a question or two on a Mantis

[loopy101]

After watching a Mantis shrimp at the LFS last friday i have decided on setting up a tank for one. The one at the store was a green mantis the own said that this species will get up to 8 inches long. the tank i would like to use is the tank i made from scracth and used as a frag tank it is around 26 gallons. my question is this
the glass is a quarter inch think will this be strong enough to hold back a smashing mantis?
at the store they have it in one of those plastic cages meant for insects in a large tank. they have had the shrimp for several weeks now and it still hasnt smashed his way out of the cage. but he was very active and alot of fun to watch specially when they fed him.
any ideas on a tank set up would be great to but basically need to know if this glass is thick enough to hold.
thank you !

 

[cranberry]

He is fine where he is and he'll be fine coming home in a cup. I believe this whole Glass Smashing Mantis propaganda to be just that... propaganda. Sure they have the capabilities, I've seen the test where they meaure his strike. But when has anyone ever ever ever heard first hand of a mantis breaking through glass? I have never heard of it and I hung at GrimReefers where a lot of mantis peeps hung out (it's gone now). I keep mantis' and have for years. I would love to read some threads on this happening.
I take precautions and get them appropriate tanks and offer them their due respect, but the feared Glass Breaking Mantis is all hype, IMO.
What kind of mantis is he? If the owner knows he will get up to 8" he should also know the species in order to predict that. If he states he doesn't know.... you cannot count on any other information he gives you about this critter.
Does he have pink legs?

 

[loopy101]

thanks cranbery for the reply, im going to have to give him a call tomrrow. it is at a lfs and i talked to the owner i was to wrapped up watching what the little guy was up to instead of getting the details on him! lol so i will asked those questions all i know is he said he hand picked him out down in chicago where he goes to pick out corals and fish to sell at his store so he should be able to give me the info. all i can tell you is it was bright green and about 3 inches long. any other questions i should ask when i talk to him?
thanks again cranberry!

 

[cranberry]

Color doesn't tell us much for most, I'm afraid. There are some that are predominantly a certain colour, but you can't ID based on that.
Nope, nothing else you can ask them. If you had a name, that would tell us all. A pic to confirm would be even better IDs are often wrong.

 

[loopy101]

i wish i would of taken some picts when i was down there. but im not going to drive a hour and take picts and drive another hour home to post them everytime i go there i blow all my money on corals! he has such a nice collection of corals the more exotic colors and such!! but i will see if he can email me a picture and any info he can give me
thanks again!

 

[cranberry]

I'll be interested in what they say it is.