Outtafocus's 2gal pico-now with more Mantis

[outtafocus]

I was bored after doing a water change on my main tank today. This little 2gallon tank is the result.

The tank is made from acrylic and was purchased at Petcetera ages ago. I had the piece of live rock in my sump and I used water I pulled from my main tank.
I have an Aquaclear 50 filter moving the water along with a little visi-therm heater.
I havent decided what exactly will be going in the tank, but some of my ideas include a little mantis,or a handful of sexy shrimp. What do you suggest?
I think I will pick up one of those dual 9watt Coralife pc fixtures.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/204834.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/204841.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/204616.jpg

[outtafocus]

A few pics after I added another 9watt fixture I had on my fish shelf.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/214151.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/214129.jpg

[Ruth]

Very cool. I love that fixture. Where did you get it? I think a handful of sexy shrimp a few shrooms and zoos would really liven that place up!

[outtafocus]

In the second set of pics, there is actually two different lights on it.
One is the clip on 7watt PC lamp that came with the Petcetera tank.
The second is one of Azoo's 9watt clip on lights.

Thanks for the kind words. My girlfriend wants some sexy shrimp, but I really want a mantis. I guess its down to paper rock scissors.

[nanoreefer]

wow! i was going to use that same tank for my pico but i coudent find another light around here for it so iam returing it,(i can make a 2.5 for the same price anyway)did you get it when they were on sale last month?

i am going to be watching your thread!

[outtafocus]

I picked it up a few months ago. I did get it on sale, only because they had forgot to change the price on the shelf. I had picked it up, went to the till and they said it was no longer on sale. Well the shelf I went with the employee and, next thing I was walking out with a sale priced tank.

I doubt I would ever had bought it at its original price.

[i have crabs]

i think id be too scared to run a heater on a thin plastic tank, hasnt melted yet?

[outtafocus]

Having the heater in that tank is no different than running a heater in the AC500 refugium it came out of. Eclipse acrylic tanks are no thicker (actually thinner) than this tank and heaters do fine in them.

[i have crabs]

i was always scared of one melting so i just got a glass one built.

[aquariumgirl]

Hey ottafocus, great tank!! I don't think the heater would do any damage, those little tanks can take quite a bit. I'll be following your thread (miss my little tank ;) )

[outtafocus]

So far nothing had changed with this tank, Im probably going to pick up some sexies if I can find them anywhere.
What do you suggest I drop in there Aquariumgirl?

[aquariumgirl]

how about some colorful mushrooms, maybe a blue-legged hermit!! Oh, I know how about a feather duster? ;)

[MobyDick]

what about a couple few of these lil guys i like them ...might be hard to find??don't know what it's like out there http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=155

[Ruth]

From what I have read about these gobies they do not do very well in our tanks unless you plan to run a cooler tank. They come from Catalina Island region around LA so they are used to a cooler temperature. If you go to Steve Weast's cold water tank he has them in there and they are very cool but not for a typical marine tank.

[outtafocus]

Well I finally decided on an inhabitant for this tank.
I picked up a green mantis shrimp today. He is quite small, I have yet to get a pic of him. So stay tuned.

[outtafocus]

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/130502.jpg


http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/130446.jpg

[outtafocus]

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=g_chiragra

[outtafocus]

I just dropped 2 little tiny hermit crabs into the Mantis tank.
Well the carnage was instantaneous. He began smashing the second one of the crabs came out of its shell. The second was soon to follow.

[outtafocus]

some more pics of my mantis
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/230757.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/230753.jpg

This a very nice little damsel which I also placed in the mantis tank. I know its a risk, and the mantis watches the damsel like a hawk. I feel the fish is fast enough to stay out of harms way. I am sure the inevitable will happen though.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/202203.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/202131.jpg

[outtafocus]

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/231246.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/outtafocuscalgary/231205.jpg

[fakename]

Are you going to keep feeding him live hermits or trick him with the meat in the snail shell trick?? I would like to get one of these guys, but the constant need for live food would be a pain........although I guess I could go get hermits from the beach now that I think about it....

[Skimmer Juice]

outtafocus where in calgary did you find that mantis.I have a peacock he is about 6-7 inches andvery smart.

[aquariumgirl]

oh, that's a very beautiful mantis!! Your pico looks awesome.

[OCDP]

Cool Mantis, Cool Damsel.. very nice looking. Poor bugger.... he's doomed. Such a nice looking fish too...


Cool little tank overall though.

[Xtasia]

Why would you have to feed it snails etc.. you can keep a mantis on mysis. they are lower maintenance than they have to be...

[Skimmer Juice]

feeding him snails and crabs gives him something for him to do for fun.

[Fish]

Feeding a smasher shelled foods is more than for fun. Some owners report that mantis will lose their raptorial apendages if they don't use them. Also, seeing as snails and hermits are their natural diet, it is probably a healthy way to feed. To balance Ike's diet, I feed snails and hermits once or twice a month. To keep the cost down (but his dactyls strong), I came up with the technique of stuffing krill inside of a $0.25 snail shell... kinda like gift wrapping.
The damsel will probably get eaten eventually - my first damsel got eaten after two weeks... that's how long it took for it to drop its gaurd. A damsel is inexpensive and it's probably good to have fresh fish once in a while...
I really like your tank so far, it's awesome to see the mantis revolution continue!

- Chad

[outtafocus]

Thanks for the kind remarks.
Of the four hermits and two snails I placed in the tank on sunday, only one snail and one hermit remains.

The damsel is still alive, but I do worry for him. When the damsel is scared (by me walking by) he will dive into a little cave area under the rock. But with a mantis watching over his shoulder I dont believe its the safest hide out. To quote JRR Tolkiens' The Hobbit, " Out of the frying pan , into the fire"

Chad, does your mantis ever drag the shell fragments back into his lair? Mine will do her smashing, eject all the fragments, so they are strewn all over, then the next time I look at the tank, I see all the shells stacked in her alternate entrance.

[Skimmer Juice]

my mantis shrimp smashes all of his snails and crabs in his house and then puts the broken shells in the roof of his cave kinda likegrout or something. Just out of curiosity how do you tell if it is a male or female?

[Fish]

outtafocus,
Oh ya, Ike has never given me back a single shell... he's got a serious stash in there. They really like to fortify their bunkers - infact I caught Ike breaking off chunks of my sps to use as building materials. After I saw that, I moved some LR rubble to block his cave entrance better so that he doesn't feel the need to continue harvesting material for the 'sps beaver dam' he was working on...

- Chad

[Edmonton Eskimo]

that's a cool tank! I have the exact same tank with a smithii in there. Do you find the Ac filter too much flow? For my heater I have one of those little 7w hydor heaters. Only problem I have with it is you can't turn it on or off.

[rudy]

Very cool..

I would ditch the heater in there. You can get heating pads for a small tank that are 7.5 watts. You can buy them at Pisces for $20. Chiragra are extremely hard hitters.

What color is that Chiragras Meral spots though? Can you get a pic?