can mantis shrimp break glass?

[tarpon]

If you had a mantis shrimp could it end up hitting the glass and breaking it while its hunting live prey?

 

[Saltybabe]

Yes. They can break glass.

 

[Nomadu571]

Look on YouTube, there are many videos which show it's attack. Definitely one for an acrylic tank not glass it would smash instantly. The hit from its claw/fist has the same impact as a .22 calibre bullet!

 

[LyndaB]

Wow, really? That would be scary.

 

[ShadoeFox]

Yeah, these guys intimidate me

 

[Nomadu571]

Really cool to watch it feed but wouldn't want to have your hand in the tank too long or too close. I would love to keep one, very cool creatures.

 

[tarpon]

Theyre amazing but it seems kind of like a timebomb to me

 

[all4wheels2]

The peacock is really the only one I'd be worried about. The rest of them stay pretty small and don't hit the glass unless you're teasing them.

I have one in a 20g glass and he's never hit it - not even when getting prey.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Indeed it totally depends on the type (species) of mantis you have as well, some are spearers, some are smashers, etc. To lump them all in the same category is an error. I've kept a mantis in a LPS/Mantis dedicated glass tank for almost three years now, and have never had any issues.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I would not worry about having one much. They can kill small fish obviously, but are amazing animals. A "smasher" could break a glass tank, but not acrylic or even a thick glass tank.

 

[tlkng1]

The one I had alerted me to his presence by the sound. It took me two weeks to figure out that the clicking sound was coming first from the tank (I have other animals in the house so strange sounds at times aren't unusual) and then second, from the "critter" that was digging under a piece of liverock and pushing the sand out. I left the actinics on one night and the culprit finally showed himself. I played hunter, got him trapped and relocated him to my LFS...he's still there actually in his own little habitat they have on the counter.

 

[SAAVE853]

I have one in my tank and besides the clicking and the fact that he enjoys snacking on snails......i kinda like him.

 

[tarpon]

Haha beware they get freakin big.
Those things remind me of tiny dogs

 

[Gboy66]

Ok i didnt know what a mantis shrimp was, so i you tubed it...oh my lord!! That thing is crazy!!! The way it kills things reminds me of those little wind-up monkeys that bang those trashcan lid-type-things together hahaha

 

[tarpon]

Yeah theyre viscious. And the zebra mantis shrimp looks stunning

 

[Gti_Leo]

there are videos on youtube of someone getting hit in the hand but the hammer, i doubt they would crack the glass of they hit it. it just defies logic that a small thing like that would be able to punch through the glass. even if they say they can hit at the same velocity as a .22 cal. it doesn't have the space that the bullet has to generate the force to do it, so until i see a video of a mantis breakign the glass i won't believe it

thats not acrylic thats a glass tank

 

[Nyghtfire]

Yes they have the ability to break glass.
And a full grown has the same power as a bullet. But there punches power isn't from the punch itself. There mandibles move so fast and create so much friction that it boils the water. The sound isn't the impact the frequency of impact noise is beyond human hearing the sound comes from the superheated water.

There amazing creatures If you can dedicate time to there needs keep one.
I normally keep them in 40g breeder glass. Place egg crate across the entire bottom of a tank. And have a sandbed of 3-4 inches.

To the main question they can smash tank glass. Ive kept mantis shrimp for years. And I know many others who have aswell. Never seen evidence or heard a first hand story of them cracking anything but the bottom pane of glass. Hence the eggcrate.

 

[Nyghtfire]

Oh and to answer to the person above me. The temperature of the water around there punch is what gives them the ability you are right the punch alone cannot do it there's not alot of force. But there's other factors.

 

[Gti_Leo]

Yes they have the ability to break glass.
And a full grown has the same power as a bullet. But there punches power isn't from the punch itself. There mandibles move so fast and create so much friction that it boils the water. The sound isn't the impact the frequency of impact noise is beyond human hearing the sound comes from the superheated water.

There amazing creatures If you can dedicate time to there needs keep one.
I normally keep them in 40g breeder glass. Place egg crate across the entire bottom of a tank. And have a sandbed of 3-4 inches.

To the main question they can smash tank glass. Ive kept mantis shrimp for years. And I know many others who have aswell. Never seen evidence or heard a first hand story of them cracking anything but the bottom pane of glass. Hence the eggcrate.

if it shattered the bottom its because the bottoms of mid sized tanks are tempered glass, if you look at tempered glass with a UV light you will see the crack in it. if you hit tempered glass on the edge or are able to get within the crack they will shatter. thats really the only way i can see that happening.

as far as the boiling water thing thats a crock of crap. there is to much water around it that dicipates the heat to have it even come close to boiling the water.

like i said i can see them shriking with the velocity but actually generatign the force that a bullet has i don't believe and won't believe it unless i see it crack the side of an aquarium

 

[alink708]

I'm a Glazer by trade (install glass for a living) All types tempered , lam , therm , storefronts, sky scrapers etc... Glass is tough, I doubt a mantis can break aquarium glass ....especially tempered. Like the guy above said tempered needs to be hit on the side to break under normal circumstances, usually with some force...like a hammer. I have personally spent 20 minutes throwing a framing hammer at a pane of temp only to have the hardened steel of the hammer itself break before the glass did!! I have also shot old panes of plate glass (non tempered) with .22's without them breaking on the first few shots.... So unless your aquarium glass is 1/32 - 1/16th thick which its not I don't think there's a good chance a mantis can break it.