Peacock Mantis Shrimp

[tkarman]

I am starting a 55 gallon Peacock Mantis shrimp tank. i know that the mantis shrimp can punch through glass so i wanted to put a layer of acrylic onto the bottom of my aquarium to make sure it does not punch through while digging in the sand because that is the most common way a peacock would break a glass tank. i was wondering where to by the acrylic though. my local glass shop cells it but i do not know if that would be safe for fish. any suggestion? i was also wondering where to buy mud for an aquarium because all i can find is refugium mud which is really expensive and not what i am looking for.

 

[deejeff442]

i have a 6 inch peacock mantis and florida joe also has a mantis tank.mine is a 33 gallon tall.i dont have an extra bottom.although when mine gets mad and is hungry she will smack the front glass.i have a 50/50 mix of crushed coral and sand.3 inches deep.also you want to have alot of 1-2 inch lr rubble in there as they love to build .its pretty awesome to watch them construct.i have a 10 inch long 3 inch pvc tube she calls home.two 45 degree pieces with a 5 inch straight in the center connecting them.i have about 10 lbs of lr and a hob filter,heater and two little rio ph's thats it.mine has grown at least an inch in the last 6-8 months.
she is a really cool creature.

 

[tkarman]

thanks for the help. i will send you a picture of my setup within a week. i am in the process of making it. i have a lot of PVC piping i am making tunnels in the tank i have 30 lbs of LR. sould i get LR rubble or can i just get rubble? i have a 3 inch bed of sand already. but i will add crushed coral or mud. which do you think is better? can the crush coral damage them at all? i have about 30 hermits that i can feed it and clam and squid but what else is good diet for them and how much should i feed it when i get it.
Thanks

 

[tkarman]

i will probly add 40 pounds of Crushed coral. and would a mantis like something like this http://www.amazon.com/*****-Pebble-Beach-Aquarium-Gravel/dp/B002CYWRB2/ref=sr_1_18?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1301609072&sr=1-18 for some rubble as well.

 

[deejeff442]

the crushed coral sand mix will let her dig tunnels that dont move after.i feed mine snails.i buy 40-50 at a time and put them in my 250 reef and pick one out every other day.plus i make my own food for my reef fish and when i feed i will find a bigger 1/4 inch piece of silverside i drop in the mantis tank.you dont have to worry if the mantis will find it because they will.they know when something is in there.in fact i drop it on the opposite side of the tank so i can watch her go around and find the food.
actually i have never heard of mud.
been at this for 25+ years and never heard of it
if you have a piece of lr just get a chisel and hammer and break it up thats what i did..when they molt they will build a wall in front of the PVC an barricade them selves in there while they molt and they eat the exoskeleton.

 

[tkarman]

ya i have read that they do that. i just cant feed snails because i put the food into my Refugium and they will get out because i do not have a cover. i can put hermits and crabs in the ref tho. i found a good place to buy rubble rock they have it cheap. its just dry tho but it should work fine i can break a rock or two up aswell. thanks for the help. so do you feed yours a 1/4 inch silverside every day? or once every couple.

 

[deejeff442]

i feed probably 5 days a week.you can tell when they are hungry they come right out when you walk in the room.they are definitely not shy.

 

[florida joe]

You can buy a small acrylic sheet at Home depot or Lowes and they will cut it to size for you. It is more important as stated above IMO to have the lower perimeter of your tank protected by the acrylic pieces then the bottom this is the link to a thread i started
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/373298/keeping-a-mantis-shrimp

 

[saxman]

I think protecting the bottom of the tank is important, because when a mantis is tunneling, and they hit the tank bottom, they assume its rock and will try and break it (and they CAN break rock).
We kept our peacock in an acrylic tank, so we had no worries regarding breakage.
As mentioned, they ARE super gregarious and if they're in a place with a bit of "traffic", they will spend about as much time watching you as you do watching them.