Considering a peacock mantis

[Wunderpus]

Hi all!

The wife and I have both loved Peacock Mantises for years now, and we've always wanted one. Well, we now have the space to put a ~50 gallon tank in our living room and believe this could be a good setup for a Peacock.

Years ago I worked in a SW aquarium store, and we always heard peacocks can shatter glass tanks... However, I can't seem to find any evidence of this actually occuring, is this a myth or largely overstated?

Also, I think a tank with a sump to employee a refugium and protein skimmer makes a lot of sense here, considering how messy they likely are. Thoughts?

Lastly, I would LIKE to add some softies (mushrooms, zoas, sponges, gorgs, etc.) if possible... However, it seems like intense lighting can be a real issue with shell rot with these guys. Is there a generally accepted PAR for them, that would still allow some softies to do well?

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[TX_REEF]

I think the fear of them shattering glass tanks is overblown. Plenty of videos on youtube of folks keeping them happily in glass tanks. Just because they CAN, doesn't mean they WILL. In theory, almost every fish can jump out of the tank, but you still see many (mine included) open top systems, as an example.

Sump and refugium is up to you, I like sumps because they make maintenance and hiding equipment easier (and increase total water volume which dilutes the negative impact of mistakes or maintenance laziness), but totally not necessary. You could probably do just fine with a couple large HOB filters.

Regarding lighting, softies thrive in less than 100 PAR, so you should be golden on that front. 50-80PAR would be plenty.

Share some pics when you get up and going, I'd love to see how it comes together!

 

[Stomatopods17]

Glass shattering doesn’t happen in the common belief of “lunge out the front and latch on your face” but more so “spend weeks/years hitting the same corner, bottom panel with weight on it chipping away as if it’s a rock for expanding its burrow”. Typically in thin glass tanks too. You don’t get videos of it because it does not happen in an expected way and it’s very easy to prevent or for the mantis to kick the bucket before something really happens.

This is solveable by just laying a sheet of acrylic/pexi on the bottom of the tank and never aquascaping in a way where the glass is functionally a “wall” for your burrow, they do still hit the glass on occasion but it won’t be enough unless you had 20 of them before the tank’s own silicone gives hitting that same spot.

Part of what made them famous was an instance where Roy l Caldwell was being interviewed for something cephalopod related and the entire conversation was interrupted by an H. Californesis breaking an old tank in the other room, the witnesses published headlines of how aquariums can be broken. It does happen but not to hobbyist attempting to replicate it for clicks.

 

[Wunderpus]

I think the fear of them shattering glass tanks is overblown. Plenty of videos on youtube of folks keeping them happily in glass tanks. Just because they CAN, doesn't mean they WILL. In theory, almost every fish can jump out of the tank, but you still see many (mine included) open top systems, as an example.

Sump and refugium is up to you, I like sumps because they make maintenance and hiding equipment easier (and increase total water volume which dilutes the negative impact of mistakes or maintenance laziness), but totally not necessary. You could probably do just fine with a couple large HOB filters.

Regarding lighting, softies thrive in less than 100 PAR, so you should be golden on that front. 50-80PAR would be plenty.

Share some pics when you get up and going, I'd love to see how it comes together!

Thank you for your input! I'll keep you updated with how things go (I'm probably ~2 months from having everything setup and cycled).

 

[Wunderpus]

Glass shattering doesn’t happen in the common belief of “lunge out the front and latch on your face” but more so “spend weeks/years hitting the same corner, bottom panel with weight on it chipping away as if it’s a rock for expanding its burrow”. Typically in thin glass tanks too. You don’t get videos of it because it does not happen in an expected way and it’s very easy to prevent or for the mantis to kick the bucket before something really happens.

This is solveable by just laying a sheet of acrylic/pexi on the bottom of the tank and never aquascaping in a way where the glass is functionally a “wall” for your burrow, they do still hit the glass on occasion but it won’t be enough unless you had 20 of them before the tank’s own silicone gives hitting that same spot.

Part of what made them famous was an instance where Roy l Caldwell was being interviewed for something cephalopod related and the entire conversation was interrupted by an H. Californesis breaking an old tank in the other room, the witnesses published headlines of how aquariums can be broken. It does happen but not to hobbyist attempting to replicate it for clicks.

Ah, this is an interesting tidbit of history!

Also, I like your idea of gluing acrylic to the bottom, smart!

 

[TripFamAZ]

I've been keeping Ralph in a glass 65 gallon for 4 years never once tried to touch the glass.