Ms. Peacock

Today I picked up a 20 lb bag of live sand. I went with the Nature's Ocean over the CaribSea mainly because this is a little bit finer, less detritus will get trapped. Best by Sept. 15, 2015... I better get crackin'!

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The silicone is all set up and you can't even see the acrylic protective panel on the bottom of the tank.

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I'm working on the stand tonight. I just finished trimming the edges of the 3/4" plywood top. A little wood filler here and there, a good sanding and I'm planning to paint it with some oil-based black paint which should have good water resistance.

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Then I'm planning to finish the lower part of the stand by the end of the weekend. I think I'm going to re-do part of it because I'm not 100% happy with how it looks now.

I'm also planning to wet test the tank with plain tap water to make sure there are no leaks, the main pump is working and there are no problems. Then I'll drain it and fill it with salt water, add the sand and prepare for the move to the new tank. Maybe next week. I don't want to rush anything though. I'm strongly considering lighting the tank and having corals in there. Water quality will be paramount, obviously.
 
For some reason, Betty loves the Velcro cable organizers that I use to keep all of the tank wiring neat and tidy... She always comes out to inspect them, so I keep a couple of spare ones around to show her from time to time.

 
Tried something new tonight. I got brave and put my underwater camera in her tank. She wasn't too pleased with it and takes a shot at it at 1:22. There was no visible damage though.

This was my first time using the underwater camera in an aquarium. Next time I'll have to adjust the white balance, improve the lighting and get the frame centered a little better so she's better focused.

 
Calappidae said:
Wow, you really get a good close up of their mouth parts. Amazing footage :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I was a little disappointed with the overall color, and I think the problem was that I turned on the underwater color correction which filters out a lot of the blue... this works well in the ocean, but not so much in this tank. I think it would work under reef lighting.

Next time, I'll attach it to a stick, too, so I can move it around if needed.

It was pretty darn cool when the camera actually focused in on her properly. Lots of close-up detail.

I'll try this with Chuck, too, but I suspect he'll be pretty aggressive toward the camera.
 
I've been playing with the underwater camera a little this morning and getting a feel for what it's limitations are. I attached it to the feeding claw with a rubber band so I can move it around. Betty is largely uninterested in the camera at the moment an obviously wants a break from it, so I'll try again later in the evening when she's most interactive. I think my best bet is to set up the camera focusing on some new and interesting object and I should be able to get some really good detail shots of her. When the camera focuses properly, the detail is spectacular.
 
Good stuff. I have a gopro and have been wanting to do the same but fear of my wife keeps it far from my mantis tank. Lol
 
So, my old friend Bill, who I haven't seen in forever, came over yesterday to look at my stand and see if we could salvage it. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with his cabinet building skills. He does this for a living, so I shouldn't be surprised.

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It came out perfect! Yay!

Now I just have to prime it and paint it.
 
I did a little practicing with the underwater camera yesterday. Here's a compilation of video I took. I'm just starting to get a feel for how to get good results.

 
First coat of paint went onto the stand today. Several more coats to go with some sanding in between.

Also, I'm working on Betty's new den. This is the first step in disguising it as not a piece of electrical conduit. Epoxy and dry substrate coated. More to come. This is just the first step.

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