New Peacock Mantis set up

[trvrstnk4837]

Just set up my 125 to house a Mantis I made a PVC cave with 3 openings and just built the rock and softies around it

Had a Mantis in the past and to this day he was my favorite pet, more then anything I liked watching him explore and set up his cave with decorations I put some fake gems in and he put them all over his cave

He even had one as a door mat and would swap the mat out from time to time I felt like I could always tell he had some thought going on behind his funny eyes

mine had a few fish friends he didn’t bother (clowns a damsel and some wrasse but I would have never tried a bottom dweller like a goby) and also a huge brittle start buddy…. Hoping the shrimp I get this time around will be as friendly because I’d like to add acouple fish down the road and there is already a big brittle in here

what tanks mates do you guys have with yours ? Ever had one inadvertently damage soft coral? I had some Kenya trees with my old one that he didn’t bother

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Put her in today….. and ofcourse she found a small space between afew rocks why would anyone wanna live in the PVC that goes across the tank lol

I may try and block her cave when she leaves it to see if she notices the pipe

 

[jimk60]

Your mantis scape looks great! But a shrimps gonna do what a shrimp wants to do.

 

[Tamberav]

What a lucky mantis shrimp! So much room!

I think she will use the pipe eventually but also maybe have her own burrows. Mine had like sooo many different burrows and pathways.

I had clownfish, damsel, tomini tang, coral beauty, with mine.

She would kill fish I added later on and only let the original fish live. I think she was so used to me bringing her food she assumed any 'new' fish I brought must be food.

Mine punched and moved corals all the time. The softies can take a punch. Some LPS she cracked open.. some corals she removed from the rock and killed by placing them upside down or burying them somewhere.

She used to pick up a plate coral and toss it all over and use it as a door to the PVC pipe... I mean a plate coral is the PERFECT shaped door...

I didn't add anything I wasn't willing to sacrifice.

 

[trvrstnk4837]

What a lucky mantis shrimp! So much room!

I think she will use the pipe eventually but also maybe have her own burrows. Mine had like sooo many different burrows and pathways.

I had clownfish, damsel, tomini tang, coral beauty, with mine.

She would kill fish I added later on and only let the original fish live. I think she was so used to me bringing her food she assumed any 'new' fish I brought must be food.

Mine punched and moved corals all the time. The softies can take a punch. Some LPS she cracked open.. some corals she removed from the rock and killed by placing them upside down or burying them somewhere.

She used to pick up a plate coral and toss it all over and use it as a door to the PVC pipe... I mean a plate coral is the PERFECT shaped door...

I didn't add anything I wasn't willing to sacrifice.

Hopefulky that happens and when she gets comfortable and starts exploring more I can’t imagine her not finding use for it, that said it wasn’t intentional but the cave she found is nice and roomy the rock was broken from one of those purposely dome shaped purple fake rocks

Mmmhm mine treated all the fake gems like yours did with the coral they really do seem so clever, I’m sure I’ll have casualties but I want this tank to be packed with all the cheap softies one day so it shouldn’t be a big deal

 

[Tamberav]

Hopefulky that happens and when she gets comfortable and starts exploring more I can’t imagine her not finding use for it, that said it wasn’t intentional but the cave she found is nice and roomy the rock was broken from one of those purposely dome shaped purple fake rocks

Mmmhm mine treated all the fake gems like yours did with the coral they really do seem so clever, I’m sure I’ll have casualties but I want this tank to be packed with all the cheap softies one day so it shouldn’t be a big deal

softies should fare well... may move frags but ya... not the same as punching a lps or stony to shards haha Making her own building material I suppose.

 

[wwarby]

Put her in today….. and ofcourse she found a small space between afew rocks why would anyone wanna live in the PVC that goes across the tank lol

I may try and block her cave when she leaves it to see if she notices the pipe

That's what mine did for the first two or three days and then she found the PVC pipe. One thing @nmotz taught me is the importance of size in the PVC pipe - they prefer a pipe large enough to be able to jackknife inside apparently, which for a fully grown peacock is 3" diameter. I learned this the hard way - my mantis shrimp was clearly distressed when it came time to molt in her 2" diameter burrow, and she tried very hard to make it larger. Now I've moved her to a smaller tank but with a 3" diameter burrow and she seems more content with it - she's visible most of the time and regularly goes in and out from the same entrance, proving that she's able to turn around in the burrow.

Lovely tank setup - you've been very generous giving her all that space I had mine in a 64 gallon tank and got frustrated with it because I couldn't put anything else in the tank with her and so much of the time it felt like I had this relatively huge tank with nothing visible in it. Mine is now in a 26 gallon tank and we're both happier for it.

 

[exnisstech]

Does anyone think using a larger pipe and cutting a section off so there is no bottom and the sand would be the bottom would be more appealing to them? Just throwing it out there, I do not have a mantis tho I've been tempted but I'm supposed to be down sizing not adding tanks

 

[Pkunk35]

Amazing mantis tank!

 

[Stomatopods17]

Does anyone think using a larger pipe and cutting a section off so there is no bottom and the sand would be the bottom would be more appealing to them? Just throwing it out there, I do not have a mantis tho I've been tempted but I'm supposed to be down sizing not adding tanks

There's harm in it, depending on the setup.

either it doesn't matter as they'll be more fit in there, or it'll over time get toxic cause you can't aerate it well and they bury left over food. I usually drill a hole in the back of larger PVC and put a (very) weak pump plumbed to it so it doesn't stagnate in there. I can't see that method working with sand bottom without exposing under the sides of the PVC. They naturally do line the PVC with sand they pick up anyways and 'glue' it with mucus so it sticks.

If your setup is well aerated still and there's rock lining the sides probably would be fine.