A strange mantis shrimp question

[ninjafish]

Hello all,

I have had my g. smithii (Ike) for quite a while now, long enough to have fed him numerous frozen krills and well over $100.00 worth of live snails and hermit crabs. However after all of this seafood that's been consumed, I still haven't noticed any waste products. Have any of you observed... you know.... mantis doots?


Here are a couple videos that I have made of Ike incase some of the new people haven't meet him yet.

Feeding video:
http://www.truenorthreef.com/mantis.wmv

New, larger tank:
http://www.truenorthreef.com/newcube.wmv

Cheers,

- Chad

 

[grendl]

What is the light over your cube?

 

[ninjafish]

70w metal halide in 20k

- Chad

 

[grendl]

Did you buy the light as a one piece kit, or did you get the fixture and attach it to that arm?

 

[ninjafish]

The fixture and arm are a holagen desklamp from staples. I took the guts out and wired a halide reflector and lamp holder inside (the e-ballast sits on the side of my desk like a paper weight). The lamp's base was also cannibalized from another desklamp. The reason that I went through all the work is because the tank was in an office setting and keeping with the theme of the whole setup I wanted it to have minimalist styling and not look like a piece of aquarium equipment. Hope this makes sence.

- Chad

 

[ninjafish]

Here's a link to my most current thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=707234&perpage=&pagenumber=1

- Chad

 

[grendl]

It makes perfect sense, & I love the look of it because of its minimalist theme. I will read your thread. How much did you spend on the light & fixture?

 

[ninjafish]

Travis,

The halide retrofit was $150 off of ebay but it came with a 10k bulb so I had to buy a 20k elsewhere. The desklamp was about $30 at staples. And thanks, I hope you enjoy my other thread. This talk of mantis doot just made you uncomfortable didn't it?

- Chad

 

[grendl]

lol, no. I just started learning about mantis shrimp a couple of weeks ago, & it has taken me over!!! I just called & ordered a standard 15 gallon for my desktop at home & will likely order all the hardware for it the following week. It wont be nearly as pretty as yours is, all the hardware will be in the tank, but I wanted to have something nice beside my PC to look at, & I hope this will fit the bill. My only concern is it crashing thru to the floor after its filled.

 

[ninjafish]

Yup, it was in this very forum that I first became aware that such an amazing animal even existed outside of science fiction. Welcome to the club.

- Chad

 

[Gonodactylus]

Most stomatopods deficate by either backing out of their burrow or cavity or coming all the way out and raising their abdomen into the water column and shooting out a stream of feces while fanning with the pleopods. The material is usually fine, particulate and dark brown or black. Since it is shot up into the water column, it disperses rapidly, which must be the reason for the behavior. Some stomatopods such as large fish-eating spearers will also regurgiate non-digestable material such as fish scales. You will often find a pile of scales a few inches from the burrow after they eat a fish.

At least one stomatopod, Haptosquilla glyptocercus, uses fecal material to try to evict a cavity occupant. They will seal the entrance with their heavily armored telson and deficate into the cavity fouling the water. After several minutes, they will remove their telson from the entrance allowing the occupant to escape.

Roy

 

[grendl]

Hrm.... I might try that Roy, next time my kids crawl into my bed...

 

[mickey85]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6785745#post6785745 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gonodactylus

At least one stomatopod, Haptosquilla glyptocercus, uses fecal material to try to evict a cavity occupant. They will seal the entrance with their heavily armored telson and deficate into the cavity fouling the water. After several minutes, they will remove their telson from the entrance allowing the occupant to escape.

Roy

Hrm.... I might try that Roy, next time my kids crawl into my bed...

That is what we call a Dutch Oven...I read that and couldn't stop laughing thinking of a mantis giving a crab the dutch oven! lmao

 

[ninjafish]

Haha, it sounds like the stomatopod's already impressive resume of abilities just got even more awesome.

Seriously though Ron, thanks for the informative answer. This forum wouldn't be half as useful without your contributions.
Regards,

- Chad