Half and Half Mantis tank Reinforcement?

Shigo_Naito · 02-06-2007, 11:39 PM

I am thinking of splitting my extra 30gal into a mantis and a frag tank.
I was thinking of puting acrlic around the mantis half, is this over kill?
Would anyone have advice on the best way to put acrlic around that half?
Any other words of wisdom to help me not lose a finger

gobidon · 02-07-2007, 12:02 AM

i've never heard of mantis shrimp eating coral if that is your reasoning for separating them.

is the mantis you want a basher or a spearer?

Shigo_Naito · 02-07-2007, 12:55 AM

sry i should explain better, I wont to put the acrlic around the glass to help prevent the glass from breaking.

I wont to seperate it because i dont wont to worry about my hand when it is in the tank moving corals.

I am looking at getting a peacock mantis.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gobidon

i've never heard of mantis shrimp eating coral if that is your reasoning for separating them.

is the mantis you want a basher or a spearer?

gobidon · 02-07-2007, 01:38 AM

I wouldn't reccomend a smashing mantis for a glass tank, renforced or not. I would advise getting a spearer if you want a mantis.

christensonjes · 02-07-2007, 09:29 AM

If you put the acrylic on the inside of the glass I think it would be fine. The mantis wouldnt be able to crack the glass

REEFSTOCK · 02-07-2007, 10:03 AM

Just build an acrylic nano... or post LF nano in the sales section. There are often quarantine sized nanos floating around as people need them or not.

jbplay · 02-07-2007, 10:09 AM

Glass aside, I would be concerned for the peacocks size vs the half tank area he has to roam in. If he's small it's probably good for a while, but a full size adult may not like his floorspace. Also, since manti can be messy eaters, you may have nitrate issues that could affect your frags, so the quality of your filtration and your maintenance schedule will be key to the success of both halves of your tank. Are you set on a peacock? I was looking at getting an O. Havenensis that have many of the attributes of the peacock, but are more suited to a smaller tank. They go on sale on Ebay from time to time.

jbplay · 02-07-2007, 10:51 AM

Another idea. Rather than dividing the tank, make a thin frag rack "shelf" from eggcrate and attach it high up across the back wall of the tank. That way the frags get great light and you don't have to stick your hands in very far to move them around. Dr. Caldwll, mantis guy on RC, says that the cracking is rare and usually occurs on the back corners of a tank as the mantis tries to dig. You could line those areas with acrylic for piece of mind and hide it with live rock.

Shigo_Naito · 02-07-2007, 11:27 AM

Thx for the help

Havanensis dose look like a better pick then the peacock. Right now i was thinking of getting a Hagen Fluval 205 Canister Filter for the filtration, would this be fine for just softie frags? How much noise dose it make?

Irenicus · 02-07-2007, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbplay

Another idea. Rather than dividing the tank, make a thin frag rack "shelf" from eggcrate and attach it high up across the back wall of the tank. That way the frags get great light and you don't have to stick your hands in very far to move them around. Dr. Caldwll, mantis guy on RC, says that the cracking is rare and usually occurs on the back corners of a tank as the mantis tries to dig. You could line those areas with acrylic for piece of mind and hide it with live rock.

I would not downplay the occurance of cracking. I lost my peacock to a cracking incident. It was in a temporary housing for one night before he met his demise cracking a heater. Don't take any chances.

jbplay · 02-07-2007, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irenicus

I would not downplay the occurance of cracking. I lost my peacock to a cracking incident. It was in a temporary housing for one night before he met his demise cracking a heater. Don't take any chances.

I once had a glass heater crack on its own and kill everything in a freshwater tank, but I agree that I wouldn't put a glass heater in with a mantis. Titanium or Visitherm Stealth might be a good choices. I had a G. Chiragra(another species noted for glass chipping) in my 29g quarantine for a few days and got nervous watching her repeatedly pound at some live rock until she broke off a chunk to use as part of her doorway. The result? She went back to OD and I got a smaller N. Oerstedii that better fit the 7gal Minibow I was building. Even then, the Minibow has a false ABS overflow that hides the heater and I lined the back and bottom with acrylic even though the smaller mantis species are not known to have the power to crack glass.

Shigo_Naito · 02-07-2007, 04:04 PM

LOL...inline heater it is

redwinger · 02-07-2007, 04:12 PM

For a peacock an acrylic tank is almost a must and a titanium heater is a must. Also I would not go with anything that is smaller than 24" long. I know the person who bought my acrylic mantis tank was looking to sell it and IMO was the perfect setup for a o. scyllarus.