1st Mantis tank sand question

[DaveBien]

Should be getting my 1st Mantis soon, am assuming its a Wenne (sp). I have reefs tanks, etc so I'm reasonably familiar with the basics EXCEPT for one specific question.

It will be a spare JBJ 12g Nano. I have spare L/R and rubble and salt water ready. Can I use white play sand or is it too fine? Should I mix it w/ larger grained? I have the sand (saving the Southdown for a 72 bow). I'll use enough depth depending on the Mantis' length, etc.

What are the opinions??

Thanks

[DanInSD]

I feel strongly that you should use oolitic (sugar-fine) sand (calcium carbonate). I'm not familiar with "white play sand" -- as long as it is calcium carbonate and not silicate, it should be just fine. Smasher species are not picky about the substrate.

[Diet Plain]

I would put small pieces of rubble in there also so the mantis has some "building" material

[Ms. K]

Silica sand would be just fine. I use silica sand in my tank. It is a larger grain sand...not too fine. Silica sand might not have the ultimate buffering capacity that calcium carbonate sand has, but it won't hurt your mantis.

[Pea-brain]

Another vote for Oolitic aragonite or calcium based sand here. Love the stuff

[justinl]

i love the oolitic sand in a bag meant for aquariums. it buffers so it has an actual purpose. I would not use play sand for fear of contaminants. I would not like silicates in there for example because there is some evidence that they may cause bad algae blooms.

[DaveBien]

Ok, I'm not too concerned about the buffering, got that under control. And from what I've read silca sand and the type of silca that causes algae blooms are two entirely different things. I understand that this misconception (IMHO) comes up a lot in discussions.

But otherwise, thanks for your imputs. I'll take all the opinions I can get. Keep 'em coming.

[Gonodactylus]

I generally try to stay out of discussions that border on the aesthetic, although I do find it difficult to take seriously a stomatopod tank with a bubble operated treasure chest or submarine. However, it really is important to consider the mechanical as well as the chemical properties of the substrate that you use. Silica sand often has very sharp and abrasive edges. Animals that are keep on or in it often begin to show signs of abrasion. Watch for a wearing away of the setae on the ventral edges of the uropods and antennal scales. While this may not be fatal, it can detract from the appearance of the animal and can lead to infection.

Also be careful using in "colored" sands and gravels. Many of these are innert but occasionally they are dyed with chemicals that can leech out and kill stomaotpods. A few years back we were trying to conduct some color matching experiements and used some colored gravels. I can't remember if it was the green or blue, but one of them killed every stomatopod we exposed it to.

Roy

[Pea-brain]

you could try tahitian moon sand. Drs fosterand smith sells it and it is supposed to be inert and safe for SW aquariums. Plus it is pure black in color and would bring out the colors in a bright mantis shrimp. Just make sure it is not a mantis that changes colors on the fly like P. ciliata because it might turn it pure black.....actually that would be cool....You might want to ask if it is abrasive like silica sand, but otherwise it seems like a good idea to me...

[Gonodactylus]

I have a couple of photographic tanks set up with Tahitian Moon. It is not pure black, so I spend a lot of time moving flecks of white. Still, it does may a substrate that is easier to photograph than white sand.

We have a couple of black P. ciliata that are living on black sand. I occasionally see this in the field, particularly where there are black lava sands like in Hawaii.

Roy

[DanInSD]

Cool (about the black P. ciliata on the black sand). Ultimate stealth!

One other concern with silica is that increased silicates can lead to massive problems with diatoms, which have silicate skeletons. Easier to just avoid the problem and use aragonite sand.

Dan

[DaveBien]

Thanks Doc, your advice about silca being abrasive is well taken here. I'll use something else. Black would be VERY interesting and I would never consider "colored" gravel .

And Doc is there any truth to the algae bloom rumor concerning silca sand vs the type of silca that causes diatoms??? After reading up I've come to the uneducated opinion that one has nothing to do with the other. That the silca sand is about like processed glass. And our glass aquariums don't cause problems being inert.

I'm not even going to get into the debate about aragonite sand and its "buffering" properties...

Thanks for all the imput from everyone.

(Throwing out all my bubbling submarines, sunken ships, and hard hat divers !!!! I may keep the treasure chest however. And my wife says I have no decorating sense.)

[Uriel]

Originally posted by Gonodactylus
I have a couple of photographic tanks set up with Tahitian Moon. It is not pure black, so I spend a lot of time moving flecks of white. Still, it does may a substrate that is easier to photograph than white sand.

We have a couple of black P. ciliata that are living on black sand. I occasionally see this in the field, particularly where there are black lava sands like in Hawaii.

Roy

One of my cilata lives in a 12 cube that has no actual top (A freebie from the LFS, since the top/lighting unit was defective). She shares a sparse light with the G chiraga in the next tank, so hers is fairly dark, at least the back part of it (The front in close enough to a window for lighting). She looks almost black, especially against the black backing wall. She has actually startled me, suddenly shooting out to catch a ghost shrimp or piece of scallop.


-Uriel