My mantis tank.

That's a gorgeous mantis! What kind is he? Where do you get those beautiful zoanthids??
Is that hang on filter the only filtration? What's your waterchange schedule?
 
StephLionfish said:
That's a gorgeous mantis! What kind is he? Where do you get those beautiful zoanthids??
Is that hang on filter the only filtration? What's your waterchange schedule?
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Thank you. He is a gonodactylaceus ternatensis. I got the zoa's from various places. Most at a lfs in northern Illinois. Yes its a HOB filter:sad1: Does its job tho....all my zoas that have been in there a while have been multipling with crappy stock lighting. I do 4-5g watter changes every 3 weeks, give er take a day or two. :thumbsup:
 
Little update....for the first time since ive had this G.T. Hes dug a little burrow and seems as if hes going to go through his second molt for me. He's been secluded for 2 days now. As i type hes on his back, although he does like to hang upside down, he's really not moving all to much so i believe he is just getting ready for a molt. All params check out fine so i assume all is well. Lets hope this goes well.

Dana
 
BigFeesh said:
Nice mantis !!! hope the molting goes well, btw does he ever try to harm you ?
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Thanks! He has twice....while moving LR around. More of just defending his territory but usually when im in there he just goes to his chill spot and waits it out.

Another sign of him molting i just noticed is that he killed 4 hermits last night and just started banging on one of the last two turbo snails i have in there....its like he's on a killing spree.:bum:

Another side note.....the damsel i have in there is really aggressive and was wondering if hes going to mess with the mantis while hes going through the molt? The sixline i had in there during his first molt didnt but this damsel is WAY more aggressive. I dont think he would go against a 5-6inch mantis but u never know.:worried:
 
Dana42078 said:
I dont think he would go against a 5-6inch mantis but u never know.:worried:
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I had a Sgt. Major Damsel that was fearless of my big peacock. I wouldn't doubt the damsel at all. It never messed with it in the burrow but they would face off when the mantis came out. You have a very nice tank and a beautiful mantis. Best of luck.
 
I think it's funny what you're doing with the shells....I tried to do that, but my mantis feels the need to destroy the shells into tiny pieces.... :(
Is the damsel trying to mess with the mantis?
 
ritter6788 said:
I had a Sgt. Major Damsel that was fearless of my big peacock. I wouldn't doubt the damsel at all. It never messed with it in the burrow but they would face off when the mantis came out. You have a very nice tank and a beautiful mantis. Best of luck.
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TYVM. I was just kinda worried because my damsel like yours is FEARLESS..

Reefer-Diver said:
Ive never seen a mantis with that beautiful blue color!
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TY. He is very gorgeous when he comes out to show off.

TundraGuy said:
Zoas and Mantis what a pair. No shortage of color in that tank. I like it.
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=) Thats the only thing i wanted to achieve. Lots of color and a good lookin mantis.:beer:

StephLionfish said:
I think it's funny what you're doing with the shells....I tried to do that, but my mantis feels the need to destroy the shells into tiny pieces.... :(
Is the damsel trying to mess with the mantis?
Click to expand...

Im still making something just collecting shells ATM. It should be durable enuff when im done. SO far so good...i mean the damsel sleeps in the reef, just not on the dungon side. He's been secluded for 3-4 days now....doesnt come out his hole at all, spends alot of time on his back looking up. I know hes still good because when i move fast and wearing white he reacts and stands up like ima feed him. Def a molt in progress. Ive seen him do this before. Lets just hope he makes it as he is full grown.
 
Caught him eating his molt then placing it outside his burrow. So excited. THese last 8 days were hard to bare. I know he wont come out for a little while but its nice to know he pulled through.YAY
 
I hate the molting process I lost my O. Scyllarus to a bad molt. He was in a 60 gallon I went out of town and the person taking care of my tanks did not top off my 60. So now when I see my mantis Squshi all locked up I get nervous.

I got a question for you with all that light your mantis does not have any problems? I remember one of the great Dr. Roy’s writings saying bright lighting seems to contribute to shell rot. Has this been in issue for you? It may have been only certain mantis have this sensitivity.

Love your tank just keep posting pix.
 
TundraGuy said:
I hate the molting process I lost my O. Scyllarus to a bad molt. He was in a 60 gallon I went out of town and the person taking care of my tanks did not top off my 60. So now when I see my mantis Squshi all locked up I get nervous.

I got a question for you with all that light your mantis does not have any problems? I remember one of the great Dr. Roy's writings saying bright lighting seems to contribute to shell rot. Has this been in issue for you? It may have been only certain mantis have this sensitivity.

Love your tank just keep posting pix.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your O.Scyllarus loss. Its goot a be tough losing one of these guys/gals to a molt, but like Dr Roy says its the most common death for them.:headwallblue:

As far as lighting is concerned. I only have a nova extreme 2 bulb fixture, and the LED moonlight bar. Id say a good portion of the light is kinda blocked on the one side as the water spashes up and collects on the sheild. I clean it every month or so. But IMO its not that much light considering G.T's are found in Acros's in the wild. Im sure they can handle more light than other stomatopods. He also has a very nice dark dungon to hang out in. I think theres got to be a way to tell what ones can handle more light. Species found in X amount of water can or cant take more light. I thought i saw some signs but ppl on here said it looked like abrassions....once he comes back out from his molt i'll be sure to get a nice look at those questionable spots.

Thanks for looking and your questions. Ill try and get some new pix up soon.:spin1:
 
Heres what he didnt eat......he really does not like his booty. I seen him today also and he looked fine. Just really "light" in color, im sure he'll darken up once his shell hardens up. The only reason i fished these out is because he was out n about, seemed fine and he clearly threw them out as if they were trash. One was in the front of the tank and one by his backdoor entrance to his burrow.

2dc7776d.jpg


a87c5e70.jpg


a2c89f10.jpg
 
Nope....they dont smell...i kept these this time and they are dry no smell to them at all. Not sure what i want to do but i might start collecting them and preserveing them. I still have my muskie head from when i was a kid (54inches was the fish) i was 10 so i was told what to do and did it....assume you can preserve these somehow...btw we ate him that night fed my whole family, nothing went to waste.
 
O.O
I'd say it's time for that bad boy to get a bigger home to stretch his legs! And...well, you know, if you need to get rid of any frags...during the switch over....you know how to pm me... :D haha jk, jk. Seriously though, that's pretty big...
 
Yea....I know...:( I feel bad...that's why I bought a 45g cube for him. I'm working on it....hopefully before his next molt.
 
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