My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)

[Kharn]

O.scyllarus - The Juggernaut

"Don't you know who I am? I'm The Juggernaut #$%*&!"

Ok, this is a creature that (still) gave me pause for thought upon hearing about it....So when I heard about this animal I thought to myself as I got the tape measure out, 7inchs long...that is one HELL of a O.scyllarus (at max these get to 180mm long) so I initially thought well if it is that big (which I doubt) its got to be completely grown out. Initially when I saw the pics I was stunned but instantly thought its still a picture I haven't SEEN it yet with my own eyes.

The day it arrived I nearly fell over from fear, in the box was a HUGE stomatopod what I could of swore (to this day I do) was if not at least 180mm, but more. Instantly I thought to myself about Kraken and realized I needed to think of something more for this huge beast and so came to be, The Juggernaut.

It is quite large however still a bit shy being the last member to go into STAND B but I hope in time, this large stomatopod turns into a more curious and friendly creature.






The Juggernauts Home


I have this tennis ball sized Trochus that I am really curious to see how it fares against quite possibly one of if not the hardest hitting creature known, make no mistake with a stomatopod this big I really am worried about the tank itself....

More to come as I get the beast on camera like the others except I am hoping due to its size it won't prove to be so difficult to catch with the camera unlike the smaller species.

 

[Kharn]

That is the current residence for STAND B, there is still 1 compartment left open in STAND B for a medium sized smasher/spearer.

I shall provide a few minor details on STAND C as well so stick around!

 

[TundraGuy]

I bet your starting to feel relief from all the building. And getting all the boxes (FX5) out of the house. Water running, mantis smacking, and camera flashing. Brovo bro. Now go to bed its like 10:30 pm your time. It's 8:15 am here lol

 

[Kharn]

L.sulcata - Morgoth

My first Large stomatopod, one that has proven to be both resilient and curious along with interactive for a spearer, Morgoth has been with me for nearly a year now and doesn't show any signs of slowing down, on the contrary now that he has a MUCH deeper sand bed he can get extra deep down into the depths of the sand to relax.



Morgoths Home


Stay tuned as STAND C is a tank I am particularly interested in filming as its the spearers in general that provide the most interest for me (but I love all stomatopods evident of mu much larger smasher collection!)

 

[Kharn]

L.macluata - The Leviathan

"Long Live The King!"

Indeed this is a big bugger and as first imaging it would be through the sheer amount of pictures I have seen of them, to me it is the King of all stomatopods (just because of its size... I am next to positive a large 180mm peacock could pound it into oblivion, but Kings don't usually do the fighting...).

The Leviathan has been with me also near a year now and has, since going into its new home being extremely busy, unfortunately I cannot provide a pic of him rite now but any of you that have followed my threads, should be more then familiar with him, he is large, he takes down fish that are 3-4inchs long and quite possibly the bane of any reef as unlikely as it would be for him to hitchhike into a tank, mostly due to his large size (all stomatopods start small though....).

In general both Morgoth & The Leviathan are more placid then the smashers and prefer the safety of the burrow RARELY do they feel compelled to leave and only if there surging forward to capture prey does it happen at least that I have seen.

Here is an example of how deep not only the sand bed in The Leviathans tank is but how deep he has dug.

16-18inchs



The Leviathans Home The Leviathan to the Right.



Again being a spearer I am very excited to be able to capture these unique stomatopods (in my eyes) on camera in such rare conditions, which should provide not only clear and detailed images/pics but somethings that may not of been seen by some...

 

[Kharn]

I hope you all enjoy the info & pics but don't forget this is not the end only the begging!

That concludes my pictures for now and a small detail on each species I currently have inhabiting....

MY ULTIMATE MULTI MANTIS SYSTEM(S)

 

[TundraGuy]

Hey do me a favor and do a cutout that is close to the size of your spearers and tape it to the front of the tank in the sand then tape up a ruler or some kind of measurement device from top to bottom of the tank. I see the measurements and have pulled out my tape measure to get an idea but I think with any pix you lose size reference. So if you could do this for us all I think it would give us a much better scale of these tanks. You think you can do this for us?

 

[Kharn]

cool setup

Thanks for the interest mate

I bet your starting to feel relief from all the building. And getting all the boxes (FX5) out of the house. Water running, mantis smacking, and camera flashing. Brovo bro. Now go to bed its like 10:30 pm your time. It's 8:15 am here lol

Ahh, its Friday night here so no biggy really can sleep in anywho thanks again for viewing as I knew and was waiting for your comment(s)

 

[TundraGuy]

My bad I was writing that last post while you were writing and posting yours. But I still want a better visual reference of the whole tank.

 

[TundraGuy]

Ahh, its Friday night here so no biggy really can sleep in anywho thanks again for viewing as I knew and was waiting for your comment(s)

as I was waiting for these pix!:celeb1:

 

[Kharn]

as I was waiting for these pix!:celeb1:

Hope this helps....

Its infront of Leviathans compartment, the tanks are twice the size of compartments as there split evenly (even though the top portion of eggcrate seems to lean to a side (may reinforce it with an extra 2 pieces not sure yet).



As I said hope it helps xD...

 

[TundraGuy]

True deep sand bed! Wonder what that’s going to look like in a year. I remember doing deep sand beds in the past and how colorful they get. With life claiming all that real estate. thanks for this pix gives a better visual to the size.

 

[TundraGuy]

how did you rinse all that sand?

 

[Kharn]

how did you rinse all that sand?

All I basically did was basically put 1/3 of the sand in, fill the tank with freshwater to just above the amount of sand in there, utilizing the Output hose as well....a garden hose stuffing it into the sand etc.

Then I kept doing that for the next 2 layers, then I left freshwater in it for a few days and let the filter clean out most of the gunk =) (more so then what I did for my previous tank....nothing! lol).

 

[Kharn]

considering that Leviathan is burrowing rite along the bottom of his compartment (where the last remains of freshwater would of been) tells me that not only is it fine but that he is having a good time and that hole in the pic....is as of the last couple of hours now 4 inchs longer (still kinda same width, top to bottom of window), so he is definitely digging as intended!

 

[TundraGuy]

How cool ant farm for mantis shrimp.

 

[TundraGuy]

PG 12 on a mantis build lol

 

[ccapasso]

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Amazing system and amazing pictures. Thank you so much for sharing. I can't wait to see what else you are able to show.

 

[Kharn]

Today I plan on picking up various Live Food as I believe (specifically the spearers) that the stomatopods deserve something Live as its been a while.....

Picked up a nice sized Hermit crab last weekend that I have been keeping away from The Juggernaut until today as I wanted to capture the whole event on film the hermits quote large being in a Strombus snails shell and its around the size of 2 golfballs side by side, not to mention the Tennis ball sized Trochus to.

But the plan is to 'stock' the old temp tank and turn it into a Live Feeder storage.

 

[lionbacker54]

bravo! thank you for taking the time to post pictures of your truly amazing system. it is better that even the aquarium displays i have seen. by far actually.