Mantis in a Nanocube 12

[Nanz]

Can I put a Peacock mantis in a 12 gallon Nanocube? Its a glass tank and I'm currently using it as a external refugium. Will the Mantis eat my pods? I spent a lot of money setting up my pod population but my mandarin in my DT only likes pellets now, LOL!

I was just wondering if I could keep a Mantis in a Glass 12 gallon Nanocube. I would like to get a peacock but wondered what you guys thought.

[MantisBrad]

Nah, I don't the mantis will mess with the pods. My peacock never messed with them so I had to add something to the tank to get rid of them because there was far too many of them!

[TMPoften]

From my understanding you need a 20gallon to house a Peacock mantis shrimp. I have a nanocube 12 gallon and I currently have a G. Smithii in it, he seems quite happy and gets along with the Tomato clown and the Damsel that share the tank with him.

I think these are all mantis that would fit into that tank happily:
Gonodactylus smithii
Neogonodactylus wennerae
Pseudosquilla ciliata
Odontodactylus havanensis

There may be more those are just the mantis I have had in smaller tanks and they did very well. Good luck.

[oct2274]

another thing to look at beside that is typically below the recommended size for a peacock is that the glass on nanos is extremely thin and could easily be cracked or broken by an adult peacock.

[Nanz]

Thanks for your help guys

I think I will go for a Gonodactylus smithii


Now.. I know one must take care when hadling the tank with Mantis. How do you guys protect yourself if you need to put your hand in the tank. Do you use gloves, or tongs and keep your hands out? For example.. If I need to change the carbon in the back or the pump/powerhead, how do I protect myself from the Mantis or do I not need to worry about a Gonodactylus smithii.

[TMPoften]

Since all of the filtration in the nano cubes is hid behind a false wall you should not have anything to worry about. And I have yet to have a mantis shrimp jump out at me and try to attack me. I do tend to push stuff around with sticks though, if it is possible.
www.bluezooaquatics.com has smithii's in from time to time. I think there is another thread about where you can locate mantis shrimp. Good luck.

[ck1]

my experience with smithii and ternatensis is that they are not aggressive to my hands at all- I just make sure to know where they are in the tank. i probably would not stick my hands in there after handling fish food- as they seem to be able to sense when you add food to the tank.
each mantis can be different- but they are not top predators in the ocean do I don't think they will attack unless they mistake for food or feel threatened- maybe this could happen once they are extremely confident in their environment and it is a particulary outgoing specimen. But if it does not associate your hands with food or threat you should be fine.

[BALISTIK]

i recently got a 3 inch peacock mantis and he seems fine in the 12g nano, very active. I do however intend to upgrade him to a bigger tank with his next molt

[rwhhunt]

I kept a ~3" inch Peacock in a nanocube for a while, but she definitely needed a larger tank within the first 8 months or so... I then moved her to my 26 Gallon tank which was much more comfortable and close to the recommended tank size