30g or 55g for peacock?

[lionbacker54]

my plans for a new tank was thrown a curveball by the availability of not only a 30g with 10g fuge, but a 55g with 10g fuge as well.

which do you all think is better for a peacock mantis? my gut says 55g, since then it can roam around a lot. on the other hand, it may be lost a bit in a 55g. thoughts?

ps. i rescued a super tiny little mantis shrimp from another reefer yesterday. he is 1cm long, looks like a little worm at first. but definitely a mantis shrimp. i am keeping him in a big tupperware bowl for now until i can figure what to do for him. can't put him in my 9g, since there is another mantis there. i put a small piece of rubble, some sand from my sand bed, and a bit of chaeto in there for the little guy. blowing air in there every time i pass by, and performing daily water changes. thoughts on this too?

[Mentat]

Between a 30 and 55 for a Peacock, would do 55. Even if small, they grow pretty fast and being more outgoing, can roam all around tank. Seen a Peacock swim (looked like flying) across a tall 50 in less than a second, so both of you will love the space. Also, if yours does not use all the space, could divide a smaller area off for another use.

IRT the little guy, can get one of those fish net breeders made by Lee's and probably others. They are cheap & easy to setup for a small organism like your tiny Mantis. Just hang in a tank with a slow flow going through, add some substrate like LR rubble, and you are done. Or, you could get a small tank, like a 2.5 gal and set that up for him.

[justinl]

I have my O. scyllarus in a 75g. it uses the whole tank.

[micstarz]

I'd do the 55 definitely....

I have a 0.75" mantis in one of those large acrylic guppy breeder boxes. Works fine.

[Koshmar]

I do the same thing as Michael when I have to move my cuttle, those breeders work well for many organisms. The only problem with the breeder is that since they float on top the temperature and light will be higher than most of the tank. Ahh yes, the rescue case. That's how I ended up with Wolf/Mantie, it's really tough to just let the little guys stay in a small setup or with someone that doesn't want them but you can't save them all. Bravo though for the rescue Lion, perhaps the tiny guy will grow up to be an amazing pet, rare, or super intelligent.

55 gallon +1, more room and you can add more coral/other things, more stable water parameters, ect.. I've never kept a peacock though but everyone else is saying the same so I guess I'm with the majority.

[lionbacker54]

great suggestions guys. i will do the 55g, and get one of those breeder tanks. had not thought of that. good suggestion.

[Gonodactylus]

The size needed for an O. scyllarus really depends on its size. Anything smaller than 11 cm can easily go in a 30 gal. Larger than 13 cm and I would go with the 55.

As for postlarvae (10mm), we keep raise ours in 250 ml cups with the water changed three times a week. Keep a loose fitting lid or a tight one with holes punched in it to prevent evaporation There is no need to areate the cup. We typically feed about 4 hours before completely changing the water. For a cavity I use plastic pipe (model airplane strut) with a diameter of about 5 mm and a length of about 2.5 cm.

Roy

[lionbacker54]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15071475#post15071475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Koshmar
I do the same thing as Michael when I have to move my cuttle, those breeders work well for many organisms. The only problem with the breeder is that since they float on top the temperature and light will be higher than most of the tank. Ahh yes, the rescue case. That's how I ended up with Wolf/Mantie, it's really tough to just let the little guys stay in a small setup or with someone that doesn't want them but you can't save them all. Bravo though for the rescue Lion, perhaps the tiny guy will grow up to be an amazing pet, rare, or super intelligent.

55 gallon +1, more room and you can add more coral/other things, more stable water parameters, ect.. I've never kept a peacock though but everyone else is saying the same so I guess I'm with the majority.

well you guessed it koshmar. the new tiny little mantis shrimp is great! he is super active. the little 1/2 inch dude is just cruising around, swimming, checking out the surrounding, making his burrow. he pays me no mind, even when i take pictures. i watched him for an hour straight this evening.

i have no idea what he is, and due to his tiny size i could not get great pictures. here is what i have. i have not bought a breeder tank yet for him. just put a mini-powerhead in there to circulate/oxygenate the water, and daily water changes in a tub of tupperware. he's done so much work though making his burrow that i feel bad about changing up his living situation.

i tried to upload pictures for the past hour, but could not reduce the size of the pictures to less than 50kb. hence i can't post them. can't understand how gozer gets those big beautiful pics upload. anyways, i just uploaded to my photobucket account.
http://s430.photobucket.com/albums/qq24/lionbacker54/

[Koshmar]

Fascinating. Just out of curiousity, does that little guy have white dots along its sides and telson?

[Mentat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15075711#post15075711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lionbacker54
...i tried to upload pictures for the past hour, but could not reduce the size of the pictures to less than 50kb...
Before uploading photos at Photobucket's "Upload Images & Video," right below "Chose Files," there is a box to set the upload size IOT reduce huge picture files.

Adjust setting to "640x480 (large)". Once set it should become default until changed again. "Large" size is perfect for forums and attaching pics to email.

Good luck with the tiny Mantis it's very cute.

[lionbacker54]

well i transferred the little dude to a breeder tank, and placed that within the main tank. my g.smithii, who NEVER comes out of his rock, immediately cruised out and tried to find his way into the breeder tank. little dude was terrified. he squirted down past where i set up his rock and substrate to hide in, down into the part where the eggs and babies are supposed to fall into. no rock or substrate down there. so he froze, little eyes following the comparably huge mantis shrimp. he is not moving at all now, maybe trying to play possum or something.

i can't believe that kal, who won't touch the smallest hermits or snails, wants so desperately to eat little dude. i'm going to have to find a way to get some rock and substrate down into the lower compartment for little dude to at least hide in.

[lionbacker54]

koshmar-
i cannot see whether he has white spots or not. he is too small! i have watched the little video clip of him over and over again since you asked the question, but cannot make him out well enough. can't even see his meral spots.

[Gonodactylus]

There should be no white spots. It looks like a Neogonodactylus to me.

Roy

[lionbacker54]

sad news everyone. the little guy escaped from the breeder tank. i looked at 5 different breeder tanks, and got the one with the smallest holes. it did not look like he could get out. but this morning he was gone.

i am worried that he will now get eaten by the g.smithii. i can't get out of my head how hungrily it was looking at the little dude.

[Gonodactylus]

Keep watching for it. Juveniles can live in a cavity 3-4mm diameter where adults can't get them. I;ve have juveniles this size survive for months in tanks with large stomatopods.

This was the reason I suggested keeping the animal in a non-circulating cup. They can squeeze through remarkably small holes.

Roy

[lionbacker54]

thank for the ray of hope, roy. i will keep an eye out for him. my rock has tons of little holes in it, so i am hopeful. he was probably better off in the tupperware, which was basically the same as the non-circulating cup. i just worried about not having aeration or filtration. probably was better to worry about escape.

[Koshmar]

Don't worry, it could turn out to be a stomatopod miracle and he pops right out in front of you one day. I think the little guy will survive in little holes that Kal can't get into, after all they are quick little suckers.