Thinking about getting a mantis

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I've been looking into getting a mantis. Probably a peacock.

So far, I've decided that the new setup will be a

30G Oceanic cube
MaxiJet 600 for circulation
1" fine sand + shells + crushed coral as substrate
Live rock
Visithem Steath heater

Lighting I havent decided upon yet but I'm leaning towards
a 150W HQI fixture.

I'm also thinking that the 30G will end up hosting my growing
zoanthid collection. Do any of you have corals in you
mantis setups?

 

[rwhhunt]

You probably wont want to put MH over a peacock tank... I have 130 W of PC over my 26 and its probably at the threshold of being too bright. These are deeper water species and dont do as well under such intense lighting (ie, they will dull in color, come out less, and become more prone to shell disease according to Dr Roy), Also, IMO, I put in as much sand as possible, closer to 3-4" because, not only does it help with nitrate reduction and water quality, but if a peacock starts to dig (which mine digs a lot and deep) it is much more likely to crack the glass trying to excavate through the sand and through the bottom of your tank... I think the Oceanic cube is glass, so this might be an issue, you can however protect against that by laying down a piece of plexiglass on the bottom of the tank under all the sand... Ive been wanting to put corals like Zoos and shrooms in my tank but im going to start off with an anemone for my clown... my friend has been succesful keeping zoos and shrooms with this Oerstedii.

 

[Thurge]

I have Zoos, Sarcophytons, sinularia, Candy Cane, and an unknown leather in with one of my mantis. The other tank just has some Zoanthid that don't fit in the other tank.

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Thanks for the tip. I'm still tempted to go with the 150W MH
though since Im probably going to do a 20K bulb - PAR
should be fairly low and the bulb will be fairly high off the
water - I don't think the intensity will be more than what
you're currently running on your 26.

Picked up the tank last night - what a deal!
$150 for an Oceanic 30G combo(light/glasstop) + stand - all new
from Petsmart - they had a sale going on.

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8015687#post8015687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thurge
I have Zoos, Sarcophytons, sinularia, Candy Cane, and an unknown leather in with one of my mantis. The other tank just has some Zoanthid that don't fit in the other tank.

Nice - thats what I wanted to hear. Thanks!

 

[rudyistaken]

I keep all sorts of corals and even a bta with a couple occelaris clowns with my peacock in the exact set up. I even have a 175 watt mh on it with no issues. Strangely enough the clowns are the only fish (or anything that matter the peacock will not touch