Setting up Mantis Shrimp Aquarium

[martylaa]

HI all i'm very interested in setting up a Reef Aquarium with the view to housing a single Mantis Shrimp, can anyone give me some good tips and also if anyone knows of some good books on this subject it would be much appreciated.

Martylaa

 

[Pea-brain]

There are no books on te subject. WHat type of mantis do you want to keep? That dictates aquarium size. An adult peacock for example needs 20-30 gallons while an N. wennerae or G. smithii only needs 5-10 gallons. Look at ROy's list and pick a species (N. wennerae, P. ciliata, and O. scyllarus are among the easiest to get) For a tankn they only need a 2-3" sand bed, a powerhead or two for circulation, and enough live rock to make a sutiable burrow or a PVC pipe to use as a burrow (N. wennerae and other small smashers usually are fine burrowing in a rock, O. scyllarus needs a PVC pipe, P. ciliata can burrow under rocks or use a PVC pipe.

Dan

 

[martylaa]

I really like the looks of the Peacock Shrimp and after reading a lot on this post site and others i think i'm going to plump for one of those, and the 20 - 30 gallon size sounds about right would a 10mm glass tank be enough or should it be thicker or made of acrylic? Also would you put some corals in there as well?

Martylaa

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Acrylic is always a good choice for any larger mantis. But a glass tank of 20-30 gallon size will do just fine. The thickness is larger to withstand the water pressure and works fine with most peacocks. Corals do fine as long as the mantis doesn't decide to use them in his burrow construction. Keep in mind that most mantis do not like high light intensity so soft corals sp. are (usually ) the standard.