peacock mantis

antwon

antwon

Member
Hey everyone I haven't been on the forums in a while...I've been REALLY busy. Anyway, I've finally decided to set up a peacock mantis shrimp tank in my 36 gallon bow, which is already cycled for about 4 1/2 months with a few fish that I will probably take back to the LFS. I'm probably going to purchase my peacock mantis shrimp around mid-July. I have already read a lot about them, but I just wanted to ask for a little advice from the people on here who have kept them before. My only concern is that the tank is glass, not acrylic. Any advice will be helpful, thanks!
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
what's wrong with glass? I chose only glass, not acrylic, because acrylic has an extremely high tendency to scratch.
As a side job, I set-up and maintain aquariums, and the one time I was commissioned to clean the acrylic walls of a tank.
It was a simple job, and I was doing the easiest part: scrubbing with a mag-float, but a little rock got stuck underneath.
I moved the mag-float up, and the whole pane pf acrylic had to be replaced because that little rock SCRATCHED the whole pane really deep.
 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelerjp98 http:///forum/thread/386013/peacock-mantis#post_3389030
what's wrong with glass? I chose only glass, not acrylic, because acrylic has an extremely high tendency to scratch.
As a side job, I set-up and maintain aquariums, and the one time I was commissioned to clean the acrylic walls of a tank.
It was a simple job, and I was doing the easiest part: scrubbing with a mag-float, but a little rock got stuck underneath.
I moved the mag-float up, and the whole pane pf acrylic had to be replaced because that little rock SCRATCHED the whole pane really deep.
Acrylic is stronger than glass, but it does scratch easily.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by antwon http:///forum/thread/386013/peacock-mantis#post_3388058
My only concern is that the tank is glass, not acrylic. Any advice will be helpful, thanks!
A valid concern. Do you know if the tank is tempered glass or not? How thick is the glass?
If you're at all handy, you could go to Lowe's or Home Depot, or the like and pick up some acrylic sheets and make your own tank for it, they don't require much, and acrylic is fairly easy to work with.
Contact Florida Joe. He has one, but I'm not sure if his tank is glass or not.
I'm a little skeptical as to whether or not they willingly break glass. My opinion is that if they're well fed, it shouldn't be an issue.
 
S

saxman

Guest
A peacock can break glass, but your 36 gallon is likely thick enuff to where it should be OK. I would, however, put a sheet of 1/8" acrylic on the bottom beneath the substrate. The reason for this is that when a clubber is burrowing and they hit something hard, they will literally smash it repeatedly in an attempt to break the rock so they can continue burrowing. I've watched our peacock break rocks to fit while building its lair. That being said, we kept our in an acrylic tank.
For those who are afraid of acrylic:
Don't be lazy...use your hand and an acrylic-safe scrubber pad so you have some control and you won't scratch the acrylic. FWIW, I put my hand into our mantis tanks for years...never had a problem.
 
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