Biggest Peacock Mantis I have seen

[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?

[bubblepuffer]

look for that big guy in the office, he is the owner that you need to talk to when it come to price.

[saltaddict]

Went to AG to see the peacock mantis. OMG this thing is beautiful and like 6". Real good find for whomever gets em.