My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)

[Kharn]

Frozen food wise I just buy the snap seal bags from the Supermarkets, so long as there uncooked and aren't marinated in some sauce (aka original/plain flavor) then I will give them ago.

So far what I have had success with is....

Prawns, Fish, mussel, scallop, squid/octopus to name a few.

 

[Kharn]

Well I may of got the email just a few hours ago about my foot valves being sent out but I hardly expected them to arrive a couple hours later (10mins ago)!

So now when I get home tonight from work I get to secure the bulkheads with there new Foot Valves which will act like an overflow preventing things from clogging the bulkhead!

Happy days!

 

[Kharn]

One of my new Bulkhead Foot Valves in place now making me feel a lot more comfortable about the tanks not overflowing due to clogging!



Can start to add snails to the smashers tanks without any fears =)

 

[Kharn]

Here is another clip of Minnie this time bashing up a crab, she really cracked it a few times =D

<iframe width="800" height="600" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qjbygftx6uQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hope you like

but... stay tuned for some more truly amazing vids...I finally got the spearers on vid!!! :celeb3:..inc

 

[Kharn]

As Promised my large spearers taking a live fish each, the Leviathan really nailed the hell outta his :lol:

Morgoth
<iframe width="800" height="600" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UlAd-jN5FS4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Leviathan
<iframe width="800" height="600" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iywU17RYwwQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

hope you enjoyed them as there will be a lot more to come!

 

[Jon E Busch]

Do they eat the whole fish, if not how do you remove the left over from under the sand.

 

[TundraGuy]

So your using the egg crate to trap the fish in with the mantis now?! How diabolical. Mwhahahaha!

Do you do this for video purpose? Or is this how your planning on feeding? I wonder what changes the mantis will make to its home based on how the fish respond to the tank without the use of the egg crate. For instance will mantis move it’s hole more to the center of the tank, or will it create more than one surface shoot, or will it just keep the hole it has and wait till the fish swim by? I know in the past I have had fish that never leave a small area of the tank they are in due to fear of being bullied by other animals. In your tank they have no cover and are always in view of the mantis. So some interesting things may happen. I also don’t see feeding humbugs in issue any longer for you. I know the Doc feeds them a lot, well at least he shows a lot of great shots of them being taken down. Poor angry little fish.

 

[Kharn]

Do they eat the whole fish, if not how do you remove the left over from under the sand.

In there old tank they collectively (both spearers) hunted down and captured over 30fish in the coarse of a few months, during this time I have found, heads, fins etc.

BUT

When I emptied there old tank out (removed all the sand etc) I found 0 fish carcasses, so they are likely consuming the whole fish or storing it in the sand to eat at a later time or, storing it in the sand and the CuC in sandbed cleans up whats left either way......nothing is left.

 

[Kharn]

So your using the egg crate to trap the fish in with the mantis now?! How diabolical. Mwhahahaha!

Do you do this for video purpose? Or is this how your planning on feeding? I wonder what changes the mantis will make to its home based on how the fish respond to the tank without the use of the egg crate. For instance will mantis move it's hole more to the center of the tank, or will it create more than one surface shoot, or will it just keep the hole it has and wait till the fish swim by? I know in the past I have had fish that never leave a small area of the tank they are in due to fear of being bullied by other animals. In your tank they have no cover and are always in view of the mantis. So some interesting things may happen. I also don't see feeding humbugs in issue any longer for you. I know the Doc feeds them a lot, well at least he shows a lot of great shots of them being taken down. Poor angry little fish.

Ok so majority of the time if not all the time my spearers will wait until the opportune moment that a fish swims past them rather the forsake the safety of there burrows. If I plop the fish in the tank and just leave it, it might take hours till it passes by the spearer....so this is a more controlled environment using the eggcrate wall as a form of herding tool.

Problem with the Humbugs is that they can fit through the eggcrate and they know this well by now so just swiftly slip through unharmed and they pick on the rest of the lvie food in the live food tank so they gotta go.

The only time I forsee the large spearers leaving the safety of there burrows is at night when all the lights are off and capturing that on camera would be quite difficult and not as clear for as soon as the lights go on there likely to dart straight back to the burrow.

As far as them adjusting there burrows to there prey, I don't see it happening, there just so patient.

 

[gpx1200]

what if you put the fish on the other side of the eggcrate? would they tunnel under and come up on the other side to get the fish?

 

[Kharn]

what if you put the fish on the other side of the eggcrate? would they tunnel under and come up on the other side to get the fish?

Impossible.

Each of the large spearer tanks were securely divided in halves enabling me to keep another 2 large spearers.

This image represents the spearers tanks and specifically the divider, although it cannot be seen below the substrate it does go from the back to the front preventing any large spearer from passing through its sides and the sand just altogether reinforces it.

Basically the divider is 2 eggcrate sheets zip tied together in an upside down T shape with the flat part acting as a bit of a brace/straightener.


Hope this clears it up a bit.

 

[gpx1200]

but isn't the peice on the other side of the pic just a temporary devider that doesn't go all the way down, i was thinking put the fish on the other side of that devider so it would still be in leviathans compartment to see if he would pop up on the other side to get the food.

 

[Kharn]

but isn't the peice on the other side of the pic just a temporary devider that doesn't go all the way down, i was thinking put the fish on the other side of that devider so it would still be in leviathans compartment to see if he would pop up on the other side to get the food.

The piece of Eggcrate you see to the LEFT of the video that moves, is actually more like a 'herding wall' basically once the fish goes into the tank it could sit there in the same spot for an indefinite time....this wall is used to 'encourage' the fish to give the stomatopod a hug

I really DO NOT see a spearer intentionally digging a tunnel to get to prey on the other side of a 'wall', the spearer would have to be EXTREMELY hungry, in short for all the extreme movement these animals are capable of.....there pritty dang lazy most of the time... :lol:

There masters of energy conservation, since they fatigue as quickly as they can strike, why waste the energy when something else could come by at any moment!

That is my theories anyway

 

[cft916]

mantis and acans. co-sign that sick combo.

 

[TundraGuy]

That’s some good insight. But let me ask you this what if you get one of those small RC submarines and…………

 

[Kharn]

This is just a comedic based stomatopod movie that I put together this evening for a few laughs.

<iframe width="800" height="600" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CT-LZnhH5Wc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

:lol:

 

[TundraGuy]

Dude your too much. lol

I love the video.

 

[Bluemon]

.. i love it

 

[OoNickoC]

Wow!
@ Kharn.
Nice footage there, really like the slow down increments. I've never been into mantis too deeply, but have noticed something from your footage. I'm sure there's entire reports on it but I like how they splay the appendage out on one or both sides and then rake them towards themselves catching the gills of the fish. Pretty impressive considering the time it takes!

 

[Kharn]

Wow!
@ Kharn.
Nice footage there, really like the slow down increments. I've never been into mantis too deeply, but have noticed something from your footage. I'm sure there's entire reports on it but I like how they splay the appendage out on one or both sides and then rake them towards themselves catching the gills of the fish. Pretty impressive considering the time it takes!

Thanks for the comment

Just FYI the comedy was a true first time experience so I just through it in there along with that evil laugh xD.....

Asides that....

The rest is what I am really trying to achieve rite now...but mostly what is holding me back is content....I do not plan on having pics in the videos (well maybe 1 'whole animal shot' with name so they know what there looking at in the motion pictures. But yeh, need more content of the spearers/larger smashers (since the larger stomatopods provide clearer quality, no need to zoom in ultra close), was just eager to get started making them again considering the massive difference from my very first one months ago .

Thanks again for the comments boosts my confidence into making more!!!