My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)

This morning I awoke to another interesting sight, the latest batch of Eggs that Minnie had been horidng for the past couple of weeks hatched =) there are baby stomatopod larva all over STAND B, the Kraken in the tank beneath Minnie (the middle tank of teh stand) seems to have had a lot of the babies flow down into it and he is picking them off at random, makes me sad.

The baby larva react heavily to light, because the lights in the bottom 2 tanks of STAND B are lightless tanks (both housing O.scyllarus) so the only lightin gin STAND B is the top tank...when I flicked the lights on for The Krakens tank too see how many larva babies made it into his tank, they all shot to the surface trying to egt as close to the light as they could, then when the light went off again they would float down and slow down there pace.
 
O man thats cool and sad at the same time. Thoughts on trying to release them back to the big blue in your area? So disheartening that u won't be able to raise them.

For the haters and before i get flamed i am just asking if you could release them in a known area they are found in anyway. And am not suggesting introducing them someplace new.
 
TundraGuy said:
O man thats cool and sad at the same time. Thoughts on trying to release them back to the big blue in your area? So disheartening that u won't be able to raise them.

For the haters and before i get flamed i am just asking if you could release them in a known area they are found in anyway. And am not suggesting introducing them someplace new.
Click to expand...

Yeah I understand ='[

But I also doubt that the larva will survive even if I did that....there extremely fragile I will admitt on a darker side that they make great food for other small inhabitants like corals etc...

Such a shame that such a hardy creature in nearly every aspect of it's life is so damn delicate pre-adulthood, I dare say that if they were as hardy as larva as they are as adults, they would litterally be the perfect creature!
 
It's like Evolution playing a cruel joke....

Evolution: "I am going to make you the worlds most dominant apex predator ever known to exist (weight for weight)....BUT, you got to suffer first in your larval stage....
 
Kharn said:
Yeah I understand ='[

But I also doubt that the larva will survive even if I did that....there extremely fragile I will admitt on a darker side that they make great food for other small inhabitants like corals etc...

Such a shame that such a hardy creature in nearly every aspect of it's life is so damn delicate pre-adulthood, I dare say that if they were as hardy as larva as they are as adults, they would litterally be the perfect creature!
Click to expand...

No way man! If that were the case then your movie previews would not be previews but rather documentaries on why not to mess with the fastest growing population of predators in the world!
 
Been a while since I posted some clips of my stomatopods feeding on live prey but I captured a whole bunch of action this week from various animals :) all films have 1080p HD viewing capability.

Up first is a stomatopod I have yet to capture on film mostly due to her small stature however on this particular evening she was out about and all fired up! I gave her a live shrimp larger then her to 'play' with she methodically picked her shots and eventually the shrimp succumbed and she feasted on prawn like she never has before! This is Nicole, the female G.ternatensis.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GxUglcvW6t4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Next to step up to the plate (and I mean this...) is Rocky on this evening he showed his true raw power, like Tom Berenger says in his 'corny' sniper films "1 shot, 1 kill" Rocky lives up to his name and cracks this shrimp with a punch that would make the hulk himself gasp, note after the punch the shrimp did not move, Rocky simply slid down, collected the dead shrimp, then zipped back into his cavity and feasted all to fast and blurry to be used.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Jj5sVsiwtU8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Moving on to the larger ones (STAND B), its now Minnies (G.graphurus) turn to show her mean side, as always she is very interactive and very aggressive like always I must feed her first before her husband as she tends to get more angry and really crazy when I feed him first, trying to break into his side to get at the food.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vv7NAqDPeG0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Logically this means we all know who is next (at least those who view my thread/films previously) Maximus (G.graphurus) was watching intently from his cavity as his wife pounded the crab into submission, knowing full well that his turn is soon too come, like the crab that went into the chamber of his wife...this one was no different, it came, it went, it met it's maker....whilst Maximus feasted on the fruits of his labor.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OEUml_uXQeU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Up next is the one that resides below both Minnie & Maximus....I speak of The Kraken (O.scyllarus)! He exhibited the dominance of his domain by not only taking out a good sized prawn (bigger then himself) but by also smashing up crab later on.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ULTR-anhN3I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vqiz4KstEfM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Finally a small film that I have been wanting to make just a short clip of me playing with Maximus, what I like to do is bob my head back and forth sometimes going far enough to tough the tip of my nose on the front of the glass riteeee in front of him, this causes him to react aggressively sometimes he strikes the glass sometimes not one thing is for sure though, he don't take no crap from nobody :D
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZM6WOM8sHVU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Stay tuned for more :D as I got a few clips of the giants (Juggy, Morgoth & Leviathan) all taking down there own prey, The Juggernaut is always tough to film, he is aggressive but due to the size of the tank and things moving left to right etc. its difficult to be able to 'leave the camera' so I usually need to sit there for as long as I can to catch it all, sometimes I walk away and when I hear the smashing I quickly grab my camera and go to the tank to catch what I can, it's all a patience thing with the larger ones as they tend to take more time in attacking.
 
This weekend I made it a point to get another frame completed for STAND A and not only did I have success but, this one is 10 times nicer and more crisp then the last, there is...no flaws o_O the only thing I see is the half way joint that I am leaving due to ease of placement and removal beyond that everything is covered!

Bit upset that I could no longer find the matching substrate to the tanks however to counter this I plan on adding a thin layer to each compartment using a frame to help things blend in more.

It started off looking like this...note that the tile its on in the pic is the foot print of the compartment it is going in, 300mmx300mm, plenty of room at the 'front' for something on the substrate that will still get light, it may look like it's overhanging the tile but that is just the angle of the picture.



Then I took it apart and started to glue the substrate onto it the accuracy and overall clean look of this new substrate and glue was instantly recognizable in comparison to the one I currently have in Rockys compartment..I knew this was going to come out good!


Here it is assembled again after a single coat, as you can see the holes in the plateaus along with all the joint connections are still visible, there are many flaws that need fixing...



Now after a couple more coats, I decided to fix permanently the lower and upper joints to each other thus creating 2 large frames which attach at the bottom middle, this helps to hide all the joining areas and for the 1 that is left, a nice Rock will hide it in the tank, I also went about adding some glue and touching up the entrance/exit holes with substrate to help hide more of the inside of the PVC and the rims, I also added fly mesh sheets to the plateaus to cover the holes and thus paint them down with glue and substrate to hide the fly mesh.



Finally the end result after touching up some areas more (plateaus and entrance/exit holes) along with adding more glue deeper into each entrance/exit hole with substrate to help hide the PVC one might see looking into the hole (albeit camera or person), all in all I am very happy with this new Frame and eventually Rocky will get a new one just like it, I'm going to work down STAND A so this one will likely go to Eve the G.smithii first, then Adam, etc.



More to come as I put this in the Live Food tank to tomorrow to 'cure' for a few days, then I'll give it to Eve to inhabit.
 
So now that the frame is completed I went about putting it into the Live Food tank last night to sort of let it 'cure' for a little bit and let loose bits come free/look for flaws, I generally think along the lines that when I put it into the live food tank in the evening and wake up in the morning there should be 1 of 2 things (good or bad), note there is nothing in the live food tank except sand.

Firstly and the good thing, if I wake up to find the live food inhabiting the PVC system (crabs/shrimp/fish) then I know it's good and has worked :D, secondly if it fails, I'll find a massacre (something I haven't experienced yet, mostly due to a glue/chemical I used to make it causing the deaths).

This morning I awoke to a good sign :) crabs already inhabiting the PVC.



More to come as I place it in STAND A for permanent residency.
 
This evening I started to pull apart a couple of the frames I made in the last pic, in order to make a design for the frames that will go into the Top Tank of STAND B, the Top Tank of STAND B is the only tank in STAND B that will, have coral/has lights and its the only tank in STAND B that is split in half via a permanent divider set in place during the tanks build. STAND B tanks are a foot longer then the tanks of STAND A and even though this tank is split in half (like those of STAND A) it's halves are still 1/2 a foot longer (450mm) so the overall size of the frame for this tanks halves will be larger to suit.

Here is what I have come up with so far, it's just under 450mm long so should fit perfectly, there are also loads of places for potential plateaus along with HEAPS of space in front of the whole frame (as you can see by the top down view, it's quite slim, running along the back and sides of the tank but leaving the front and center of the tank free :D




More to come :D
 
Here it is, the end result :D (minus the coral to come and the age look that will only make things look better in time :D) I am really happy with it!



This frame went into the top tank of STAND A, inside it's left half, which houses Eve the female G.smithii, prior to placing the frame in the tank I removed Eve along with all the Live Rock (placing the Live Rock in the bottom tanks left compartment, sort of a storage tank for live rock during all this) then when I went to put Eve back into her compartment, she instantly dove into the Frames tunnels and I have only seen her peaking out at random since, rite now the pipes are quite large for her small size however this is designed to be grown into not something I want to keep changing / disrupting as with age, it's effects become better.

More to come as I catch her on camera testing her new home :)
 
Here is a quick update, Eve has certainly taken a liking to her new home and I have seen her briefly already at every entrance/exit, she has yet to even leave the pipes :D all a good sign in my eyes of success :D!



Here is a shot of Rocky it would seem that he may of been thinking that he was getting an upgrade to his home as he watched a lot of the assembly process and I used his tank to measure lengths to make sure the frames fit, he looks a bit upset :D you can see the clear difference in quality of finishes between his DIY PVC frame & her frame...speaks for itself, nonetheless he will get his upgrade soon enough.



More to come :D
 
Last pic for now lol....

Finally I think she has truly warmed up to this new home, she has just completely changed her attitude, in the first 2 pics she is curious/scared/confused still adjusting to her new home but all of a sudden she is now threatening me at every turn, defending her new home as if it were to good to loose :D it's like this was her dream home and every time I come near it now she thinks I am going to take it or something so gets very defensive and threatening as if to say 'Back off! Mine!" :D



More to come :D
 
This stuff reminds me of my cats climbing post. She loves that thing. I think this is a great way to house these little guys good stuff Kharn, I like the new stuff a lot. Good looking stuff you got going on. Now with switching all the tanks over to these PVC live rock, where is all the real live rock going to end up? It feels like you’re getting closer and closer to building a sump. I think it will be cool to have all the real live rock down in a sump out of sight with the exception of the smaller pieces with corals on them in the tanks. But that’s just what it feels like your headed towards.

I just enjoy coming to this big thread of yours.
 
re: Kharn

re: Kharn

That looks really nice, what kind of glue did you use to attach all of the coral substrate? How big is that tank? The reef will look awesome once it's fully grown.
 
nmotz said:
That looks really nice, what kind of glue did you use to attach all of the coral substrate? How big is that tank? The reef will look awesome once it's fully grown.
Click to expand...

Just your typical PVC glue at all hardware stores :D cheap, nasty but safe and easy to work with :D

1 cubic foot per compartment.
 
Heres a couple pics of each of my latest crew members in there homes :)

First up is the what I suspect to be Lysiosquilla tredecimdentata so far he has settled in quite well and is looking about his quarters.


It might look plain...but it's not the compartments looks that makes it attractive, its the inhabitant within it :D


Here are the other 4 spearers that I got today, now residing in the Live Food tank, its quite large being bigger and holding more water then any tank of the other stands (this tank is 900mmLx500mmHx500mmW) so I just hope for the mean time there is plenty of room for them, I also added a lot more sand to the tank however I will likely double up on it, you can also see the PVC pipes sticking out of the sand that I hope they inhabit, however something tells me that this is a mud specific species...



More to come as I am off to bed now, I hope all the spearers settle in well by morning :) (although I am confident that the Morgoth look a like will be fine its the other 4 I am worried about).
 
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