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Peacock Mantis Tank Size and Care
- Thread starter agent6473
- Start date
One Eye
former vp of pr
Mine's in a 2 1/2 gal Eclipse tank. He outgrew it pretty quick. I have an old 20 gal acrylic tank I'm setting up for it.
They are very easy to care for as far as I'm concerned. They eat pretty much anything. I still use kalk for top off to keep calcium levels high enough for its molts. I normaly feed it frozen Krill, but I throw in some snails for it here and there. I had a Damsel in the tank with it for a couple months...it finaly ate the Damsel last week. I think they're really cool little critters. It comes out to see me every time I sit at my desk, kinda like a dog that'll rip you apart if you do more than feed it and look at it.
They are very easy to care for as far as I'm concerned. They eat pretty much anything. I still use kalk for top off to keep calcium levels high enough for its molts. I normaly feed it frozen Krill, but I throw in some snails for it here and there. I had a Damsel in the tank with it for a couple months...it finaly ate the Damsel last week. I think they're really cool little critters. It comes out to see me every time I sit at my desk, kinda like a dog that'll rip you apart if you do more than feed it and look at it.
OP
OP
Haha, sounds like a lot of fun. Does it matter if the tank is glass or acrylic? I was thinking of a 5.5 or a 10g. How long do you think that would last for one? I've read that they grow fairly large, but I definitely like the colors of the peacock the best.
Chris
Chris
One Eye
former vp of pr
Mine smashes the tank walls all the time, so I'd say acrylic is the way to go. And I have a (forget the name) heater that is black plastic...supposed to be indestructable and has no light. Mantis will attack the red light on glass heaters and destroy the heater. I'd also say to go with the 10 gal. They do like to roam around.
OP
OP
I was thinking of using a 10 gal and putting an acrylic divider across the entire back of the tank (black acrylic). Behind here I could hide the heater and any small pump I'll have for flow and maybe a lil chaeto or something. Do you think the glass tank will be a big mistake with these critters? Where could I find a similar size inexpensive acrylic tank?
Chris
Chris
david3d
Non-member
I have a G. Terna which get to be about 4.5" in a 6 gal eclipse. The peacock is a little larger (6.5" to 7") but a 6 gal should be large enough for a peacock as well. As for a heater I have the 50 watt Finnex compact titanium it should be mantis proof. I would recommend putting a mini-jet 404 or 606 in the tank for water movement as it also helps keep the algea down and prevents cyano.
His tank mates at the moment are a handful of blue legged hermits and a damsel. The cleaning crew does help keep down the algea in the tank and for the most part he leaves them alone since I kept him well fed. But he does occasionally take a hermit or snail for a snack so they are temporary workers. Your milage may vary as each mantis has it's own personality.
I'm also in the process of modifying it to have more light so that I can keep some sps's in the tank as well. So far I've removed the built in filtration and added a HOB filter, put a mini-jet 606 for more water movement, and added a CoraLife 18watt 50/50 pc light in the hole where the old filter was. I'm planning on building a new canopy out of wood for it now so that I can remove the built in 8w light and add a 2nd 18watt 50/50 pc.
His tank mates at the moment are a handful of blue legged hermits and a damsel. The cleaning crew does help keep down the algea in the tank and for the most part he leaves them alone since I kept him well fed. But he does occasionally take a hermit or snail for a snack so they are temporary workers. Your milage may vary as each mantis has it's own personality.
I'm also in the process of modifying it to have more light so that I can keep some sps's in the tank as well. So far I've removed the built in filtration and added a HOB filter, put a mini-jet 606 for more water movement, and added a CoraLife 18watt 50/50 pc light in the hole where the old filter was. I'm planning on building a new canopy out of wood for it now so that I can remove the built in 8w light and add a 2nd 18watt 50/50 pc.
david3d
Non-member
Here's a couple of images of my mantis tank. Sorry for the delay. Been working some crazy hours this week. We have a conference that we are participating in this coming week so the mad dash to the finish line is almost over and I can settle back into a more normal work schedule soon.
Al the mantis lives in the rock there on the left side. You can see here that I've removed the built in filtration and put a small aquaclear hob filter on the tank. I think you can see and I've added a 18watt 50/50 coralife pc light to the top. The next step is to build a canopy for it and add a 2nd 18 watt 50/50 pc light and paint the back black. Then the tank will be moved to my desk at work.
-David
Al the mantis lives in the rock there on the left side. You can see here that I've removed the built in filtration and put a small aquaclear hob filter on the tank. I think you can see and I've added a 18watt 50/50 coralife pc light to the top. The next step is to build a canopy for it and add a 2nd 18 watt 50/50 pc light and paint the back black. Then the tank will be moved to my desk at work.
-David
MelodyDurham
Non-member
Oh, just so that no one is confused, that's my cycling nano behind Al's tank.. You can kinda see my aquascaping in progress...
Melody~
Melody~
