Who has had a mantis break their tank?

stringcheese

New member
Small POLL:

I'd like to know who's tank has been broken by a mantis and the story (pics too) behind the break.

I think this'll be great!:D
 
I've only heard of one person and I think they had a O.S. break a 40g Breeder. Right now I have my O.S. in a glass tank with no problems. There's prolly alot of ppl who will say they know someone but in all the years i've been lurking on these forums I've only see that one person acctually post pics of their broken tank. Personally I think most stories are just that!
 
No pics, but Roy Caldwell had a O. scyllarus break a tank (If I remember right it is what pulled him into mantis shrimp. He originally worked on small caribean species' interacton, but this is what pulled him into primarily working with stomatopods ifI remember correctly.) Another is a UK guy keeping an O. scyllarus. It was in the newspaper, and I found it online. BTW, I'm not a stalker :D , I just found a really cool interview between Roy and someone else. You shold google the words Mantis shrimp, interview , Roy Caldwell

Dan
 
Come on....

Come on....

Nobody???

I sure read a whole lot of precautions when trying to learn about set up.

I'd think with all that chatter someone would've had it happen to them.

Come on everyone...Annie Up!
 
LOL I think the reason it hasn't happened much lately is because we are keeping them in tanks setup for them. Either thick glass, shatterproof, or special attention to keep inabitant happy and not provoke it.

Dan
 
thats it.
I was playing with Hairy the other day and he was coming out to the glass where I had my finger and I quit before he decided to take a good whack. He is a big male G.chiagra who does possess the potential for tank damage, but is such a home body its not an issue in his 15gal.
 
google "tyson mantis shrimp" that will give you the big mantis story mentioned above.

like pea brain said, most mantis keepers now know what kind of tank is required and will stick to the rules. of course there are the odd few who dont bother researching, but their likes arent found around here very often here (so you wouldnt hear about it). I know one guy who had a mantis (dunno what species) crack his glass tank, and one lfs worker who had a mantis crack the bottom pane of his tank. of course those are just word of mouth... cant say it's happened to me.

another variable to consider is the fact that 99.9% of hitchers are not species that will grow into something even capable of smashing glass tanks. most people getting those, know what they're getting into.
 
I've described a few broken tanks on this forum in the past - most chips and cracks around the bottom of the tank where O. scyllarus or G. chiragra were trying to dig. We have had a couple of major breaks that took out an entire side of a tank, but those were by large Hemisquilla or O. scyllarus. On the other hand, consider that my lab usually has 40-50 aquaria set up for large (> 60 mm) stomatopods, many of them thin walled photographic and observation tanks and that we have been doing this since 1072 - 35 years! That is over 600,000 stomatopod days. If you figure that the average animal is in the lab for 3 months, that comes to about 6000 stomatopods kept in aquaria (most of our small stomatopod are keep in plastic cups, so I'm not counting them), the incidence of tank failure is actually remarkably small. Partly this is due to precautions that we take such keeping large smashers in plexiglass tanks or lining the bottom of glass tanks with plexiglass. Another reason is that these animals are not pets and we don't interact with them on a daily basis. I'm sure if we allowed people to tease the animals moving fingers, etcl against the glass trying to elicit strikes, the number of breaks would be higher.
 
This is getting very interesting. Thanks to all that have posted!

LETS KEEP IT GOING!

This IS a fun subject and I'm enjoying what I'm reading.

On a different topic...I saw a 4" Mantis in my LFS's show tank eating a torch coral yesterday. They sure are neat buggers.
 
lol, how do you know it's a typo? maybe Doc Roy has been in this business a long time... like really loooonnng. :D

mantis eating a torch coral? last time i checked mantids didn't eat coral.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10119661#post10119661 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gonodactylus
I've described a few broken tanks on this forum in the past - most chips and cracks around the bottom of the tank where O. scyllarus or G. chiragra were trying to dig. We have had a couple of major breaks that took out an entire side of a tank, but those were by large Hemisquilla or O. scyllarus. On the other hand, consider that my lab usually has 40-50 aquaria set up for large (> 60 mm) stomatopods, many of them thin walled photographic and observation tanks and that we have been doing this since 1072 - 35 years! That is over 600,000 stomatopod days. If you figure that the average animal is in the lab for 3 months, that comes to about 6000 stomatopods kept in aquaria (most of our small stomatopod are keep in plastic cups, so I'm not counting them), the incidence of tank failure is actually remarkably small. Partly this is due to precautions that we take such keeping large smashers in plexiglass tanks or lining the bottom of glass tanks with plexiglass. Another reason is that these animals are not pets and we don't interact with them on a daily basis. I'm sure if we allowed people to tease the animals moving fingers, etcl against the glass trying to elicit strikes, the number of breaks would be higher.

About the digging O.S.... Mine has been whacking something in his den and I don't know if he's trying to break under, or just chipping the rock. Should i take any precautions or what should I do?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10129269#post10129269 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Diet Plain
About the digging O.S.... Mine has been whacking something in his den and I don't know if he's trying to break under, or just chipping the rock. Should i take any precautions or what should I do?

He's just making more room in his lair.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10128995#post10128995 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Altpers0na
i love typo's

I know,
He forgot the 9 infront of the 35 almost sounded like he's only been doing this for 35 years :rolleyes:
hahah
cool thread i like learning more and more :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10129200#post10129200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinl
lol, how do you know it's a typo? maybe Doc Roy has been in this business a long time... like really loooonnng. :D

mantis eating a torch coral? last time i checked mantids didn't eat coral.

He was though! Actually he was whacking the stalk and eating at it like you or I would eat corn on the cob....I wondered if there is something inside the stalk??
 
Yeah, I've been at this way too long. As a graduate student, I saw my first stomatopod and recorded my first data at the Bermuda Biological Station in June, 1965. I've been studying them ever since - 42 years!

Roy
 
Still no broken or cracked. This is good. My mantis will be in a glass tank. I'd like to keep the thread up so we might see some damage.


6-25-2007
 
Well, Lou (my 5" Peacock) gave the glass on his Oceanic 30 a love tap the other night. I think he might have seen one of the inhabitants of the tank next to his.

It didn't mark the glass, but that's got to be the fastest I've ever come off the couch. After changing my shorts, I got him some food...fast.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10214749#post10214749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BLockamon
Well, Lou (my 5" Peacock) gave the glass on his Oceanic 30 a love tap the other night. I think he might have seen one of the inhabitants of the tank next to his.

It didn't mark the glass, but that's got to be the fastest I've ever come off the couch. After changing my shorts, I got him some food...fast.

lol:lol:
 
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