Mantis Tank

[Gillybaby]

Got the new tank all set up yesterday. Its an Aqua One AquaStart 320 28l 32x32x36cm tank. It has an 11w compact flourescent (not T5 but Aqua One's own make) in the hood and came with a 400 lph pump attached to a spray bar and undergravel filter. We turfed out the undergravel filter part and are just using the pump with spraybar for surface water movement. We've also added a 55w heater and a Fluval 1+ internal filter for Rowaphos etc which has 200lph pump. Plenty of flow then at about 20x.

There is 2.5kg of liverock (plus some rubbly bits and bobs) with a 1" 2-5mm aragonite sandbed with livesand, all from our 6ft tank. We also used water from our 6ft tank so we've just moved the shrimp, some snails, some corals and chaeto straight in. Do not do this if you are setting up a tank from scratch. We are absolutely confident of the water quality and filtration quality of the rock and sand so don't anticipate any problems.

Here's a pic of the tank as it looks just now:

http://www.trapper300.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10002/19Nov06a.jpg

Still haven't got any pictures of the shrimp as he has holed himself up inside one of the rocks. I guess it'll be about a week or so before he starts exploring properly as the last few days must have been very traumatic for him. But here's a picture of the door to his hole complete with bouncer in the form of an aiptasia :eek:

http://www.trapper300.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10002/doorway1.jpg

He did pop his nose out this morning for a look see and then promptly closed the door again. Am very impressed with his building technique.

Any and all comments welcome :D

[Macca]

Is that illynassa or nassarius snails I see :confused:

James

[Macca]

I have a right weird looking pair of shrimps if you want them Gilly. Quite Dull but very alien like. Not sure of sp.

James

[callum_parsons]

cool i cant wait to see the shrimp

[Gillybaby]

Those are some large IO snails from my 6ft tank. We think they are a bit big for the shrimp to take out but if he does go for one then we'll swap them for a big turbo or astrea. Didn't think there would be enough algae for the bigger snails yet but there is a bit on the rocks and sand that I don't want to get out of hand.

Might be interested in the weird shrimps - can you post a pic at all?

[MR Teee]

That looks great Gillybaby.

Looks like the continuing adventures of the mantis should be a regular feature!

[Kev]

nice little set up that.

[oakwell]

Loks great

[Tangman]

Nice little tank there Gilly, that little mantis should be quite snug in there he's a lucky fella. Eric

[Gillybaby]

Nice little tank there Gilly, that little mantis should be quite snug in there he's a lucky fella. Eric

I hope so Eric. At least he'll be a lot happier here than in a stir fry ;)

[Reefer]

Be more interesting in a stir fry, Gilly!! LOL
Only joking!

[Gillybaby]

Be more interesting in a stir fry, Gilly!! LOL
Only joking!

:eek: :D :D :D

[Kev]

...............will someone pass the salt please.:p

[Pinkfish]

Thats a nice little tank there, cool.

Mike

[Reefer]

cool i cant wait to see the shrimp

Hee Hee You'll be lucky!

[Gillybaby]

Hee Hee You'll be lucky!

lol, very very lucky. He's still barricaded in his hole. If he's shedding he could be there for 5 days or so. Ian (my b/f) is now convinced there is no mantis in the tank and that it is a grand conspiracy to flog him off with a bit of rock for his xmas pressie :D

[Reefer]

LOL What??? You got him a Mantis tank for Xmas!!????
You really know how to spoil a man Gilly LOL!

[Gillybaby]

Thanks, I'll tell him that next time he complains ;)

The mantis is, apparently, to keep him company whilst he's working seeing as he now pretty much works from home. The tank is sitting on his desk next to his computer. I think he's just feeling left out cause the other nano in the office is mine :D

[Reefer]

Wednesday, any sign Gilly, I'm obsessed with it now!

[Gillybaby]

You're not the only one ;)

It would appear that he was out and about whilst we were busy watching ****** beat Man U yesterday. We came upstairs after and the little sod had rebuilt his door completely. Its a much nicer build job than the last one, very nicely designed. Will take a pic tomorrow seeing as there's nothing else to report :(

[Reefer]

Good football match that, gritty display by the Bhoys!
So anyway Thursday, do you have a sighting?

[Gillybaby]

No, but lots and lots of noise. We think he's renovating the old hole a bit ;)

Sighting imminent, we hope :D

[Macca]

Good football match that, gritty display by the Bhoys!
So anyway Thursday, do you have a sighting?

Gritty display :confused: More like lucky display ;)


James

[Tetley]

Gritty display :confused: More like lucky display ;)


James

PURE LUCK IMO :p

[callum_parsons]

any pic of the shrimp yet i cant wait to see it they look so cool

[Kev]

would you come out of that hole with all of this stir fry talk around?:eek: Not likely!!!!!

[callum_parsons]

would you come out of that hole with all of this stir fry talk around?:eek: Not likely!!!!!

lol, very good point

serious question could you actually eat it

[Gillybaby]

lol - I suppose you could eat him but there isn't much meat on him. He's teensy.

Speaking of lucky...James...last night...eh...nudge nudge...wink wink !!!! :D

Actually, I'm pretty pleased that both teams are through. Its a great advert for Scottish football.

[Gillybaby]

Oooooo, something has happened in the mantis tank :p

He's been poking his nose out of the hole for the last few hours so we thought we'd try feeding him a bit of krill. Unfortunately he's a bit of a weed cause he couldn't pull the krill off the feeder stick despite some vigorous tugging :o I managed to dislodge the krill from the end of the stick and left it at the entrance to his cave. Nothing happened for half an hour or so but I've just looked over to see the krill disappearing inside the hole. Success, its the first feed he's had since last Saturday before we moved him into his new tank :D

Hopefully we'll be able to coax him out of his hole tomorrow or Sunday. Pics will be posted as soon as we have some.

[Kev]

Good stuff gilly, or from his point of view, good krill:D

[callum_parsons]

thats good news i hope he comes out and feels like poseing for the camera

[Reefer]

Gritty display :confused: More like lucky display ;)


James

Now Now, I wouldn't usually support ****** (I am technically Rangers if you know what I mean) but as the ex manager Martin O'Niell was Leicester manager and Neill Lennon was a Leicester star midfielder, plus Gordon Strachans a top man I cant help cheering them on. Plus of course I dont like Man United, so all in all a good result!
Sorry Lads

[Pinkfish]

I think we should all start pot as for when the mantis wÃÂÂ*ll show itself.

A prize could be donated by James ;) ;) ;)

I'll start November 29th.

Mike

[Reefer]

Has it been out yet? (sunday) they're nocturnal arent they?

[Gillybaby]

Depends on the species, some are nocturnal and some are diurnal. I think this one is diurnal because for the last few days he's been taking down his door during the day. Unfortunately, he hasn't ventured out yet. We can see him sitting in the hole but only when shining a torch on him. They can be very shy so I think patience may be the name of the game in this case.

[newkidfish]

Gilly,
I have a confession, he may be traumatised by anything poking in tank (like feeding stick) as when I originally caught him I used some giant tweezers and poked him out of his hole in the rock.
I guess you and I are the only ones that really know what he looks like! Love the tank he is being really spoilt.
By the way the star polyps you sent are doing great-thanks.

[Reefer]

Hi Gilly
Update time! has it been running around exploring its shiny new tank or have you give up on it and hoisted it out for a pair of Perc's?

[Gillybaby]

lol, no percs...well not yet anyway ;)

He has actually been out and about. It turns out he's knocked through a backdoor to his rock. Caught him peeking at me from behind the rock on Friday evening, the cheeky wee monkey. We also had a good game of tug-of-war that night with a piece of krill which he ate half of then turfed the rest out of his back door. Must get him a wheely bin :D

We tried to get a picture but he's very very aware of what's going on outside his tank. He watches your every move even if your a few feet away. Very very smart. The minute we picked up the camera he scarpered. We have left the camera right in front of his tank so he gets used to its shape. Hopefully, he'll be out and about more now and we should be able to get a picture. As soon as we do, I'll post it ;)

[Reefer]

A breakthrough, and I dont mean the back door!
Fair play to your patience, do they ever 'tame' down and get used to you like fish do you know?

[Gillybaby]

Ok, update time :D

All's been very quiet on the mantis front for 7 days now, no sightings and no bashing noises. We are hoping that he has finished his house renovations and has hunkered down for a good ole moult. Fingers crossed everything is ok.

Ian is so fed up that his new playmate isn't playing that he bought these guys at the weekend to give the tank a bit of life, not percs but a purple firefish and cool hermit:

http://www.trapper300.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10001/Purple_Firefish.jpg

http://www.trapper300.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10001/Big_blue_leg_crab.jpg

We are pretty certain we know what species of hermit he is but I've gone and forgotten the name. Anyhoo its a species that feeds on small critters like pods and very small snails so we are pretty safe adding clean up crew and a fish.

Will hopefully have some shrimpy news soon but until then this will have to do :p

[Pinkfish]

Cool nice firefish and hermit.

Hope the Mantis Strike wont last forever.

Mike

[callum_parsons]

very nice i think the hermit is a blue knuckle but i think u might have to get conframation from jame

[Gillybaby]

Right a wee update.

We were starting to fear the worst as it had been two weeks last Friday since we had seen the mantis. There hadn't been a peep out of him and no signs whatsoever. Ian did some research and discovered that a moult shouldn't take any longer than a week and should be quicker for younger shrimp :(

However, last night I was sitting talking to Ian and idly looking over the tank when I noticed a dark patch on the back of the mantis's home rock. I hadn't noticed this before so I moved in for a closer look and ended up eyeballing a cheeky wee mantis shrimp...he's alive and seems well. I only saw him for a few seconds as he backed into a hole in the rock quickly. Ian is convinced I'm making it up.

There is also an update on the naming of the shrimp. It seems to have come down to Mr Elusive or Wee Git. I think Wee Git is winning at the moment as that's what we seem to be calling him the most ;)

Fish and other inhabitants of the tank are doing great, by the way.

[Tetley]

Right a wee update.

We were starting to fear the worst as it had been two weeks last Friday since we had seen the mantis. There hadn't been a peep out of him and no signs whatsoever. Ian did some research and discovered that a moult shouldn't take any longer than a week and should be quicker for younger shrimp :(

However, last night I was sitting talking to Ian and idly looking over the tank when I noticed a dark patch on the back of the mantis's home rock. I hadn't noticed this before so I moved in for a closer look and ended up eyeballing a cheeky wee mantis shrimp...he's alive and seems well. I only saw him for a few seconds as he backed into a hole in the rock quickly. Ian is convinced I'm making it up.

There is also an update on the naming of the shrimp. It seems to have come down to Mr Elusive or Wee Git. I think Wee Git is winning at the moment as that's what we seem to be calling him the most ;)

Fish and other inhabitants of the tank are doing great, by the way.

Good news - wee git seems to suit him ;)

[Gillybaby]

Well Wee Git seems to be fairly happy. He sat looking out of the back entrance to his rock all day yesterday, watching the world go by...well the snails and hermit crabs anyway. Got a surprise when I gave the fish some prime reef flake and the shrimp dashed out and grabbed a big piece. He seemed to enjoy munching it down - never heard of a mantis eating flake before :eek:

He also has a new (temporary) tankmate, my green clown goby. The goby had been missing from my main tank for a few weeks but I found him the other day in the sump. Have decided he's going into my new 24g nano when its set up and have popped him in with the shrimp and firefish until then.

I'm going to try and get a picture of the shrimp tonight...wish me luck ;)

[Tetley]

Well Wee Git seems to be fairly happy. He sat looking out of the back entrance to his rock all day yesterday, watching the world go by...well the snails and hermit crabs anyway. Got a surprise when I gave the fish some prime reef flake and the shrimp dashed out and grabbed a big piece. He seemed to enjoy munching it down - never heard of a mantis eating flake before :eek:

He also has a new (temporary) tankmate, my green clown goby. The goby had been missing from my main tank for a few weeks but I found him the other day in the sump. Have decided he's going into my new 24g nano when its set up and have popped him in with the shrimp and firefish until then.

I'm going to try and get a picture of the shrimp tonight...wish me luck ;)


Look forward to the picture :)

[Macca]

very nice i think the hermit is a blue knuckle but i think u might have to get conframation from jame

Callum you are correct sometimes referred to as a blue knuckle Hermit. It real name is calcinus elegans a indo pacific hermit that is sold to the trade because most shipments of fish and corals come from its native region where true dwarf hermits are not found. Would not put one any where near my reef - All my opinion only

James

[Reefer]

Gilly, wont the mantis try to eat the hermit? or is it too small yet? It could have a go at the fish too couldnt it?

[Zeus]

Gilly, wont the mantis try to eat the hermit? or is it too small yet? It could have a go at the fish too couldnt it?

Hi,

I think that'll depend on the species, if he's a "smasher" ot a "spearer"

Smashers will most likely take Hermits and Snails whereas Spearers may well take fish.

But then there's always the danger of Smashers having a go at the aquarium glass.

http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/sighting/report1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/04/21_shrimp.shtml

Campbell

[Gillybaby]

I know the hermit is not entirely reef safe but as it was for the mantis tank we're not really bothered. As you say James, wouldn't put it anywhere near my reef tanks. Besides, he's pretty :D

The mantis is a very small species (forgot to ask Ian which one again!) which feeds primarily on tiny inverts, ie very small snails/crabs and pods etc. As a rule of thumb, smashers won't take out prey that is larger than their own carapace. We have therefore been very careful not to add any small inverts, all the snails and crabs are bigger than he is!

Whilst it is spearers that eat fish, a smasher can give an invading/aggressive fish a bit of a thump but in general are too timid to do this. Both fish and the mantis seem quite comfortable with each other and the goby will be moved into the other tank in a week or so anyway.

Hope that allays anyone's fears ;)

Didn't get a picture, he's been in hiding in the evenings. Seems to be most active in the middle of the day. Will keep trying.

[Kev]

Wee Git. lol. I like that.

[Gillybaby]

Ok, I know its been a while but I have an update. Wee Git has been getting a bit more active. He's now knocked several escape holes in his rock and seems to have finished with the home improvements for the time being. He spends most of his days with his head hanging out of his smallest doorway watching the world go by and keeping an eye on Ian sitting at his computer. He's been eating flake and over the last week or so we've been tempting him to come out further with small shrimp so as to get a photograph. But he's been having none of it. He's so fast, the best we've got so far is a black blur.

We haven't even managed to get a good look at his meral spots but think they are white, which has changed our ID a bit. We now think he is either a Gonodactylus chiragra, a Neogonodactylus bredini or a Neogonodactylus wennerae.

The possible new ID is further supported by the fact that he took out one of our IO snails yesterday which is a good bit bigger than he is. I was a bit annoyed although I must admit it was fascinating to watch him in action smashing apart the shell. And this gave us an opportunity to photograph him but unfortunately, none of them really turned out too well.

This is the best we managed to get (and I took it :D ). So, without further ado, may I present to you all *cue trumpets*...Wee Git:

http://www.trapper300.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10002/weegit1.jpg

[Tetley]

Hi Gilly,

Good on you for your patience - looks good.:)

[trik]

i like it "wee git" that pic is so clear. fair play to you.

[callum_parsons]

wee git is a great name fair play to your patiences on gettin a photo. glad too see its made itself at home

[Gillybaby]

Now that I've remembered that I started this thread, I think its time for an update.

TBH nothing much has happened. The tank is very stable and Wee Git is always there sitting in his doorway watching Ian and the world go by in general. Seems a lot more relaxed. Hasn't gone for any other critters in the tank but we've been feeding him well on krill and mysis. He also still grabs any flakefood that floats past his hole.

Wee Git does have a new tankmate though in the form of a purple crab that I managed to catch in our 6fter. We've had this crab since we got our first batch of lr for the 4fter but now at least we can see him more. He's dug a hole in the sand right at the front of the tank and is quite comical to watch.

Now for the most important piece of news. Last night I was feeding flake to the firefish when Wee Git flew out of his hole and started chasing the flakefood around the tank alongside the fish :eek: Shocked the life out of me, thought he was after the fish to start with but he didn't interact with it at all, just grabbed the food.

As sods law would have it though, the camera was downstairs and he was so fast that I probably wouldn't have been able to capture him anyway. But...he did come out of his hole and looked very relaxed :D I think this may be the turning point.

And note to self, leave the camera beside Wee Git's tank ;)

[course-its-reefsafe]

Great thread Gilly :)


And what a stunning mantis :cool:


Congratulations on getting a picture, I think I'm a very long way off that :D




Cheers

Chris :)

[Tangman]

Hi Gilly nice pics there of wee git, well done as they are not easy when they are small to take pics of. :D Eric