Misfit Maculata

[Gangsta Nemo]

Hello..I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about feeding habits or the growth rate of lysio.Maculata. I have a 3" mac in a 15 g high with a sand bed depth of 4". I have 15 lbs of LR and lots of macro. He's been eating a chromis a day for a week and a half which I dont mind b/c I work at a lfs. But... lately he's been killing for fun at an irregular rate. Two chromis a day and he doesn't eat them. I gut load the chromis with mysid shrimp soaked in selcon and vitachem. He is very active and interactive so it does'nt seem to be preparing for a molt. He does reconstruct a new burrow in the sand bed every few days or so.
He will not eat Krill, clam or crab just fish. He doesnt bother the snails or the hermits. I know small Mac's grow rapidly but how rapidly? And by how much? I have a G. Viridis and a O. Scyllarus also but have never been picky eaters. I know the spearers are more finicky but why the rogue killings? Any Ideas?...

 

[DanInSD]

First off, I'd increase the sand depth to at least 6". According to Dr. Roy, L. maculata grows "slowly".

He should eat live shrimp as well.

Feeding daily seems a lot -- I would reduce feeding frequency for a mantis of this size.

Dan

 

[justinl]

yeah only feed once every 2-3 days and only a single chromis per feeding. odd that it wont tak frozen. have you tried frozen silversides?

i would also increase the depth of that sand bed.

edit: hey how bout some pics?

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Thanks for the quick response guys..
I just added an extra ten lbs of live sand to his tank making it a nice 6 and a half inches. Hope that keeps him happy a while .
I add the chromis at the begining of the week about six or so as that I dont have a holding tank for them. Until now he has been eating one a day from the small school. I guess he's just getting spoiled. I'll let him massacre the rest then try introducing one every few days or so. As for pics I'll send some of the whole family as soon as my camera battery finishes charging. So a lil later tonight. Thanks

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Oh yeah..one more thing I've tried silversides, squid ,krill, clam, mysis, crab, snail and ghost shrimp . He is picky... only live fish

 

[DanInSD]

If you let him get a little hungry, I am quite certain that he will learn to take whole silversides from a feeding stick.

Dan

 

[Ms. K]

I agree with Dan. He's probably not hungry enough to care about the frozen foods. If you let him go for a few days without, I bet he'll take frozen.

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

I'm lovin the quick response here on RC.
I'ts nice to have a stomatopod community.
I'll let him get his jollies out with the chromi's and then let him get a lil hungry. Then try again with the frozen..
I've got some great pics but I've tried everything to scale em down with no luck got a Panasonic Lumix HELP!!!! :mad2:

 

[DanInSD]

Got photoshop? Sort of like milk, but it's photoshop

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Sorry bout the delay.. Heres the pics as promised. Guess who ate some Krill for the first time today?

Same Peacock, but different color after molt.

Peacock tank^^

Peeping Mac

Maculata tank^^

Feeding Viridis

Viridis tank^^

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Sorry the viridis tank pic was in the dryer a lil too long .

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

I misidentified the last Mantis as a Viridis but upon furter examination it has a purple meral spot highlighted by a white ring and small black spots on the exterior. N. Oerstedii I believe {female}. Great active mantis!

 

[Gonodactylus]

L. maculata grow fairly quickly as juveniles which is what yours is. It should molt every 1-2 months. Don't worry about over-feeding as long as you can remove the uneaten fish. If you want to get it to eat frozen fish, lay off the food until it takes some offered on a feeding stick. You can train them fairly quickly to take dead prey. And don't worry about the rate of feeding and growth being too fast. This animal will live at least 20-25 years.

Roy

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Thank you Dr.Roy very much appreciated! I guess my Mac and me will be roomies for a very long time to come. He seems to like the aragonite any need to swicth or mix in oolite?

 

[Pea-brain]

I would immagine that the aragonite would wear away at the animal and be hard to burrow in. But thats just a guess....

Dan

 

[Gonodactylus]

I have not done any controlled experiments, but I too would worry about sharp gravel. L. maculata have very thin cuticle that is easily damaged. I would suggest slowly adding fine sand pouring a bit down the burrow every day or so. The animal will gradually mix this with mucus and line the burrow with it.

Roy

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

Will do .Don't want him to get a little beat bc of bad substrate.
Here are some more pics of the family at feeding time. Enjoy ...

N. Oerstedii^^

Sorry, Maculata is in molt. Will post pics soon.
Thanks to Mr. Stomato for great pics.

 

[Alesia]

Nice pictures! You're the first I've seen to have a female N. oerstedii that actually looks like mine (they're so variable, all the others I've seen have had a lot of mottled stripes). It's so cool to see someone else with one -- they're great mantises, aren't they?

 

[Gonodactylus]

You are right. N. oerstedii is one of the more variable stomatopods when it comes to color. Perhaps the most unusual morph is a female that is pure emerald green with just three or four tiny black spots - but the spots are still there.

Roy

 

[Gangsta Nemo]

One of the more enjoyed stomatopods I've owned. She is very active and loves to peer from her tank into my world. Thanks!