Its great to see someone getting into mantis shrimp. Whenever I see them, they make me blush! The peacocks in J&L are beautiful for sure

yup, +1, a 2ft cube would make a great mantis tank.

Peacocks don't really make burrows in the sand. They make their burrows under the rocks, preferably in a close fitting U shaped cave; If i give my mantis more than two opening in his burrow, he will seal up one of the holes. A 2 inch sandbed will suffice, but you're welcome to go deeper.

Escaping, in theory, would seem to to be an issue. Mantis shrimp have astoundingly fast escape responses. You know how fast a squid can jet away? well a mantis beats that and can keep up this ridiculous speed for quite a distance too. Dr. roy has witnessed large O. scyllarus clear over 6 inches of air. So, in light of that, imo, rimless is a bad idea unless you don't fill the tank the whole way (which certainly is an option if you don't have to worry about plumbing into an overflow). A lid isn't really necessary, but an open topped canopy perhaps? For the record, my peacock hasn't done much more than just barely break the surface of the water.

I refuse to believe SSB can ever go anoxic and cause water quality issues, but that's a whole other can of beans. Most keepers use a fine grain sand bed and Dr. roy has noted that using rough substrate like crushed coral can wear at the mantis' pleopods and will eventually cause the colour to fade until the next molt; no real effect on the mantis except aesthetics.

ah yes, LR rubble is a vital element in a mantis tank. they will use rubble and shells of their former victims to redecorate their burrow often. I know no corals are in the plan, but without rubble, a mantis will often use frags or crack pieces off of the rockwork instead.

food, might as well cover this now. variety is key. three marine fleshy meats (they aren't picky) or more. soaking in a supplement like selcon once in a while is recommended. No need to over feed, at most every two days. you'll figure how much a mantis will eat as it will throw the leftovers out. I'm sure you'll have no trouble covering this section easily enough. I'm sure you'll have no trouble covering this section easily enough. Live foods are necessary just to ensure that the mantis uses its raptorial appendages (rapts aka smashing arms) once in a while. If they do not, they will tear them off eventually; although they grow back in a few molts, it's pretty stressing. At least a few turbos a month, nothing major. nothing with big claws for obvious reasons.

here's a few random sources of stomatopod info that should keep you occupied for a while...

lots to get you started here
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/aquarius/index.html

and here. particularly under "stomatopod biology"
http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/




here's the RC forum. lots of hidden gems posted by Dr. Roy if you're willing to dig for them. take a look at his photo gallery too while you're at it.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumd...?s=&forumid=37

here's a good one:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1603180




here's my favourite video (taken by Dr. Caldwell). if you're familiar with the danger of a blue ring octopus the significance will not be lost on you.
http://www.reefcentral.com/vid/bluer...g_content.html

before animal ethics police gets on my tail, read this thread regarding the vid.
http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7366

now leave me alone, im goin to sleep! :D

WOW Justin Thanks!

This is a great start! I think I may be starting to get more and more into this whole Mantis thing. Which is good because when my fiance says she wants a Mantis, it means she wants to watch it and feed it but not do water changes or any other real maintenance ;)

They are super cool!

If she is still wanting both seahorses and mantis shrimp, I see a dual build coming! If you do an acrlyic could you make it a bit bigger and have two in one (partitioned .....sharing water/skimmer/mechanical filtration etc)?

just a thought:biggrin:

Well I could....

Or I can just do what I did and tell her she has to choose one ;)

She chose the shrimp.

I like the split tank idea, you should give her that option ;)

Come on! let her on the computer and we will help her decide!

LOL, just kidding......you are going to have enough maintenace work by the look of things.

sounds like a cool build, but have you considered any other mantises?

if you wanted something smaller and maybe a little less beautiful, you could go with Pseudosquilla ciliata

but one mantis to really look at is Gonodactylus smithii. smithii mantises are very beautiful,
and i know I've seen some that look alot nicer than peacocks. we have a really cool blue one at our shop right now actually :)

just something to consider

I can pass that option along but its not me who even wants the Mantis. My fiance is pretty much set on a Peacock Mantis I think. She has kind of wanted one for a long time now...she just hadn't brought it up again until last night when she told me she is going to set up her own tank for one...meaning I am setting a tank up for one ;)