Islandoftiki Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 A big thank you to Kim and Beth for my newest addition to the family... We're now a two dog, two parrot, two mantis family. He's a 3.5" Male Peacock Mantis. (Edit: Turns out he's actualy a Gonodactylaceus Ternatensis) Cute as a button. He's going to temporarily live in the majano propagation tank until my 25 gallon tank gets here later this month. The majano tank has been modified for mantis habitation and will work well until I have the bigger tank up and running. Here he is in a tupperware container being acclimated to the new tank.
Toby Flenderson Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 Awesome, nice score John. It's got the right owner
pnkrcklives Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 GOTTA LOVE MANTIS SHRIMPS AMAZING CREATURES
Islandoftiki Posted October 7, 2012 Author Posted October 7, 2012 Here's his new home: It has an opaque top to reduce light from the refugium lamp that is growing chaeto. A small amount of indirect light bleeds through, but it should be dim enough that it won't promote shell rot which can happen to deeper water species like the Peacock if lighting is too bright. Filtration is a basic AC70 HOB filter with chemipure elite, purigen and chaeto and a filter pad. The same basic setup as my 10 gallon tank. There is also a 300gph nano powerhead in the tank for circulation on top of what the AC70 provides. I used some black shelf paper to cover the back of the tank and half of the sides: The rockscape is pretty basic with a U-shaped tube buried underneath to provide a ready-made home. If he doesn't like the tube, I've provided a large amount of live rock rubble for home building. I can't wait to get some better pictures that really show his color. It's pretty amazing. Hopefully he'll come out today and be social, but I'm not counting on that too much. It took my little mantis a couple weeks to associate me with food and other good things.
Islandoftiki Posted October 7, 2012 Author Posted October 7, 2012 Someone mentioned that he might be a Gonodactylaceus Ternatensis, which I suspect is actually correct. I'll do a little more research to confirm.
Islandoftiki Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 99% sure he's a Gonodactylaceus Ternatensis now, which is a bonus. That makes him an intertidal species that is much less prone to shell rot, and can handle bright lights. This means I can keep corals in with him! Hmmmm... 25 gallon pest tank?
Derbird Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Very cool new mantis (clap) Also good to hear he is the hardier spiecies. Peacocks are amazing animals. Did I happen to hear something about a pest tank upgrade (naughty)
Islandoftiki Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 Very cool new mantis (clap) Also good to hear he is the hardier spiecies. Peacocks are amazing animals. Did I happen to hear something about a pest tank upgrade (naughty) Yeah, and you can have a lighted tank with a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis. Can you say 25 gallon pest tank?
Mike nickerson Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 very cool i have always wanted one, would a 12g bio-cube be suitable for a mantis shrimp? also you mentioned something about shell rot when to much light is shinning on him?
Emerald525 Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Thanks for the pictures John! I'm glad he went to a good home. I thought he deserved a better home than my sump hidden by macroalgae! He is beautiful!
Islandoftiki Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 Mike, There are some species that stay very small and can be kept in a pico tank, like my littlest guy in the pest tank--he's maybe 1.5" to 2" total length. There are even some really colorful ones that stay small. Some of the Green Mantis (G. Viridis) are bright lime green. And do a search for G. Smithii if you're interested, they can be kept in a 5 gallon and are considered very interactive. Most of the little ones are safe to keep in glass tanks and can handle bright reef lighting. They run the gamut in size from about 1.5" to the big Peacock and some spearers that gets up to 7". I would recommend a smasher type mantis as the spearers require a special deep sandbed. And it's really only the Peacocks that need darker tanks due to a condition called shell rot. They come from deeper water where it's much darker. Mantis shrimp are safe with corals, with maybe one exception. My new one, he will chip live branching corals. I'm not going to keep any colorful fuzzy sticks in with him though. One thing to consider is that it should be a species only tank. Don't put anything in the tank that you don't consider expendable. Clean-up crew, such as snails and hermit crabs are tasty snacks to a smasher. Fish are dinner for a spearer. Sometimes you can keep a fish with a smasher, but they can kill fish, so consider them like the Star Trek guys wearing the red shirts. Here's a list of all of the common ones that you're likely to encounter in the hobby. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/index.html#directory
Islandoftiki Posted October 9, 2012 Author Posted October 9, 2012 Looks like he found a spot he likes. Didn't think he'd fit in that small of a hole.
nelsz3 Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Just wait he'll start doing a little construction in there mine hollowed out a rock in my sump
pnkrcklives Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Just wait he'll start doing a little construction in there mine hollowed out a rock in my sump When I had the mantis you now have I would hear him smashing away and go look at him to see him in his hole smashing out stones to make it bigger. Then he would use the stones to barracade himself in side so he could molt.
Emerald525 Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks for the pictures John. I'm so glad he found a happy home where he can be seen and appreciated. Way better than my sump! I knew he would find the perfect home with you. Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk
Islandoftiki Posted October 25, 2012 Author Posted October 25, 2012 Here's another good look at Chuck Norris the sea monster! I'm super excited tonight because we have a couple friends driving up from San Francisco to visit us, and they're bringing with them a 25 gallon tank with them! I managed to score Micro-Reef.com's original 25 gallon display tank, canopy and stand for an insanely good deal, and I organized transport in the back seat of our friend's car. On top of that, Mike practically gave away a tunze 9002 skimmer and a chiller to boot. This is going to be one amazing mantis tank! You know what they say... Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Stay tuned, I'll be starting the build of the ultimate mantis tank early next month!
Emerald525 Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 That's great! He looks like he is getting a little tamer! Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk
Islandoftiki Posted October 25, 2012 Author Posted October 25, 2012 He sure is. He is a very curious critter. I can tell he is going to be a real charmer once he joins the gang in the parrot room. I'm thinking about making the tank a low light mushroom garden with lots of different mushroom corals. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Garrett Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 He sure is. He is a very curious critter. I can tell he is going to be a real charmer once he joins the gang in the parrot room. I'm thinking about making the tank a low light mushroom garden with lots of different mushroom corals. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2 +1 to that got to have some colors in there to accent that charmer
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