Peacock mantis

I find these animals very interesting and I think I may want to keep one in another tank. I have a very empty biocube that I would love to put it in. I'm worried about the glass being broken though. Is that very common anyways? Also would it be able to be kept with a flame angel and some hammer coral? Thanks!

 

google. you'll find the cracked tank thing to be a not exactly a myth but pretty close. there are only a few breeds of mantis that can crack glass and that is very big fully grown ones. the ones that do crack glass do it cause either they are trying to dig (solution plexi placed on the bottom of the tank), or they smack the glass when someone is poking at the front glass taunting them (solution dont do that).

as far as the flame most places recommend no less than a 30g.

 

I've kept mantis in my reefs and I've kept fish in my mantis tanks. I wouldn't be worried about the mantis hurting the flame angel. There's no biocubes out there that can house a flame angel long-term.

We have a mantis club here....check my signature. I have to do a search and I'll find a link to an ANCIENT article I wrote.

 

Seems simple enough ;D

 

Here ya go.

http://www.seasl.org/newsletter/Vol 1 Num 3 Final.pdf

 

Thanks! Wonderful article! So how quickly do they grow? The one I want is like 2 inches and I don't want it to get too big too quick. Eventually I think I would upgrade the tank to a larger acrylic tank once it gets big enough. So the biocube should be ok? I know about the angel! He was an impulse buy but he is to awesome to get rid of. Maybe I can upgrade the tank for both of them at the same time. The angel is only like an inch right now. So would plexiglass be a good idea even for when he is so small. The tank is already setup but if there is a high enough chance that he might accidentally kill himself I would redo it to place the plexi

 

Mantis's creep me out lol. They really interesting and cool looking. I'd just be afraid that I'd wake up, and the damn thing would be stabbing me in the chest w/ its freakin swords for arms or whatever. Very interesting little critter though. lol. Let us know what you end up deciding!

 

Well I think I'm gunna get him. I just have to wait until next weekend because he is three hours away. We are visiting my in-laws and he is in a shop near them. Just nervous about him breaking the bottom of the tank from digging around. They sound really cool and I saw one for the first time the other weekend

 

I've seen people make a pvc pipe home for them then cover it with sand. That could be a way to help ensure it doesn't break the glass in the bottom of your tank.

 

Yeah I might do that. I bought a really nice rock that forms a cave over the sand. I plan on getting some rubble for him to decorate with. Will it be ok with like some hammer coral as long as it's secured? Also about how fast do they grow?