Should a mantis tank be my first?

[Finding Emo]

Within the next couple of weeks i am planning on setting up my first saltwater tank and I am not sure whether a 30 gallon reef tank or a mantis tank would be better. Any suggestions and comments would be great, thank you.

 

[Pea-brain]

The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Mantises are mostly safe with corals (with the possible exception of large sps colonies) as long as the coral is securely placed. What type of light are you planning on using? If it is MH or something really strong you can't keep deeper water species like peacocks, but there are still other interesting ones like P. ciliata. Look through Roy's list. If it comes from a bove 5 meters i believe it should be fine with full power MH.

Dan

 

[gemini aquarius(t)]

Agreed^^

I would reccomend a N. Wennerae or G. Smithii

but with a 30 g, you can almost do what ever you want

 

[Finding Emo]

ok i wasn't planning on using MH too expensive for right now. As far as which type i was looking at getting a peacock and i didn't know that you could house mantis with corals. I think I've decided that I'll prolly go with the reef setup because i have a friend who is giving me a pair of oscelaris clowns for cheap and i don't have the right tank for a mantis beacause you do need an acrylic tank for the mantis right?

 

[suppressivefire]

no you don't.

 

[Pea-brain]

If you line the bottom of the tank with acrylic and don't tease the mantis then there is virtually no chance of tank breakage. Only person here thats ever had a tank break to my knowledge has been Dr. Roy and he researces mantises for a living, so yeah

Dan