Biggest Peacock Mantis I have seen

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by stinky

Actually, I owned a 8inch peacock for the last 2 years, you can use any tank. The mantis is not going to break your glass unless prevoked.

I agree with you here. This is the second mantis I have owned now and not once did I have a problem with keeping them both in a all glass tanks. The Peacock (I have) never makes knocking or clicking sounds. The other one though (green smasher - name excapes me) knocked on his tube all the time, drove me crazy!

[justinl]

okay i just want to clear up a few things that seem to be muddy here. A full grown O. scyllarus (peacock mantis) reaches a max of less than 8inches. 7inches is a large one. These are only capable of smashing glass after they pass the 6inch mark. To be safe acrylic is obviously the best choice, but thick glass will suffice as well. For example, Oceanic biocubes uses quite thick glass.

price? that's an iffy question. Id say yes that is on the high side (for a few reasons... keep reading), although i have seen peacocks go at anywhere between free and 100$ US. Good prce imo is anything under 50$ for a ealthy peacock.

why might this mantis be a bad buy? Well, that depends on your lights too. Peacocks are prone to developing a shell disease that, if ignored, will eventually prove fatal. in adults it is worse. in male adults it is worse still. high light promotes shell disease. the mantis may even start to grow algae on itself. If the algae gets developed enough the algae will penetrate the carapace and by this stage, the mantis is 99% likely to be a goner. so take lighting into consideration for a peacock. also note that at that size, i don't think the mileage is gonna last a lot longer.

tank mates. depends entirely on the mantis' personality. he may decide to own the tank and destroy al that moves. he may be passive and let everything be. yay for hippy mantids. the test that is generally used is a yellowtail damsel.

corals are another story. few mantids will smash em up for no reason. some small ones are even reef safe if all the frags are glued to pices of LR too big to be moved (at least 2X the mantis' body size). at that size, a peacock is in no way "reef safe". peacocks are usually kept alone or with one or two fish in a MINIMUM 25gal tank.

[dunl]

High price for Edmonton? No. Well, that was until Reefwerkz started ordering them in.

High price for everywhere else - yes.

Ruth - talk to Muck or Rusty about getting one in for you and shipping it up to Ft. St. John. I'd suggest a large thermos securely enclosed in a waterproof bag.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by justinl

peacocks are usually kept alone or with one or two fish in a MINIMUM 25gal tank.

Wow! That's a lot of space devoted to one shrimp. This may be a really stupid question (and likely already covered), but could you keep several of them together in a big-ish tank (33G)?

[dunl]

Originally Posted by Der_Iron_Chef

Wow! That's a lot of space devoted to one shrimp. This may be a really stupid question (and likely already covered), but could you keep several of them together in a big-ish tank (33G)?

Only until they eventually knock off all the competition and one is left.

With dividers, possibly.

[justinl]

yup like dun said, the unfortunate answer is an absolute no. Most mantids will just pick eachother off until one or none are left. It is possible for a few to coexist for a few species to coexist given the proper conditons but most mantis owners don't bother with the risk.

mating is another issue. a few species will form monogamous pairs but most will mate then leave. in a tnak they obvisouly can't get away anywhere so the smaller mantis will usually die. not fun. besides, raising mantis larvae is MUCH more difficult than raising most fish larvae.

[bubblepuffer]

Actually you can bargain price for anything in AG =) I bargain a lot there for better price.

[dunl]

So what do you think they would take for the mantis?