enough to order it for me. It has already dug a huge burrow underneath the live rock that I aquascaped my tank with. I anticipated this happening and aquascaped the tank accordingly so the live rock would not collapse. By it's coloration it appears to be a female and is a little over 4" in length but is stunning nonetheless. I have been reefkeeping for close to 30 yrs. now and currently keep a very successful reef tank but this is my first foray into keeping a species only tank. I have spent many hours on the research of this animal before purchasing but still have a few questions that hopefully some of you can answer. Here goes: I am aware that my new mantis may take some time to acclimate before it leaves it's burrow and start to be more out in the open of it's tank but am wondering how long this process will take. I am very patient so have no problem waiting so not rushing things.
I chose to forego using PVC pipe as a burrow and wanted to go the more natural look but would like opinions, pro's, and con's of using PVC. What supplements do those of you use weekly, daily, or not at all,to ensure the health of your mantis? I am aware that Selcon is used to soak food in before feeding but am wondering if there is an alternative such as Seachem Vitality that can be used as a substitute. If not, Selcon is what I will use. I inspected my mantis thoroughly when it arrived and is very healthy and shows zero signs of illness or disease and I want to do all possible to ensure it stays that way. Sorry for writing a book and look forward to any and all comments and suggestions.

 

[mndfreeze]

Pretty much just like any invert, they need iodine to molt n stuff, but IMO you don't need to go crazy micromanaging every little factor. Just keep the water clean, don't kill it with strong lighting, and try to get it some live food once a week or so. It will survive without live food, but the way I see it with animals is they always seem to have better lives when they are more 'fulfilled' closer to their natural environment.

I would get my Ternatensis a fiddler crab once a week to chase and murder, and because it was a coral mantis, I also kept a mixed reef so I needed clean up crew. I would just buy various sized and species of snails, and more then I needed, under the assumption he would murder half of them slowly over time for snacks.

I didn't use PVC for mine either, but my rock work was done in a way that he sort of have a pre-made burrow with rock, sand and rubble already. Make sure you have lots of good rubble pieces with your live rock, and probably shells n stuff to, then he can shape the burrow more to his/her taste.

As for how long it takes, it seems to be species and individual dependent. Mine mostly hung out an inch or two from his hole, watching the rest of us in the house. The exception was when we watched TV or played video games. He would come all the way out and around the rock to the side of the tank and sit and watch us. lolol. I can only guess the light coming from the TV was weird for him or something, who knows.

Mine hid for a few days before he started popping his head out and taking food. He was also scared of me and my skewer sticks trying to feed him for a week or so. He murdered many a snail during that time though and was definitely eating.

They are pretty smart creatures. Way more then people give credit for I think. Mine definitely figured out that when I was walking to the freezer it meant he was getting fed.

Just keep your water quality good. They are messy killers/eaters and can bury/hide food for later too.

 

[Sandman182]

Thank you for the info. I'm so used to the weekly work of my reef tank that I seem to constantly stay in "œmanagement" mode! Hahaha.

 

[teddscau]

Just a thought, maybe get a UV fixture for the tank? With parrots, at least, they need a UVA bulb to be able to see ultraviolet light. Mantis shrimp can see in a vast array of colour spectrums, so she might appreciate the UVA bulb. Critters who can see in the ultraviolet spectrum use UV for finding food, communicating, etc. In fact many birds that don't appear to possess sexual dimorphism often are in fact sexually dimorphic, we just don't realize it because we can't see in ultraviolet.

 

[Sandman182]

Thanks for your input. I have 2 UV lights that I have used in refugiums in the past so I might set them up again for this tank and see how it goes. In the meantime, I am running my current lighting( Kessil A160 Tuna Blue) on lowest brightness setting and am using only its blue actinic setting as well. I will very closely monitor the lighting though. I have read mantis do not do well in bright lighting so will avoid bright light entirely. Thanks again for your input!

 

[Kharsin]

I'm going to watch this thread closely as I'm highly interested in a Peacock as well. Are there any specific sources of info you found especially helpful in your research? I've seen a lot of things, but it tends to be very general at times. Congrats on the new critter!

 

[Jlentz]

Congrats. Enjoy.

For me, my murder shrimps tend to do best with lower light and really solid water conditions. Every other month or so I get a massive bag of tiny hermits and snails to help with the cleanup. I've honestly not had any luck with regular crabs for some reason. I also feed a frozen feeder clam once every other day. Depending on how murdery he sounds.

I've had three peacocks. They have all been different when it comes to diet. The first two were very chill about fish. My current one is a muderous bastard and almost went into a rbta to get a snowflake clown before I beat him back with tongs and rescued the clown. My last one lived happily with a small shoal of little yellow tangs. (He hid a lot though, I pulled out all but one and he came out more.)

As far as the burrow goes, it's pretty much too late to change now unless she's really unhappy. If what you've got seems to be solid I'd stick with it. Just make sure it can be totally dark inside the burrow.


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[Kharsin]

"Murder Shrimps" LOL! Priceless.... I can't wait to get one!