My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)
- Thread starter Kharn
- Start date
Malign Reefer
New member
Sorry to hear this..
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Whilst it is sad and nothing can change that it is as I stated not so hard on me considering there still new to my care and there are still another 3 of them. It would hurt me far far more if say, Rocky or Minnie or Morgoth etc. died....
Question now is
I want to preserve this Squillid but how would the best way be ?
Question now is
I want to preserve this Squillid but how would the best way be ?
MantisO_o
Mantis Shrimp Addict
I'm on the same boat as you. I would ask Dr. Roy directly what type of Squillid they are. Even experience keepers as our selves, we still need to do more research. Figure out their proper environment conditions and replicate as best you can. Or replicate how the previous owner had them in. Provided he had them long in that setting. To prove it was effective on having them...
I asked Dr. Roy about the L. tridecimdentata and there is no sure thing it will ever burrow. As he gave the last one he had from his lab a PVC pipe. Which to me tells me if you try to give it manmade lodgings and don't give it what it makes in nature it would likely will die. Some Stomatopods would accept manmade homes but some just will not, unfortunately.
Which isn't very promising...
I asked Dr. Roy about the L. tridecimdentata and there is no sure thing it will ever burrow. As he gave the last one he had from his lab a PVC pipe. Which to me tells me if you try to give it manmade lodgings and don't give it what it makes in nature it would likely will die. Some Stomatopods would accept manmade homes but some just will not, unfortunately.
Gonodactylus said:
Which isn't very promising...
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Lysiosquilla tredecimdentata occupies deep burrows on intertidal sand and mudflats, and level subtidal substrates.
To me that sounds just like a typical Lysiosquilloidea but I cannot challenge information on something I haven't kept...
I can say this to perhaps boost your courage...my L.colemani (the same family as your L.tredecimdentata) is starting to show better signs...he has dug out a bit below the piece of live rock and now lays under it, I saw him moving sand around the tank today, I kind of want it to molt / eat to make it molt so I can see if this "rot" is getting better or worse, it's hard to tell...
There was someone on here a while back that had a Lysiosquilla that he wasn't sure on species, he knew it wasn't a maculata and it was I.D.'d as a tredecimdentata by Dr. Caldwell here is a link to the thread....
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1446935
Hope this helps
To me that sounds just like a typical Lysiosquilloidea but I cannot challenge information on something I haven't kept...
I can say this to perhaps boost your courage...my L.colemani (the same family as your L.tredecimdentata) is starting to show better signs...he has dug out a bit below the piece of live rock and now lays under it, I saw him moving sand around the tank today, I kind of want it to molt / eat to make it molt so I can see if this "rot" is getting better or worse, it's hard to tell...
There was someone on here a while back that had a Lysiosquilla that he wasn't sure on species, he knew it wasn't a maculata and it was I.D.'d as a tredecimdentata by Dr. Caldwell here is a link to the thread....
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1446935
Hope this helps
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Aside the lone Squillid that seems to of passed on....
There has been other, better, more happy action in the stands.
This evening I managed to get that picture I spoke of a while back detailing the color change in The Kraken, it is the most 'advanced' of the 2 O.scyllarus/Peacocks and quite dark. It's interesting because of all my stomatopods it's the Peacocks whom react to the cameras flash the most, likely due to there dark confines 24/7...none the less the sequence of pictures do lay out a story.
The brown has turned into a very dark green
except for the front portion, as you can see in the picture he is between travels of his 2 dens that he made within his large tank, upon taking this picture he stopped moving.
With the camera flash startling The Kraken he turned to face where the light had come from.
Realizing it was 'that pesky giant eye thing' again, he charged in defiance, offering a warning!
As you can tell The Kraken has changed dramatically in coloration from what he once was.
Beyond The Kraken lay another stomatopod that caught my eye this evening....
Rocky (G.graphurus) was swimming about from platform to platform, upon seeing him, my eyes opened wide, HE HAS GROWN! I dare say he would now be the second largest small species smasher that I have (behind Maximus whom is the same species), Rocky & Maximus look very a like being the same species and the growth that Rocky has shown is tremendous, I got him as a hitchhiker a while a go, tiny at only 30-40mm long, he is far larger now and that upgrade on his cavity seems like a sooner rather then later thing =) another thing I noticed is that he has started to dig outside the PVC and make his own home under the superman rhodactis rock.
He may be doing this for 2 reasons...(at least I hope).
Firstly he is getting big...and that is only 25mm pipe so I think he is having trouble turning inside it, even though they like tight spaces in the wild, they like the ability to modify it at will so basically always have it a tight space.
Secondly, again he is large one thing I didn't do and noticed in Eve's (G.smithii) frame is that, there are a lack of horizontal areas where he can look out of the PVC and rest whilst being 'onguard', all the entry exit areas are 90degree with straight drops, so he would need to suspend himself consistently to keep from falling back.
Eve's compartment is a clear success, not only has she taken a liking to it but she has barricaded herself within it every entry/exit hole is blocked methodically with pieces of rubble she has chosen I have yet to see Rocky do this.
None the less here is the star of STAND A...Rocky! (G.graphurus)
He is such an aggressive little sh*t...nigh on impossible to put my hand in the tank (should I need to adjust something) without being hit....so I remove him and put him in a container, getting to that size where things do NOT tickle no more...I thank the stomatopod itself that it never opened that dactyl/dagger when I stick my hand recklessly into STAND A....I'll be damned if I do it in STAND B!!! Maximus taught me well....
There has been other, better, more happy action in the stands.
This evening I managed to get that picture I spoke of a while back detailing the color change in The Kraken, it is the most 'advanced' of the 2 O.scyllarus/Peacocks and quite dark. It's interesting because of all my stomatopods it's the Peacocks whom react to the cameras flash the most, likely due to there dark confines 24/7...none the less the sequence of pictures do lay out a story
.The brown has turned into a very dark green
except for the front portion, as you can see in the picture he is between travels of his 2 dens that he made within his large tank, upon taking this picture he stopped moving.
With the camera flash startling The Kraken he turned to face where the light had come from.
Realizing it was 'that pesky giant eye thing' again, he charged in defiance, offering a warning!
As you can tell The Kraken has changed dramatically in coloration from what he once was.
Beyond The Kraken lay another stomatopod that caught my eye this evening....
Rocky (G.graphurus) was swimming about from platform to platform, upon seeing him, my eyes opened wide, HE HAS GROWN! I dare say he would now be the second largest small species smasher that I have (behind Maximus whom is the same species), Rocky & Maximus look very a like being the same species and the growth that Rocky has shown is tremendous, I got him as a hitchhiker a while a go, tiny at only 30-40mm long, he is far larger now and that upgrade on his cavity seems like a sooner rather then later thing =) another thing I noticed is that he has started to dig outside the PVC and make his own home under the superman rhodactis rock.
He may be doing this for 2 reasons...(at least I hope).
Firstly he is getting big...and that is only 25mm pipe so I think he is having trouble turning inside it, even though they like tight spaces in the wild, they like the ability to modify it at will so basically always have it a tight space.
Secondly, again he is large one thing I didn't do and noticed in Eve's (G.smithii) frame is that, there are a lack of horizontal areas where he can look out of the PVC and rest whilst being 'onguard', all the entry exit areas are 90degree with straight drops, so he would need to suspend himself consistently to keep from falling back.
Eve's compartment is a clear success, not only has she taken a liking to it but she has barricaded herself within it
every entry/exit hole is blocked methodically with pieces of rubble she has chosen I have yet to see Rocky do this.None the less here is the star of STAND A...Rocky! (G.graphurus)
He is such an aggressive little sh*t...nigh on impossible to put my hand in the tank (should I need to adjust something) without being hit....so I remove him and put him in a container, getting to that size where things do NOT tickle no more...I thank the stomatopod itself that it never opened that dactyl/dagger when I stick my hand recklessly into STAND A....I'll be damned if I do it in STAND B!!! Maximus taught me well....
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Here are a few more random pics I caught today
As I said previously a few times, Eve (G.smithii) has taken a great liking to her new home which has now been within her compartment for a little over two weeks she has barricaded all the entry and exit holes, she has also stolen one of the 'Elcheapo' Ric's and used it as a 'door' to one of these entrances. Here is what 1 of the 4 blocked holes looks like....
Again I said earlier back that Megatron (G.chiragra) had molted and in the process of almost getting a perfect molt of him, I lost half of it to the power head (front half...) however I did get a nice neat Abdomen & Telson for my efforts, he has gone a much more brighter white now and as far as I can tell that is all, just white no other colors, will try and get pics of him soon.
With the death of 1 Squillid another at least made me smile, here you can see a Squillid resting inside a PVC pipe that I added and buried partially exposing the entrance, it has dug out the inside sand in order to rest within it.
Maximus was fairly fired up this morning and rummaging about his compartment more actively then usual I took the time to give him a tease with the camera and he responded in kind posing like this long enough for me to get a snap
The Kraken was also fired up and displayed nicely for the camera repeatedly, although he would react and jerk back after the flash a bit (unlike Maximus whom sits there, moves forward).
Finally The Juggernaut sits fearlessly staring at the camera, it's unfortunate but I would like to see these larger species of mine, inc the spearers (biggest being The Kraken/Maximus) actually throw out some threatening displays, I have seen large species (both spearer and smasher) display threateningly in the wild...
Having said that I did (and I'll have to find it...) have a raw footage film of me feeding The Leviathan a fish during which the fish escapes and he slowly raises himself out of the burrow in a threatening display with his claws, hard to make out due to the side view of it all and him not raising fully but it is noticeable as an odd thing happening at least for me
.
P.S. I'll find that clip
As I said previously a few times, Eve (G.smithii) has taken a great liking to her new home which has now been within her compartment for a little over two weeks
she has barricaded all the entry and exit holes, she has also stolen one of the 'Elcheapo' Ric's and used it as a 'door' to one of these entrances. Here is what 1 of the 4 blocked holes looks like....
Again I said earlier back that Megatron (G.chiragra) had molted and in the process of almost getting a perfect molt of him, I lost half of it to the power head (front half...) however I did get a nice neat Abdomen & Telson for my efforts, he has gone a much more brighter white now and as far as I can tell that is all, just white no other colors, will try and get pics of him soon.
With the death of 1 Squillid another at least made me smile
, here you can see a Squillid resting inside a PVC pipe that I added and buried partially exposing the entrance, it has dug out the inside sand in order to rest within it.
Maximus was fairly fired up this morning and rummaging about his compartment more actively then usual I took the time to give him a tease with the camera and he responded in kind posing like this long enough for me to get a snap
The Kraken was also fired up and displayed nicely for the camera repeatedly, although he would react and jerk back after the flash a bit (unlike Maximus whom sits there, moves forward).
Finally The Juggernaut sits fearlessly staring at the camera, it's unfortunate but I would like to see these larger species of mine, inc the spearers (biggest being The Kraken/Maximus) actually throw out some threatening displays, I have seen large species (both spearer and smasher) display threateningly in the wild...
Having said that I did (and I'll have to find it...) have a raw footage film of me feeding The Leviathan a fish during which the fish escapes and he slowly raises himself out of the burrow in a threatening display with his claws, hard to make out due to the side view of it all and him not raising fully but it is noticeable as an odd thing happening at least for me
.P.S. I'll find that clip
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Here is that clip I mentioned above of Leviathan threatening his food, he never did get it after a dozen strikes...
HD 1080P capability
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xSzoGIh3X1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
More to come as where The Leviathan failed...The Juggernaut succeeded! :lol2:
HD 1080P capability
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xSzoGIh3X1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
More to come as where The Leviathan failed...The Juggernaut succeeded! :lol2:
Kharn
MANTISMAN
While that video is uploading as it is a bit long....
I wanted to detail the "damage" that the lone spearer I recently got has taken on, which I have I.D.'d as an L.colemani...I have highlighted in light blue circles the areas that I am keeping an eye on, especially it's lost antenna area.
I really hope this guy pulls through as I do like him, he has a very unique 'head' structure along with the rusty color tone, fingers crossed xD...
More to come as I got this video uploading....
I wanted to detail the "damage" that the lone spearer I recently got has taken on, which I have I.D.'d as an L.colemani...I have highlighted in light blue circles the areas that I am keeping an eye on, especially it's lost antenna area.
I really hope this guy pulls through as I do like him, he has a very unique 'head' structure along with the rusty color tone
, fingers crossed xD...More to come as I got this video uploading....
Kharn
MANTISMAN
One of the grand things about using these large live crabs for food is that EVERYTHING is used, there is NOTHING that is wasted....
It's like 1 big natural processing factory
Essentially what happens is, the Live Crab goes into the Bottom Tank of STAND B which houses The Juggernaut my largest smasher, inside that tank the live crab looses both its claws along with its life and some flesh from the main body to, then The Juggernaut discards it out of the cavity being sated and full, I then scoop it up and place the now dead crab into the tank above which houses The Kraken, since only the body goes into this tank and since the body already has been smashed open by the larger stomatopod below, it makes easy work for The Kraken to get at what was left behind and there always are left overs, even after The Kraken as had his fill ....
Once The Kraken has had his fill, there are usually a few legs left over and some chunks on the body, here I pluck off each leg and give one to each of the smashers in the Top Tank of STAND B (Maximus & Minnie) along with any other small smasher in STAND A, the rest that is left is evenly distributed between the smaller stomatopods, in the end the Mud Crab fills the bellies of many a stomatopod and even it's shell remains (stomatopod pick shell clean) as decoration/utilities that the stomatopods will use for building.
Here is how the Muddy looked after being worked over by The Juggernaut...
As I said above, none of this crab is going to waste and now it's time for The Kraken to have his fill
Here is a short clip of The Kraken picking at the crab
1080p HD capability
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vq4_xwPIiC4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
More to come!
It's like 1 big natural processing factory
Essentially what happens is, the Live Crab goes into the Bottom Tank of STAND B which houses The Juggernaut my largest smasher, inside that tank the live crab looses both its claws along with its life and some flesh from the main body to, then The Juggernaut discards it out of the cavity being sated and full, I then scoop it up and place the now dead crab into the tank above which houses The Kraken, since only the body goes into this tank and since the body already has been smashed open by the larger stomatopod below, it makes easy work for The Kraken to get at what was left behind and there always are left overs, even after The Kraken as had his fill
....Once The Kraken has had his fill, there are usually a few legs left over and some chunks on the body, here I pluck off each leg and give one to each of the smashers in the Top Tank of STAND B (Maximus & Minnie) along with any other small smasher in STAND A, the rest that is left is evenly distributed between the smaller stomatopods, in the end the Mud Crab fills the bellies of many a stomatopod and even it's shell remains (stomatopod pick shell clean) as decoration/utilities that the stomatopods will use for building.
Here is how the Muddy looked after being worked over by The Juggernaut...
As I said above, none of this crab is going to waste
and now it's time for The Kraken to have his fill 
Here is a short clip of The Kraken picking at the crab
1080p HD capability
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vq4_xwPIiC4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
More to come!
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Here I am teasing my largest stomatopod he was quite fired up and went for me a couple times before retreating for a few minutes, then returning to his normal 'on guard' position, acts like this make me think twice about attempting hand feeding him.
I would just love to get that on camera, him spearing food out of my hand without harming my hand :eek ...kodak stuff people...kodak stuff...but not yet he is still to wild.
1080pHD capability
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DxR-ZMNBUmA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
More to come
he was quite fired up and went for me a couple times before retreating for a few minutes, then returning to his normal 'on guard' position, acts like this make me think twice about attempting hand feeding him.I would just love to get that on camera, him spearing food out of my hand without harming my hand :eek ...kodak stuff people...kodak stuff...but not yet
he is still to wild.1080pHD capability
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DxR-ZMNBUmA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
More to come
Kharn
MANTISMAN
Finally the Jar that I placed that dead Squillid in has settled enough for pictures to be taken I still think I did something wrong as you can see the foggy mucus lining the bottom that has sunk over the past few hours.
The jar may be slightly small for the inhabitant however it would make for a good jar for many other smaller species, I may upgrade the jar on this one to something lightly larger...the aim is to try and find jars that are not only easy to find but are matching in appearance, these spice jars litter local shopping stores for only $2 each hopefully I can find a taller version too for these slightly larger types.
More to come!
I still think I did something wrong as you can see the foggy mucus lining the bottom that has sunk over the past few hours.
The jar may be slightly small for the inhabitant however it would make for a good jar for many other smaller species, I may upgrade the jar on this one to something lightly larger...the aim is to try and find jars that are not only easy to find but are matching in appearance, these spice jars litter local shopping stores for only $2 each hopefully I can find a taller version too for these slightly larger types.
More to come!
TundraGuy
MantisOholic
Is it me or did Morgoth pick up more color as well? Looking great. Looks like all the old guys are doing some color morphing. That big crab put up a good try against such a overwhelming attack thanks for that one i showed a buddy now he understands the empty mantis tanks in my living room.
Kharn
MANTISMAN
As far as color changing goes... (smallest to largest).
G.chriagra (Megatron) - Ghost White (Lost Pinks & Reds).
G.graphurus (Rocky) - Dark Green (Lost Blues), has grown a lot.
G.graphurus (Minnie) - Dark Green (Lost Bright Green), has grown a lot.
O.scyllarus (The Kraken) - Dark Green (Lost most of Light Brown).
O.scyllarus (The Juggernaut) - Dark Brown (Lost some Dark Green).
None of the others have changed, my last video of Morgoth was just dark as I am still battling a 'lighting vs camera vs perfect angle'...it's easy to get shots that are at perfect lighting but I sacrifice raw footage, so pointless.
Kharn
MANTISMAN
So today I was doing some thinking and came up with a new idea for my filtration plans (again...hence why I am now dating the images/sketches).
Again I kept getting paranoid about lack of Refugium size and the lack of width/length was giving my grief with only 1 tank same size as 1 of the tank in the stand being the overall sump (50/50 Equipment:Refugium)...so I thought why not make 'Mini Stand Sumps'
Basically the idea is to copy the Display Tank Stands, minus 1 tank, so a 2 Tank Sump stacked above each other, the primary reason that I am not going 3 tanks is because I want extra room above both Sump Tanks for Equipment, Hosing/PVC, Maintenance etc.
Having 2 Tanks allows me to keep my original plan, 1 Sump Tank (Top Tank) is 50/50 (Equipment:Refugium) whilst the bottom Sump Tank is just 1 full Refugium (with a Return Pump section). Essentially this means that behind each stand will be a Refugium 1/2 the size of the whole Display Stands volume capacity (for STAND C this is going to be some what Extra large, the Refugium will be larger then both the tanks on STAND C together).
Best part about all this (beyond the filtration advantage).....Many more stomatopod homes , even with the Sump Tanks in place, all of the Refugiums will be easy to get photos of along with the inhabitants within it I estimate that (at a minimum) it will increase my accommodation by an extra 9 stomatopods (If I divide the 'Full/Bottom Sump) into Halves, naturally though, any non-interactive species will be going into these Tanks due to not actually being on display (a.k.a Shockwave/G.falcatus).
Oh and yeah keeping coral...
To give you an 'idea' of the actual dimensions of the Sumps...(they differ per stand).
STAND A: 2 Tanks, 900mm L x 250mm W x 500mm H
STAND B: 2 Tanks, 900mm L x 250mm W x 500mm H
STAND C: 2 Tanks, 1100mm L x 300mm W x 500mm H
Again I kept getting paranoid about lack of Refugium size and the lack of width/length was giving my grief with only 1 tank same size as 1 of the tank in the stand being the overall sump (50/50 Equipment:Refugium)...so I thought why not make 'Mini Stand Sumps'
Basically the idea is to copy the Display Tank Stands, minus 1 tank, so a 2 Tank Sump stacked above each other, the primary reason that I am not going 3 tanks is because I want extra room above both Sump Tanks for Equipment, Hosing/PVC, Maintenance etc.
Having 2 Tanks allows me to keep my original plan, 1 Sump Tank (Top Tank) is 50/50 (Equipment:Refugium) whilst the bottom Sump Tank is just 1 full Refugium (with a Return Pump section). Essentially this means that behind each stand will be a Refugium 1/2 the size of the whole Display Stands volume capacity (for STAND C this is going to be some what Extra large, the Refugium will be larger then both the tanks on STAND C together).
Best part about all this
(beyond the filtration advantage).....Many more stomatopod homes , even with the Sump Tanks in place, all of the Refugiums will be easy to get photos of along with the inhabitants within it I estimate that (at a minimum) it will increase my accommodation by an extra 9 stomatopods (If I divide the 'Full/Bottom Sump) into Halves, naturally though, any non-interactive species will be going into these Tanks due to not actually being on display (a.k.a Shockwave/G.falcatus).Oh and yeah keeping coral...
To give you an 'idea' of the actual dimensions of the Sumps...(they differ per stand).
STAND A: 2 Tanks, 900mm L x 250mm W x 500mm H
STAND B: 2 Tanks, 900mm L x 250mm W x 500mm H
STAND C: 2 Tanks, 1100mm L x 300mm W x 500mm H
Kharn
MANTISMAN
It's Random, there is no regime.
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