60gal mantis tank

[justinl]

okay so this is my first saltwater tank and the reason i even came into SW was because of the mantis shrimp. Ill drop interesting facts about them here and there. but on to the tank. Okay so first things first, I built my own tank to fit on a big stand I already had. It was out of acrylic because some mantids can smash glass. I wanted to be prepared for anything.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_043.jpg

I forgot to think when i bought my heater so i had to mantis proof it because it's made of glass. Ill probably get a stealth later.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_046.jpg

fast forward a couple of months and I had my setup nearly complete!

my cloudy tank cycling. The yellow basket has a decaying shrimp in there. Smells like hell on fire if i take it out of the water.
the lighting system cost a whopping five bucks. I suppose Ill get a real aquarium light when i decide i want corals but for now it serves its purpose.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_048.jpg

my parents are paranoid. They insisted i keep towels on the sides in case the tank spontaneously combusts. way to trust my workship guys! i won in the end and the towels are gone now.
the stand has sliding doors and i have all my stuff in there. There used to be a reallly really old busted TV which i had to gut out. On the right of the tank, the top opens up to reveal an old school radio which still works and sounds pretty good. On the left it opens to a turntable. it's sweet.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_050.jpg

i sure hope those pics worked.

[justinl]

hmmm... the pics worked but they're wee tiny. anyone know why? you can see full versions in my gallery.
okay so what's in the tank?

70 lbs of sand, 40 lbs LR (thanks lindsayf!), rubble, two peps, small CUC
ebo heater, prism skimmer with an airvalve (it works fine!), maxijet 1200
5$ light and a coralife .75 watt moonlight.

a yellowtail damsel named Distress (what can i say? i love puns)
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_070.jpg

and a foxface named Vulpix. My sister simply calls it cow. Here he is chilling under my aquatic inukshuk. I bought the red algae for him to eat, but he ignores it completely.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_077.jpg

On either side of the SW i have two small betta tanks (FW) where the towels used to be. Here's one named sushi. He had an identity crisis and now he thinks he's a snail...
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_066.jpg

[justinl]

okay time for the first "did you know" about mantids. Fact: a large mantis can move their smashing arms (raptorial appendages) to produce forces up to 1400 N (same force as a .22 caliber rifle bullet at muzzle velocity). It is the fastest recorded movement in the animal kingdom. not all mantids can do this though. Only the really big ones like Peacocks (O. scyllarus) and G. chiragra.

and back to me...
For a while i sat around twiddling my thumbs... I wanted a mantis and was ready to put it in. The problem was that i couldn't find one! argh. I searched and searched but to no avail. Then Ticketyboo reserved one at hidden reef and let me take it even though he was looking for one himself! :biggrin: Now that's looking out for a fellow aquarist. So my thanks to david!
hidden reef thought it was a peacock but it was actually a G. smithii. My close second preference. It's a "he" and very colourful. His name is Trogdor. Here he is acclimatizing in a fishbowl with a snail i got for free. Say hi troggie!
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_095.jpg
if you look closely, he's clutching a sacraficial nassarius in his claws. I wanted to see his reaction to it. The snail survived the ordeal unharmed... for now.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/saltycaveetcetc_098.jpg

btw, i apologize for both my lack of a dsecent camera and utter lack of photography skills. He's much prettier in person.

[Kabong]

Looks good but are you kinda concerened you'll never see your mantis is such a large tank?

[justinl]

lol I considered that before i decided on what species of mantis i wanted. I decided on a peacock (large, pretty interactive) or a G. smithii (small but very interactive). So no im not worried really, because G. smithii are known to wander around the tank a lot.

Trogdor is in a hole in the LR right now and all i can hear is "click, click... click." Whenever he's done making his burrow he'll probably feel more comfortable wandering around. I also won't put the food right in front of his burrow. That way he'll learn to stay out when he wants to be fed. lol, that's the plan anyways.

[Fish]

Hahaha
Trogdor the burninator! Great name. Not too many mantis shrimp that have their own theme song.

Crapfully yours,
- Chad

[justinl]

oh wow! yay somebody knew where the name is from!

[muck]

The pics are small because you linked to the thumbnail version. If you right-click and use the url from the large pic it should post it in the thread as the large pic. :wink:

[justinl]

ahhh i see. okay ill do that from now on.

[rudy]

Justinl,

Very nice tank and very nice Smithii.

Just a word though, I have kept a few Smithii and find that they are less interactive in larger aquariums. I think a 5-10 gallon would do. Any more than that he may become "lost" in the environment. They are different in every situation, and yours may act differently. This is just my experience.

Depending on what your situation allows for I would ideally move your smithii to a smaller aquarium and keep on the look for a peacock. If that won't work then a smithii will be a great trading tool for a peacock.

[Fish]

Ya, most nano guys would kill for a smithii - and they seem to be tougher to come by. Of course you will probably be too attached to him to let him go.
Rudy,
What do you keep your salinity at for yours? My peacock tank is a 1.025 but I wasn't sure if that should be higher...

- Chad

[rudy]

Ya, most nano guys would kill for a smithii - and they seem to be tougher to come by. Of course you will probably be too attached to him to let him go.
Rudy,
What do you keep your salinity at for yours? My peacock tank is a 1.025 but I wasn't sure if that should be higher...

- Chad

I honestly don't think they are that fussy as long as it is for the most part constant. I keep mine exactly where you are, however the only time they seem to be susceptible is prior to or during a molt. I would attempt to watch your water changes in those times. I swear this is how I lost my last one.

I personally think that you should keep mantis with corals. Corals are a good way to keep you informed on the water conditions in an aquarium. I ban test kits a long time ago though.....................

[Fish]

Cool thanks Tim. And I agree about the corals comment. One of the coolest things I ever saw was Ike sitting in the middle of my frogspawn - I would have called it 'hosting' but he only did it twice that I saw. :razz:

- Chad

[justinl]

yeah he hasn't come out that Ive seen. I do know that he has been out and about when im not around though because he had to get little chips of LR to seal up his burrow. I may relocate him to a 10-20gal nano after a bit of thought. Ill have to save up cash. Im thinking of making it a reef too but Ill only have beginners corals... i am still a bit of a noob in terms of experiece.

for inverts, mantids are unusually resilient. For best results, it's usually recommended to keep it on the high side (1.025) but they really don't care that much. Consistency is more important. In fact some people argue that they probably don't even need acclimatization (although i still do it anyways).

mantids and any other thing that molts are always their weakest during and after a molt. If they're molting and you spook it by just looking at it, it may die. It's happened before.

hehehe did you ever get a pic of ike "hosting" the frogspawn? That would be amazing.:mrgreen:

[Fish]

hehehe did you ever get a pic of ike "hosting" the frogspawn? That would be amazing.:mrgreen:

No, I didn't have a camera handy either time he did it :mad:.

- Chad

[justinl]

I just gave Trogdor his first frozen feeding (I think he's taken out five nassarius and two hermits already... can't find a single one). It was a piece of frozen shrimp thawed in selcon. I put it on a feeding stick and forced him to come out. He latched on and tried to pull it off the hook. He's pretty strong! Eventually I gave in and just dropped the shrimp in the tank so he could get it.

seriously considering getting a 10gal nano for him. That way I can get a puffer (which ive always wanted for personality) and an eel.

[untamed]

I often hold the shrimp and let him whack it out of the feeding claws. You know...just to make him work a bit for his meals!

[justinl]

hmm good method. may have to steal that one from ya. I found out he hates the colour green. Apparently green reminds mantids of other mantids so they hate it (competition). I tested this with the handle of a green dipnet... whack. yup he hates it alright.

[Fish]

Justin,
This info probably isn't necessary to you because you are feeding lots of live, shelled food - but I posted on grimreefers the idea of buying empty snail shells from the LFS for a few cents each and stuffing them with frozen krill. For those people that feed only frozen food it is a good way to get your mantis to hit something hard and keep his dactyls nice and strong. Of course, I was feeding mine a lot of hermits and snails too so most of the time the soft krill was a nice break. We can all apreciate an easy meal I think.

- Chad

[justinl]

Yeah i know but I don't see the necessity unless you're putting the mantis through long periods without live food or no live at all. ... that and im lazy. I usually recommend that to people who have mantids but don't want to feed them the cute lil innocent hermits. humbug.

easy meal? why must you bring up food?! it's bringing me back to the laab namtok recipe... *drool*

[justinl]

wooot! By monday Ill have a brand spankin new 8 gal biocube for Trogdor! Eventually it will be a reef... eventually.

But since there's no mantis in the 60gal, it's no longer a 60gal mantis tank is it? it's a FO. An FO that will soon get a valentini puffer and possibly a snowflake eel!

*happy dancing*

[justinl]

Do you guys think that that is an overstocked 60gal? foxface, damsel, valentini puffer, snowflake eel? From what Ive researched, there shouldn't be any compatability problems right?