New Peacock Arrived Tonight

Awesome! Thanks for the replies. I do have a couple more questions though ;D

Would my 2xt5 on my 24x12x24 30 gallon be too much?

What's the depth of the sandbed(or does it matter that much)

And, where did you find yours?

 

2 x T5 would be fine. I am running 2 at the moment & may add a 3rd (actinic) over my 30. My sandbed is around 4-5". The one I have now I found at a petland.

As far as where to find one..... there comes the challenge. bluezoo, LA & most of the main online retailers carry them, or should I say display them cause it doesnt appear to come instock very often (if your looking for a peacock anyways). I have found a couple of online places that do carry them but thier arrive alive are questionable if at all, and that really makes me a little gun shy to go that purshase route.

If you looking for just a mantis in general I think tampa bay has them & a couple of the main places like mentioned.

 

Hope this helps.

 

A ton!! but with each answer... comes another question! Thank you so much for your help. I can't wait to watch this thread grow with your new stomatopod!

What two species, and what brought you to the decision you made.

 

Same deal at my LFS they get two kinds of "peacocks" one that grows 12" and one that grows 3" i got the 3" one just cuz its in my 14.

My mantis look similar to the one in the first post but more orange. The pics are from about 2 months ago. I keep mine under PAR38 LEDs with a 3" sandbed.

If i had my choice between any fish in the hobby and a mantis, i would choose a mantis anyday. They are so inteligent and intriguing. He's only 2" long and his smack doesnt hurt more then a flick. I've only been hit once so far, although its nervewracking when he chases my hand around the tank during cleaning.

 

The reason why I picked a peacock over the other types of mantis is their personality. I have had a couple small mantis that just kind of hid in the dens and didnt see them much. Bob was my first peacock and she was VERY LARGE. She was close to 11 inches in size when I lost her. I was working from home during that time adn her tank was in my office. She would sit there and watch/study me while I working. She was active and would come out whenever I would come to her tank.

She learned that I was the bearer of food, and I was able to keep snails and crabs in the tank with her. She normally wouldnt eat them unless I dropped them in front of her. Now we kept her VERY WELL FED! I eventually got a blue damsel to stick in the tank with her and one day i was cleaning the tank and the damsel got startled. It swam into Bobs den......I thought that was the end of it. Well a couple seconds later Bob emerges from her den carrying this damsel and literally tosses it across the tank. The damsel was completly unharmed by this.

I wasnt afraid to do anything in her tank. I knew when she was molting and knew to leave her alone and let the tank go nasty. Molting is the equvilent of PMS for women, excpet it is pre-molt syndrome. You do have to remember that these can be dangerous (especially the size Bob was) and need to be treated with respect. One day however I was a little careless and was rearranging the tank and wasnt paying attention to Bob. Well she came shooting out of her den, and just touched me with her tail. She did not try to smash me or stick me with her uropods, just a little warning...hey remember what I am!

You might be wondering why I am calling Bob a she. Well because we thought she was a male when we got her (and upto the week before she died). However one day (years after I have had her) she laid a brood of eggs...hence we realized Bob was a Bobetta! She unfortunately went right into a molt after the eggs and she was not strong enough to survive the trauma and died. (she was so big that each molt she went through was tougher and longer for her to recover)

 

I just want you to know that you have an O.s. It might be weak now because of it's small mass. Go back in your memory to high school and remember Newtonian Physics. Force=Mass X Acceleration. There will come a day when you don't want to be putting your hands in around it.

 

Looks amazing

 

The last two nights my dog has been doing low volume growls. Very unlike him. I just figured out that he is hearing the mantis in the other room pounding away and making dens (or eating) and he's not used to clicking sounds coming out of the office in the middle of the night.

 

Congrats on the new peacock Mel! She is quite the looker.

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