My New Ciliata!!!

[rwhhunt]

Hey Guys! I finally recieved my P. ciliata this morning from Sharkysreef, they have been excellent and very patient in finding me two mantids! I believe we recieved this (unnamed) ciliata and a bright neon green G falcutus (i think). When I first introduced it, I was a bit worried as it was very still and barely responsive...UNTIL I offered a small piece of krill that it latched onto and was dragged around the tank trying to remove it from the feeding stick!!

The Ciliata has gone into my coastal tank, where I have added a nice big chunk of porous fiji rock with some nice weedy macro on it, as well as two lyretail mollies! I am hoping they will breed me (and the mantis) some baby mollies for munchies! I am also planning on getting some ghost shrimp for a bit of gut packed live food...
Everyone seems happy, and the mantis has already started excavating under (HER) new rock!
Any good suggestions for a young blondie with sharp blades???

Also, I had a question for Dr Roy, I see that the ciliata will molt to the color of their habitiat, so first off, where is a YELLOW habitat?? and second, how do I KEEP this beautiful yellow?? As the below pics show, there is some greens and sand in the tank, and the yellow is much prettier that tan...green would be nice though....

The best part is, since the ciliata's eat fish and small crustaceons, I can keep Boris's treats in there as well without worrying about them getting whacked...(BTW, Boris just molted and is bigger than ever!!)
You can easily see the difference in dactyl size! (this is about 1.5 years of difference)

 

[Msby12]

that's great! but, Boris' treats wouldn't happen to be clawed crabs would they? cuz i'd be careful for when your ciliata molts if they are, i lost a mantis that way...

on a happy note, that is a great looking tank and ciliata!

 

[ricordia nut]

nice mantis wish i could find one

 

[rwhhunt]

Normally I feed them crayfish, but I do have red clawed crab in there..somewhere.. they crabs always seem to climb the mangrove roots and jump into the filter.... The Ciliata seems to have already secured herself a nice little burrow..so hopefully she will be safe in there, plus it seems that she doesnt take $hit from anyone encroaching her space like my feeding stick! she popps it just like a smasher would!

 

[mickey85]

Hey man, how do you have that filter stuck on the side of the tank with a full hood? Do you have any pics of that setup?

 

[rwhhunt]

well, i rigged it up myself...i really need a bigger filter, but its making due right now... I have a standard 24" hood that came with my 55G tank (two of them) it also fits a 20" tall tank. Since the hood doesnt go all the way across the 20 LONG, it leaves about 6" open on the side with the mangroves which is by the filter. I then bought "eggcrate" which is actually the plastic protecor part of flourescent lights in buildings, bought it at lowes for under $10. then hung a 42 watt Compact flourscent grow bulb for the mangroves for a nutrient export as well as some cool red roots growing throughout the tank!

Initially:

I have raised the water level recently to improve the flow through the filter, but when it is dropped I have an ultrasonic fogger that provides a cool aspect...once i get a new high flow filter I will drop the water level down a couple inches again

NOW:

 

[rwhhunt]

BTW, I use a hacksaw to cut the eggcrate down to size, it suprisngly fit PERFECTLY into that 6" section! When I upgrade the filter, i will just cut out two or more square sections to fit it in there...

 

[Tballa]

thats a sweet setup man! Nothing like I have ever seen!

 

[rwhhunt]

So, Any suggestions on names for this new little gal????

 

[30mini]

How about "Jane" b/c she kind of has that Tarzan theme with the "Vines" from the mangroves, and the "Treehouse" that she can live in!

 

[rwhhunt]

Very clever, but a little plain....I was thinking something a bit more exotic...
Chimala [chee-mah-lah] Beauty. w (Ixil Maya)
Brenneka [breh-neh-kah] Fire, Blazing Sword. w (German)
Priya [pree-yah] "Beloved" (love) (Tibetan).
Jovana [joh-vah-nah] Youthful Woman. (Hindi)
Sudeva [soo-day-vah] "Divine Goodness"= 'Su': "Good"+ 'Deva': "Goddess".
Naiya [nigh-yah] The Dreamer. (Yucateco Maya)
Sunniva [suhn-nee-vah] "Gift from the Sun".
Dewa [day-wah] "Happiness, Bliss". (mw)

 

[Msby12]

Lai Niao Xia (濑尿虾), that's mantis shrimp in Mandarin, btw it literally translates into something we don't usually associate with stomatopods!

 

[rwhhunt]

Well, I bought dozens of ghost shrimp a couple days ago, and began introducing a couple a time after being gut packed wi/ spectrum and cyclopeeze. It was quite entertaining watching her prowl around for these guys....the only problem is that she is so young and small she cant seem to kill them! She will try to decide whether to use the sharp side of her blades or blunt side, it seems that she finds the blunt side more effective.. but usually they will just get flung away with no mortal damage.... so i havent been feeding her, and last night I watched her creep up a a recently deceased ghost and she carefully approached it then after about 4 or 5 minutes snatched it up and scooted back to one of her dens! I had thought the hermits were eating the expired ghosts, but it may be the Ciliata on cleanup duty!

She is only about 1.5", does anyone else have experience with their ciliata taking down ghosts or maybe even small livebearers?? I have three mollies (2 females, 1 male) so hopefully we will be gettin some babies soon!