View Full Version : L. Maculata
Diet Plain
11/07/2006, 05:29 PM
My friend and I found a L.Maculata at a local fish store and I'm going to buy it. My question is regarding the size tank that would be sufficient, and amount of live sand. I do not know the sex of the animal but do know he/she is about 3-4" , couldn't really tell, and is sort of yellow/black banded. All information is appreciated. Thanks
-Danny
Altpers0na-old
11/07/2006, 05:50 PM
going to need a tall, very tall tank. the roys list, stickied, has the basics
Diet Plain
11/07/2006, 07:10 PM
Yea i read it, but a 120g seemed a little excessive especially for this critter. I was thinking a 30g would suffice for now, and maybe let him go, or give him to a fish store when he grew that large....
Altpers0na-old
11/07/2006, 07:38 PM
i wouldnt get a 120g just for one either,
i think my local petland (ick) has tall 55s. i think...
as far as excessive they need a sandbed 1.5 x length of animal to make em happy... at 4 inch's thats alot of sand, or a big cube of sand somewhere with a barrier for fish room... at 15 inchs my 20 hex would not have any water in it, just sand and a pair of eyes sticking out waiting for a 'hand' out
Diet Plain
11/07/2006, 08:13 PM
ha, yea. No problem. I decided not to take him, even though i REALLY want to. I just purchased the "lime green" mantis shrimp from Live aquaria, and will have pics up when he's situated. Thanks for the help.
Altpers0na-old
11/07/2006, 09:51 PM
no problem.
im jealous of all the lfs's that have local shrimps.. mine just picks up peacocks , yet another one i cant get...
mattyice
11/07/2006, 11:17 PM
i never get any mantis in my area, everyone calls me weird for keeping one by itself in a tank, i cant even get a LFS around here to order one for me
Gonodactylus
11/08/2006, 10:44 AM
I listed tank sizes in liters, not gallons. To convert liters to gallons, multiply by 0.26. A 4 inch (10 cm) Lysiosquillid could easily live for years in a 20 gal aquarium but not if it is completely full of sand. The animal to start will need a sand bed two (preferably 3) times deeper than it is long. That means you need a sand bed about a foot (30 cm) deep. If you put that much sand into a standard 20 gal tank, there will not be enough space for water. There are a couple of possible solutions.
1. Use a bigger and/or taller tank. Hex tanks work well as do the tall 30 gal tanks commonly for sale.
2. Use a smaller tall tank (I make mine to be 5 or 6 inches wide, 18-24 inches long and 15 - 30 inches deep depending on the size of the animal.) I can fill them 3/4 full of and and either attach them to a sump or as a satellite to another system. Some of the larger hang-on refugia work well for this.
3. Divide a tank and only put sand in one side. This is my favorite way to go. You can take a 20 gal and have a piece of glass or plexiglass cut to just fit inside running the length of the tank and tall enough to come within a couple of inches of the top. If the tank is clean and dry, you can seal it in place leaving about a 5 inch wide compartment. Then fill this about half full with sand. After the animal digs a burrow (this can take weeks), you can slowly add more sand to bring the level up to nearer the top of the partition. You can keep live rock, coral, etc. in the other part of the system. If you want to keep fish or other stomatopods, you should use a screen partition extending up from the glass partition. Just make sure that it is sufficiently course to allow good flow.
You can also convert an aquarium that is already up and running. The problem is that you can't glue the partition in place. I cut a piece of plexiglass to fit and line the bottom and side edges with a thin strip of foam weather stripping. I move all the occupants, LR and sand to the back of the tank, insert the partition and hold it in place with plexiglass spacers cut to fit on the bottom and top. Using this technique, if you decide to get rid of the sand containing compartment, you can simply siphon out the sand and remove the partition and spacers.
Roy
Altpers0na-old
11/08/2006, 09:26 PM
o ya, the L. mac's life span never came up did it, they can out live the family dog right?
my 20hex is about 20inch's tall (glass height), so by the time the Mac is 7in long, it would have been long over do for eviction.
the odd shape of the a hex would make a 14in sand bed partition nearly reasonable, but you would really really need a sump imo...
the partition wall could be blue'd over to make it look like the back of the tank... split down the middle that would give about 6in of water front to back, for rock / coral / fish (snacks) / inverts...
now if i can only get my lfs to order an L.Mac
Diet Plain
11/09/2006, 07:31 PM
Yea my friend has a 30g cube tank that would be great for the mantis. Have those L.Mac's been known to attack their keepers? Ex) if I put my hand inside the tank to place/move around coral.
mattyice
11/09/2006, 09:51 PM
if you keep a full grown l.mac in a 30G cube there wont be any room in the tank, also even with the mantis being small now it can still do alot of damage if it hits you full blast
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