Very rare mantis

[rudy]

Originally Posted by Psyire

I consulted Dr. Roy before having my mantis tank built. He said a large peacock would have a very very hard time breaking 3/8" glass. The biggest danger to breaking glass tanks is them digging in the corners. I would suggest puckboard or starboard on the bottom underneth the sand. This would take care of this problem.

Hows my first peacock doing? Psyire?

By the way I use backerboard on the bottom of the tank just in the area of their burrow. It is a great idea

[Fish]

Gary,
That is a good point. I'm not trying to say that these animals aren't awesome and don't, for their size, pack an amazing punch.
I just wanted to quell some of the over-hype is all - we aren't talking about a 200lb guy throwing a baseball or pounding on a pane of glass with a window smashing tool-thing. We are talking about a tiny little animal that weighs only a few grams. I haven't seen my peacock strike the glass - and I'm not sure it would ever want to - but I did see my 3" g.smithii strike the 4mm side of my 2gal cube when I taunted him with a flashing cell phone (I had read that they struck at cell phones and just wanted to test it). His multiple strikes were utterly impotent even against glass as thin as that. I could see a problem though if I had him in a 30gal breeder with the same 4mm glass. If a mantis was able to break it, it would be because most of the breaking force came from the weight of the water pushing on the glass and the manits strike was merely the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. That's why I mentioned the thickness of materials - I know that mantids are capable of smashing "somethings" - Ike and Mac have sent too many snails and hermit crabs to that reef in the sky to leave any doubt about that .
With Tim having an acrylic tank - 1/2" acylic too! - he has nothing to worry about. JMO & JME

Tim,

I would be interested to know if Dr. Roy has contacted you with questions or special instructions. Are you taking any special approaches with this animal - backup power source, extra saltwater on hand, ultra premium diet?

- Chad

[justinl]

ohhh he has an acrylic tank? lol then what the hell are we arguing about? my bad, i was under the impression the mantis was in a glass tank.

that said, a little fun fact about mantids: it's not at all like a baseball thrower or even a boxer. nope, it's more like a catapult. Mantids store energy when they **** back their raptorial appendages. See the circular marikings on the inside of their arms? they're called meral spots. These are pringle shaped rigid discs. When the raps are cocked back (like a ratchet), the "pringles" are bent and store energy like a caapult. Then they release the energy in a swing.

the end result of all that crap is the fastest animal movement recorded. Big ones like a large peacock can generate forces up to 1400N... about the same as a .22 caliber rifle bullet at muzzle velocity (before anyone asks, Dr. Roy said that himself). G. smithii, a much smaller mantis could not, of course, ever produce even close to this force. Oddly enough, a mantis quite a bit smaller than a peacock, G. chiragra, can produce glass shattering forces too.

the movement is so fast, it causes cavitation bubbles. The speed of the movement essentially vaporizes the water in front of the rap and boils it. When the swing slows, the bubble collapses and produces a "whack" load of force. These cavitation bubbles are what cause most of the force of a mantis' blow.

my long winded point is that you can't really compare mantids to humans or many other animals... they're just ridiculously highly evolved.

[G1GY]

Originally Posted by Fish

With Tim having an acrylic tank - 1/2" acylic too! - he has nothing to worry about. JMO & JME


- Chad

After reading this post, I too was of the understanding that this mantis will be housed in a glass tank.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...2&postcount=12

You must have some other info that Justin and I both missed somehow.

[Fish]

Sorry Justin and Gary, my bad. I don't know where I got acrylic from...

- Chad

[justinl]

no worries chad.

hey rudy, I just want to say that I don't mean to take over this thread or order you around in terms of how you house your mantis. I just really want this mantis to do well because he is so rare. It'd be such a shame for it to die prematurely. so yeah... apologies if you're hating me right now.

i guess im sorta living vicariously. if you want me to back off, just let me know.

[rudy]

I am not offended, hurt, any anything else about this thread.

The fact is that for the first month I have a big chance of losing this guy period so there is no way I am going to go acrylic on something this small (in comparison), but there is no way I was going to let him stay in a 14 gallon regardless.

We will see. I will tell you that this mantis may as well not even have a burrow. It is by far the most "out and about" mantis I have owned other than my ciliata which fricken died yesterday.

[rudy]

http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u198/rudykane/

Here are some new pics of him in a 56 gallon (his new home). There is also a shot of the tank. I would tell you where his cave it however in all honesty he does not really have one. he is always out. I wonder about his as he is a deep water mantis whether they are more inclined to hang out side their den.

His death toll is 3 damsels, 2 hairy crabs and a ton of snails. The damsel stalks are amazing