setup for peacock mantis

[rcoulter]

My wife is a 6th grade science teacher - our LFS has a few mantis and she really wants one for her classroom. I've a ten gallon lying about and can spare some LR for this tank. What substrate and filtration should I use for this endeavor? I'd like to keep this as cheap and portable as possible as we will be transporting that tank back and forth to home in the summertime. Oh, aforementioned critter is about 3" long and very bright green.

thanks

 

[biomekanic]

a good sized HOB for filtration, a flouresent light, and a heater (even better if you fit the heater in the HOB, maybe one of those tetratec units?) and you should be good to go.
weekly water changes cause they generate a lot of waste. maybe a small airstone skimmer if you can find one.
check out http://www.blueboard.com for some more advice, I believe it was Dr. Roy who said, "it's not rocket science", though I could be wrong.

 

[RogueCorps]

Hi Rcoulter,

There is excellent information at www.blueboard.com/mantis and another thread on seting up your mantis tank here: http://www.fragexchange.com/Forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=1184&start=1

If it really is a Peacock (O. Scyllarus) and it gets any larger then you'd be safer with an acrylic tank for it. Dr. Roy mentioned in a post recently that O. S. live in shelly/muddy substrate and build their dens of rock rubble. I use a sandbed of Southdown with about 30% larger grain coral sand.

If you treat it like a fish only tank I think a hang on filter would be a good idea if it is maintained regularly. Also the Tetratec hang on filter has an internal heater module that resolves the problem of having a breakable heater with a smasher mantis.

Make sure the kids don't get struck or speared. Dr. Roy notes an incident where a doctor was speared and the infection didn't respond to antibiotics, and needed amputation. Dangerous stuff... Awesome pets though...

hth!

-Rogue

 

[rcoulter]

hmm, I hadn't given the glass heater any thought but you bring up a valid point. I'll have to look into the tetratec.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I usually try to stay out of discussions on tank set-up since this is as much about personal preference as it is about good water chemistry. However, I do have a lot of experience transporting stomatopods around the lab and occasionally for demonstrations at schools, so I can tell you what I have found that works best for me.

With something the size of a 5-10 gal, I use a canister filter such as a Fluval 203 (I strongly dislike the newer version '04 series, but that is another discussion) that has valves allowing the filter to be sealed. To move the set-up, I seal off and disconnect the canister, siphon all but about 2 inches of water into a large plastic screw-top container that will hold it, and load up (using plastic Nally bins). I don't use anything but a thin layer of clean gravel or sand since pouring the water in and out really clouds up the tank and will also deposit a lot of sediment in the filter. I use a pvc pipe for the animal to live in. The kids can see in either end and if necessary for demonstrations, the animal is easily removed from its house.

If you need a heater, either use titanium or put a loose, holy plastic sleeve around a glass one. At least tape over the pilot light since this is what usually elicits attack.

Roy