Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueAbyss
Mantis shrimp can break glass panels and throw rocks. The bottom of the tank is probably safe... any of the side panels may not be.
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you got it backwards. almost all of tank breaks by mantids are because the mantis is digging a hole and wants to smash through the mysterious clear obstruction. Tank breaks in general are rare, and side panel breaks are rare within those. Another "common" (still rare) thing is having a mantis chip the edge of glass panels; usually not structurally damaging.
they can throw rocks but nothing larger than themselves and not very hard. certainly not hard enough to do any damage to anything.
Only a handful can actually break glass. Mostly only the large species like large Odontodactylids like O. scyllarus (peacock). G. chiragra is a smaller species but also has the hardest hit for its body size of all Stomatopods (although not the actual hardest i think) and can break through 1/4" glass.
edit: I would change bait every day so the stuff doesn't rot and foul water quality. maybe every couple for shrimp, but definitely daily for something like a clam (decomposes faster)