llj's Neogonodactylus wennerae setups

[lljdma06]

Setup #1 - Aqueon Evolve 2

So... I thought this one was dead.

I got him/her from a LFS. The owner was freaked out about it, so I took it home for free. I initially put it in my 8g biocube. I hadn't seen it for weeks, so I thought it had died. Turns out, it had only molted, and two days ago I found it happily eating pellets with the giant hermit crabs (Electric blue hermits) that it was sharing a home with. Seeing as I had thought this mantis was dead, I had planned to move my large female wennerae to the Biocube. This is still a go, and I know you can't keep two in one tank, so... I set up a small tank for him. It's about an inch and a quarter now, so this'll make a great temporary home until I upgrade.

In the cup, it already cracked it. The wennerae are way more aggressive than the curacaoensis, but also less trusting of me. My curacaoensis is sweeter, if you can call a mantis shrimp sweet.

The tank is an Evolve 2. Run with nothing really, just LR, caulerpa and stock filtration. He's the only planned stocking, barring pest anemones, and his occasional live dinner entree.

It's a nice little tank, cheaper than the glass Fluval Spec. Down the road, most of my Caribbean mantis shrimp will go in Spec 5s. I thought I did a pretty good job on the rock work. All of it is cured stuff I had circulating in a bucket from old tanks and the sand is from the Biocube.

Here he is. He started digging and roaming about right away. I think he approves. You can definitely make out the white meral spots.

I'm pleased. Hopefully, both of my wennerae will be more interactive now that they'll be in homes that don't consist of dense mats of chaeto and caulerpa. Half the time, I couldn't even see them, which made feeding/interaction very hard. I think I've created in the setups natural-looking environments that the mantis shrimp will appreciate, but at the same time aesthetically pleasing and easier for viewing.

Thanks for looking, stay tuned for the second setup. That'll be planted today.

L

 

[lljdma06]

Tank is doing well. I'll purchase some snails today to clean things up a bit. I don't really think he'll touch a decent sized snail. He's too small.

The big female I have may tackle them, I'll probably move her into her Biocube tonight.

 

[nmotz]

Regarding snails....from what I've read and seen with my own mantids, it's a huge uncertainty whether or not they will ever attack snails, especially large ones. I have a 5" Peacock and he won't touch even small turbo snails with very tough shells. Only small snails with fairly weak shells are in real danger of him.

I had a 4.5" G. Chiragra who was the same way. Small trochus snails (diameter of a US dime) would be smashed easily, but anything larger than that was safe. This included larger hermit crabs too.

My Peacock will try to attack larger hermits, but he has only had some success and again it depends on what kind of shell they are in. I have a crab in the tank right now with him that he usually just buries alive and thumps every now and then. He doesn't seem to be able to break it open because it is in a large turbo snail shell (diameter=quarter). The only snails my Peacock has managed to crack are the small Cowrie snails (pretty light brown designs on shell).

So, even though I wouldn't say snails are 100% safe, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up one or two very large turbo snails to clean up algae in any mantis tank. I also wouldn't recommend buying snails as live food just because you'll never know if your mantis will actually have a go at them. It's a shame too because it is fun to watch them bash snails.

 

[Fartin'Gary]

Very cool little tank!

 

[StephLionfish]

Sweet little tank, love the look :thumbsup:

 

[lljdma06]

Sweet little tank, love the look :thumbsup:

Thanks. It got some algae in the past few weeks, but it's nothing that a pair of small trochus couldn't handle. The mantis doesn't touch them. He is also visibly bigger and greener. Somebody molted...

When I'm hired as a full time professor, this mantis will be joining me in my office.

L

 

[lljdma06]

This mantis was moved to my fiance's two days ago. He's doing well. The other mantis, which is now in my Biocube is at a LFS awaiting a friend to come pick up the tank.

L