My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)

These guys look like mud dwellers to me. Are you going to try supper fine aragonite? It may do the trick.


Sorry reread your post and then saw you said that about the mud thing.
 
Still yet to decide what I am going to do with the 4 same species spearers, last night was a little creepy as I put them into the Live Food tank, some went belly up and went all stiff but come the morning all were rite side up some had moved about.

All 5 were captured at 60fathoms.

The Morgoth Look a like hasn't started his burrow and I am wondering if he is capable of creating one (I recall Dr. Caldwell stating that if some spearers are kept without sand to burrow in for a long period then they will actually loose the ability to make burrows in sand). So I put some PVC in his compartment before I left for work today.

Time will tell how the 4 same species spearers do in there current tank as I said previously, the seller has had these for months all in the same tank (if you look at my I.D. thread for them the very first picture is from him and you can see the substrate that they had along with there being 2 in the pic (back to back).
 
Bit of an update.

The 4 same species spearers which I have yet to I.D. but am certain they belong to the 'Squillid' family are all residing within the same tank and have done so for nearly a week with nothing much really happening, no digging/burrowing has happened, no predation either (there is 1 small fish in the tank), they are still turning their noses up to food I offer them, same goes for the other lone L.colemani (assumption) that I got except it seems to not be doing as well, considering the 'infection' I noticed it has, the other 4 look clean nothing rotting etc. all that I can think of for now is too just darken the compartment of this L.colemani, there are 4 other stomatopods within the stand that are thriving, 2 G.graphurus & 2 O.scyllarus.

Either way I thought it had been a while since I uploaded some pics of a few of the crew members :)

Maximus - G.graphurus


Minnie - G.graphurus


Shockwave - G.falcatus - Not the best shot considering the glass isn't clean but he is by far my most shy stomatopod so this I actually consider a good shot :), he swiftly disappeared after the flash went off...


The Kraken - O.scyllarus


The Juggernaut - O.scyllarus


Morgoth - L.sulcata


More to come as I have new footage of both Morgoth & The Leviathan taking down live prey.
 
What are you doing in regards to the “infection” you see? This mantis is in Stand C correct? Are you going to run a UV like the good Doc? Or is this a trial and error thing?
 
TundraGuy said:
What are you doing in regards to the "œinfection" you see? This mantis is in Stand C correct? Are you going to run a UV like the good Doc? Or is this a trial and error thing?
Click to expand...

Actually this L.colemani is in STAND B top tank howeevr al lI am doing rite now is keeping the compartment it is in as dark as possible along with running carbon in it's compartment.

So far it doesn't seem to be getting worse so it is more trial and error.
 
A few pics for this evening :D detailing 1 of the 4 'squillids' I have recently obtained, for those curious these are spearers and the pictures should show this, they are small spearers only being around 4inchs to 5inchs long tops they may get bigger I'm not sure (due to lack of true I.D.).

There a comical bunch and seem to prefer each others company rather then stay separated, sometimes I find a few telsons (tails) / eyes poking out of the PVC I provided but most of the time I find them huddle together or paired together (2 at one end 2 at another), for spearers they seem to enjoy swimming around more often then normal, one will usually break off from the pair / pack swim around, then land back on the pack / member it left.

Here are a few interesting pictures that I captured this evening of one that was curious enough to let me get a close up :) , they look quite different to your 'average/common' stomatopod.

Note the tiny eyes in comparison to my other spearers...




More to come :D
 
Videos :D here are a few videos I made over the past couple of days with my spearers.

1080p HD capability

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w47mCnr4bhk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BPU0rHCLOu4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J1md0T95wJ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Rf2Ge1tU14Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

More to come as I intend to get some larger smasher footage up next :)
 
About your 4 x "squillids" i think you need to get mud for them. The sand might scratch they're undersides. They look similar to the C. dubia that i had. Are the often fiddling with their undersides? or rolling in to a 'C' or ball?
 
MantisO_o said:
About your 4 x "squillids" i think you need to get mud for them. The sand might scratch they're undersides. They look similar to the C. dubia that i had. Are the often fiddling with their undersides? or rolling in to a 'C' or ball?
Click to expand...

I do not know what they are but am nailing it down, the fact that they have 3 distinct square/rectangle patches of orange/light brown going down there abdomen stands out, but there are a few species in a single family with this and they are Squillids.

As for the substrate thing, I'm going to agree about the mud, however they have NOT shown signs of 'underside scratching' or 'defensive curl posture' no. They sit there either beside one another or grouped together and sometimes they fan out sand from under them like a normal spearer about to burrow, they are however inhabiting the PVC tubes that I inserted for them.

Another thing, the previous owner had them for 'months' not just all in 1 tank but the substrate looked like the pebbles you use for goldfish etc, like a good 1-2cm long each pebble. Depending on how long they were in there could depend on whether or not ANY of the 5 (including the L.colemani/loner) might not be able to dig, period. I remember (or will never forget) that Dr. Caldwell told me if a burrowing stomatopod is kept without the ability to burrow (proper substrate) they will 'drop' the ability to create burrows and NEVER get it back!

So think about that al you who want to keep large spearers in tanks without sand for long periods...at worst it may never be able to dig again ='[ ...

They developed bruce lee's famous quote LONG before bruce lee was even about xD! "Use what is useful, discard what is useless" if the animal is kept without sand it will discard the ability to build with it seeing it as a now 'useless' tool. (that's an assumption, I can't say why they do this BUT they do).

I cannot say how long this "period of time without substrate" is but I can say it has to be "long" if I recall rite (and don't hold this too me) but I think it was like if the animal molts without the substrate, during the molt it discards the ability to build with saliva, don't hold me to it but it's something like that.

Just keep it in mind (anyone reading) if you want to inevitably put your "spearer" into a DSB tank but don't have one ready and intend to keep it without substrate in say PVC (as they still thrive in PVC) remember...too long and it won't be able to dig, ever again.
 
TundraGuy said:
Hey are the new guys taking food yet?
Click to expand...

No...

There is food in the Live Food tank that the 4 squillids should be able to pick off if they wanted (tiny crabs and tiny fish)...however the L.colemani (yeah it's not a L.tredecimdentata, got to change sig) is also not eating, however the 'rotting' that was happening seems to of stopped, I am keeping his compartment dark with a piece of styrofoam sheet cut to size (the other half of the tank still needs light for Minnie & Maximus).

The L.colemani is not eating however it does react to me more then my other spearers, it notices I am there and goes into a bit of a 'coward' mode, backing away till it gets to a corner. Having said this, it has shown interest in live food it just has not gone for it yet...I know what interest looks like by now and I am thinking it MIGHT have something to do with the fact that he is missing a whole Antenna (the right side) having fallen/chewed off because of it being 'dead' (flapping around lifeless when it was attached). I think the missing antenna may be playing a bit of havoc on his judgement.

I offered him dead food (prawn flesh) he did take it, (off the rod) then swiftly threw it away into the water column, I left the meat in there for a bit in hopes he would come back to it but nothing yet.

All in all I don't see NO stomatopod starving itself to death when there not hungry there not hungry...Nemo himself could befriend the largest spearer (trust me it's frustrating when your filming....hours and hours of mantis cuddling fish -_-, then BAM! mwahahahah!). So in time we shall see how this L.colemani pulls through, he is still filled with life, reacting to me more then any spearer I have, even if he is a coward xD but the cavity/burrow (in my eyes) is what actually gives the stomatopod that courage (knowing it has a fall back should sh*t hit the fan), I tried to give it a PVC home but for over a week he refused to use it so I took it out and put a large chunk of Live Rock in hoping he will maybe dig under it or something, no digging yet.
 
LeLutinBanni said:
Your shrimps are awesome...I enjoyed the videos.
Click to expand...

I enjoy them too =) I do have a few personal favorites (movies) but as far as these videos go (documentaries) well, the more I get the more movies I can make :) it's all new footage at the end of the day!
 
MantisO_o said:
About your 4 x "squillids" i think you need to get mud for them. The sand might scratch they're undersides. They look similar to the C. dubia that i had. Are the often fiddling with their undersides? or rolling in to a 'C' or ball?
Click to expand...

I want to do mud =D but am to paranoid (as I am with all new areas, surely you remember the 1001 questions I asked you when I got my first spearer :P I laugh now...and face palm).

But yeah I would be more comfortable "buying" it rather then collecting it locally BUT buying it is going to be twice as much as the aragonite sand for STAND C and the only thing that comes to mind...is that Miracle Mud stuff, paranoia is a b*tch...

I'm not worried about collecting mud locally...it's on my door step, I'm worried about what is in it, how to clean it, how to be sure it's clean, paranoia!!! LOL makes you wonder how I even got the stands completed (having said that once I have done something once and seen success, that's it, no paranoia with 'that', like the whole very DSB toxicity etc).

EDIT: Most of the species I have read about (not the ones on Roy's list) don't actually need mud *only* it's listed as "muddy sand" so I again 'assume'...perhaps 50 aragonite / 50 'mud' not sure...assumptions mixed with paranoia xD lol never a good thing ...
 
Dude I get yea on the paranoid thing. But knock it off man I am on the edge of my seat to see your mud bed stand once you build it respectively. But with your feeder hunts and ocean walks have you not found an area teeming with life on a mud flat? Go mantis hunting in one of these areas and once located then excavate some mud and start playing with it in a tank. Don’t try to clean the mud as you remember the Doc posted about the biological crud in the mud is part of what the mantis uses to create the tunnels (not a direct quote just my take on it). If you’re worried about toxic organics or inorganic substances from the mud get an ozone reactor to oxidize these substances in the water. Possible toxins then add a load of carbon to the filtration. I personally would love to see you do this. Doctor Roy is still the foremost expert and receives my full respect yet you’re showing with your post, pix, and video documentaries loads of people about the successful keeping of mantis shrimp. I don’t foresee loads of people keeping mud bed set ups for mantis but hey you never know till a guy with camera gives it a shot (looking at you Kharn).
 
Some advice, if you want to keep the water clear make sure the flow in to and out of the section is fast but not too fast. It will keep the smaller particles (, mud) down but too fast would take it out.

Kharn said:
I want to do mud =D but am to paranoid (as I am with all new areas, surely you remember the 1001 questions I asked you when I got my first spearer :P I laugh now...and face palm).

But yeah I would be more comfortable "buying" it rather then collecting it locally BUT buying it is going to be twice as much as the aragonite sand for STAND C and the only thing that comes to mind...is that Miracle Mud stuff, paranoia is a b*tch...

I'm not worried about collecting mud locally...it's on my door step, I'm worried about what is in it, how to clean it, how to be sure it's clean, paranoia!!! LOL makes you wonder how I even got the stands completed (having said that once I have done something once and seen success, that's it, no paranoia with 'that', like the whole very DSB toxicity etc).

EDIT: Most of the species I have read about (not the ones on Roy's list) don't actually need mud *only* it's listed as "muddy sand" so I again 'assume'...perhaps 50 aragonite / 50 'mud' not sure...assumptions mixed with paranoia xD lol never a good thing ...
Click to expand...
 
MantisO_o said:
Some advice, if you want to keep the water clear make sure the flow in to and out of the section is fast but not too fast. It will keep the smaller particles (, mud) down but too fast would take it out.
Click to expand...

Thats the least of my worries with mud xD its just the outside contaminents that would be in it if I collected locally ....
 
Today is a sad day in the Ultimate Multi Mantis system....a crew member has been lost and is making it's way down to see old hob in the locker ='[....

There is one "upside" (if you can call a death that) to this...

Usually when I get home from work and open the door to where my systems are, I am greeted by most of the animals, either by them hitting things rapidly or by just coming out of there cavities and approaching the front of there compartment.

Something was odd today, the air was thick with tension....

I looked into STAND A and so no signs of anything wrong...so I moved to STAND B and again nothing was wrong, even the L.colemani seems to be settling more rather then act so cowardly around me...then I got to STAND C my large spearer stand holding both Morgoth & The Leviathan.....nothing wrong in that stand....

Then upon looking into the Live Food tank I witnessed my first stomatopod passing ='[ 1 of the 4 'Squillids' has succumbed to something, there is NOTHING in the Live Food tank that can predate them or even harm them (no crabs etc. just tiny fish). I'm not 110% certain that it is dead but it doesn't react to me and the feint signs of movement might just be flow.

The other 3 seem totally fine, no signs of wear and tear (this dead one looks tattered and unhealthy).

Although this death hasn't affected me as much as it would the others that I have named etc. it has hit me hard as this is the first stomatopod I have kept that has died in my care ='[ I do NOT know why this has happened, nor do I suspect foul play from the other 3 'Squillids' although it's totally possible it was.

sad :sad1: but like I said, because I have not grown attached to these new inhabitants yet, the loss wouldn't be 1/10th as bad as me loosing 'say'....Maximus, I will probably curl over and cry when that happens ='[ and it will :(

I promied myself that for every stomatopod I keep long term that dies in my care I would post a video in dedication to it alone with all the footage I have as a bit of a memory to the animal, I don't feel compelled to do it with this "Squillid" and am glad that I am not attached to them like I am all my others...

Loosing the L.colemani will likely hurt a but ='[ but loosing Morgoth would be a heart wrencher...

It's a sad day in the ultimate multi mantis system :sad1:
 
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