new to forum , 20 gal mantis tank

[ineedvalume]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/mwooten102/DSC_1362-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/mwooten102/DSC_1363.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/mwooten102/DSC_1359-2.jpg
theres a couple quick pics of the tank i made/modified for fred the other day its a 20gal long with a built in mini fuge. I was also wonderin about behavior my fred likes to lay on his back in that shell in the left corner of the tank >,< is this normal ?

[Ampatent]

No idea about the behavior, maybe he wants to be a crab!

Really cool looking mantis though.

[ineedvalume]

thanks :) hes a pretty neat guy , he loves his new tank he floats about and shuffles the rocks all over the place :)

anyone know how often he needs to eat ? ive just been offerin him frozen krill everyday , some days he takes it some days he doesnt >,<

[Koshmar]

was also wonderin about behavior my fred likes to lay on his back in that shell in the left corner of the tank >,< is this normal ?

It depends. If he is active, eating, and seems healthy then I would say it's normal. I have a G. chiragra that does the same thing in a cave. As long as it's not out in the open and laying like that it should be ok. In relation to feeding, I have never kept a Odontodactylus scyllarus (though I'm considering a plan to have one soon) but it should be the same as most other mantids. These guys can go weeks without eating. Feeding every day is too much. Most people feed every other day or every three days. Personally I feed my three once every week and leave a clean up crew for them to pick off. You must give your smasher a hard-bodied prey item to exercise his raps on to keep them in shape, otherwise he will tear them off.

A few things about the tank. Is that a thermometer in the back and if it is what is it made of (glass or titanium)? A twenty long is ok for awhile but most people who keep peacocks say they need at least a 35-55 gallon once they reach adulthood/max length. You may also want to consider more live rock and make sure that large rock is sitting on the glass and is not just dropped onto the sand.

Oh and welcome! :)

[Mentat]

+1 on Koshmar comments.

...anyone know how often he needs to eat ? ive just been offerin him frozen krill everyday , some days he takes it some days he doesnt >,<
Feeding only frozen krill is not the best nutrition. Can add thawed fish, scallop, shrimp, live or frozen snails, clams, mussels, etc. Soaking foods in Selcon or good vitamins once or twice a week is nice too.

[ineedvalume]

its glass , though he doesnt mess with anything hes super mellow >,< i can stroke his back and hes ok with it :) and i have that rock on the sand with about 3" of sand under because he likes to dig and hollow himself a big lair. hes been in there with a damsel for about 2 months and they hang out together and everything lol. I was thinking of adding him to the 72 bowfront if he holds off on killing his fishie friends

[ineedvalume]

thanks , i bought him a scalop and a clam today i gave him a bit of the clam and he loves it >,< he wont put it down hes been carrying it around for 20 minutes now lol

hes also got quite a few snails of different types and a coupla hermits in there if he feels like getting his own food

[Koshmar]

The glass heater/thermometer is problematic because if he breaks it, (which happens) the whole tank will be nuked. You could enclose it with a plastic barrier/egg crate, or get a titanium heater. The reason I asked about the rock is that if he continues to burrow, at some point he may cause the rock to collapse which would crush him. It's usually a good idea to set the rock on the glass bottom that way no cave-ins will occur. The 72 would be a better tank to house the peacock in, though with fish, some will kill them, some won't, some won't and one day go on a killing spree. It all depends on the individual stomatopod.

[lionbacker54]

+1 what koshmar said. beautiful mantis shrimp btw.

[ineedvalume]

here are some pics of Fred and his clam
this is him offering a bite to the clam gods
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/mwooten102/DSC_1368.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/mwooten102/DSC_1369.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/mwooten102/DSC_1374.jpg
he said thanks for the clam :)