Thought of a way to modify my mantis tank

[Wocka]

In my 20g cube tank I have a U shaped PVC burrow on top of the sand with the aquascape on top.

I notice my peacock shrimp hitting the top of the PVC burrow at the end of the exit..

What I was wondering was could I put a PVC elbow on the ends of the pvc pipe so the hole for his burrow will be pointing up? i could put rocks and rubble all around it too.

So instead of having exits that go straight out he will have exits that go up. What do you guys think?

 

[rwhhunt]

DONE IT! WORKS GREAT!

Boris, in fact, even built up rubble around the entrance as well, however, even though the pipes are 2.5" (i think) she has outgrown the tunnel, and now lives upstairs, still nice dark secure burrow, but the tunnels are abandonded, so be forwarned!

 

[rwhhunt]

BTW, by far the coolest Attack I have ever seen was from this top mounted burrow! I had put a good sized crayfish in the tank, and boris has taken a couple whacks at it and cracked up his "cranial" exoskelton, well the crayfish jetted off and hid in the live rock right next to the top entrance, and sat very still so Boris would detect him...Well, my legion of snails hunted the "bleeding" crayfish down, and one began climbing on his back and starting to suck the inside of his exposed "head juices", Well the crayfish beganm to flail his claw around, and immediatly caught the attention of Boris, who snuck up behind him and fire a double strike on his tail, the crayfish spun around and recieved another double strike in the face and claw! With this strike the crayfish flutters up and suspends itself in the water exposing its' vulnerble underside, THEN the final finish blow comes as a SUPER UPPERCUT completely disabling the crayfish! Boris rushes over while the crayfish is stunned and motionless and takes her right club and repeatedly strikes (rapid fire style) on his big claw and rips it off and runs back to her burrow to grub down!... She later drags the rest of the corpse down under...

 

[Wocka]

So you think an exit pointing up rather than forward be better? I plan on cutting the PVC pipe so it doesnt go up alot. Do you think a 2" pvc burrow will be big enough for a full sized peacock?? If its not i donno what im gonna do

 

[rwhhunt]

Either way, I would do one up and maybe one out, or some combination, A you can tell, there are three openining to my pvc, which she immediatly blocked up one w/ LR rubble, and never opened back up untill she moved out... I would recommend going bigger than 2", mine is 2"-2.5" (I forget which) But, she is about 6 inches, and is too big for it... If I could do it again, I would go with three inches!, may seem big at first if you got a little guy, but Trust me, moving these guys isnt the easiest, so go bigger and let him grow into it! My 3.5" PVC is now just a useless tunnel... I think she can still fit in, but prefers not to. (I think she had problems turning around in it)

 

[Wocka]

Well the only way I could switch out my PVC pipe is if I took all the live rock off of it, which is probly never going to happen. I also need to find a way to capture my mantis shrimp If I ever need to do work on the inside.

I can't imagine myself redueing aquascape again which is really a pain in the ***.

How come your mantis doesnt use your 3.5" PVC?

 

[catdoc]

I made my peacock a burrow out of pvc with a 45 degree bend and a cap over the deep end. She didn't like the cap and hit at it until it popped of and she forced it up through the sand to the surface. Just to let you know, I'd recommend actually gluing the pvc instead of just slip-fitting it like I did.

 

[rwhhunt]

Sorry, I meant the 2.5" pipe is practically useless.. I am thinking that a big serpent star my find a nice home it it though...

 

[Wocka]

So I am probly gonna take out my 2" pvc and add a new 3.5" pvc burrow with slanting exits. hopefully he will like it better, what angle pipe should i buy on the end? 90' 45' ??