My Ultimate Multi Mantis System(s)

[Kharn]

Sweet! Yeah I think I'm going to take some trips before the summer is out here. FL you only need a fishing license to collect most fish/inverts so might try to get L. glabriuscula and trying to collect a C. dubia talking with different wildlife agencies on the east coast to see where I could legally collect one without TONS of paperwork. Might actually look for a job in FL purely to be closer to a beach for collection. Can't wait to see the new videos

I'd catch every stomatopod I saw because it's so easy to miss "something new" unless you really look close, for instance all 3 of my Lysiosquillids aren't very recognizable to those that don't know stomatopods but when I detail the differences it becomes very clear and its only the minor differences that can really separate them.

It's a relatively "new" species to mankind I think as in only a few decades of research so new species are being found "often" as far as finding new species timelines normally go, someone not too long ago posted a picture of a very weird spearer it was a bright maroon/pink with the body shape of a C.dubia, Dr. Caldwell chimed in and said he had never seen one and well if he has basically seen them all....then that means something.

Be wary of mud species (this is just my experience) they are or seem to be far more delicate then sand burrowers...all 7 of my mud species perished...save 1, Minos and I put that to him being a true Lysios rather then the other 6 being Squillids the names I gave them in my signature are just guesses from the best I could get (matched colors and markings on hand drawn images from other researchers that had encountered them, no real life photos to go off though).

 

[zogg513]

Your food tank is just amazing! The system seems perfect in terms of dealing with the dead. If you didn't have a connected system, you'd have so many options for refugiums (for some reason, I like those more than normal show tanks).

Great work! Can't wait for more videos.

 

[Kharn]

Your food tank is just amazing! The system seems perfect in terms of dealing with the dead. If you didn't have a connected system, you'd have so many options for refugiums (for some reason, I like those more than normal show tanks).

Great work! Can't wait for more videos.

Thanks for the comment!

I share your love for refugiums too which is why I went with turning the top tank in every display stand into a refugium rather then all just hosting coral.

Rite now the biggest refugium is on the live food system, its a 100L tank with just live rock and macro algae no substrate, beside this is a small 20L compartment that holds the large live aggressive crabs, whilst the fish swim safely up top.

NOTHING is wasted when it comes to the live food, even when my largest smashers eyes are to big for his belly and he brings down a target to large to completely consume, what's left is removed and portioned out into small pieces for my other stomatopods, like the legs, 1 leg to each really small species or if a claw is left behind I can break that into 2-3-4pieces easily and divide it out, in the end ALL is used.

 

[Kharn]

I believe this is my greatest film to date :bounce3:

Here is a remake to the first 'good' film I made, all the footage in this is new along with being completely High Speed (Slow Motion).

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JOKC1UUecdE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

What do you think ?

 

[Maleci]

Like the new video man. Yeah mostly just having my friend get what he can and hope he nabs something period let alone something unique. Guess time will tell what he finds.

 

[Kharn]

G'day again all followers :beachbum:

Here are a few photos I have taken over the past few days of my various crew members.

First up a set of 3 shots of Megatron (G.chiragra) to this day he is yet to ever act skittish / frightened he has never threatened me with a displaying pose however he has also proven himself time and time again to be completely relentless in his bombardment towards prey, a very aggressive and fearless species.




Up next is a nice shot of Maximus (G.graphurus) poking out of his cavity entrance to get a close up himself of the camera lens, I have had him for a few years now and to this day he is still very active and interactive.


Here is a pair of pix of The Kraken (O.scyllarus) this small O.scyllarus is extremely energetic and active not only always out of its den but it will actively chase and bring down live fish, I offered a fish to this small O.scyllarus the other day and as soon as the fish was in the tank, The Kraken fell upon it like lightning I had to quickly drop everything at that point to ensure I had the camera recording.



Next up is Morgoth (L.sulcata) the spearer has been quiet until recently, when offered a live fish the other day I was lucky enough to capture the full strike in a good HS recording (see most recent video) along with some photos of Morgoth and the fish in the bottom of his burrow.



Finally a picture that I found interesting...this fish has sustained damage (1 strike) from a small 70mm G.graphurus female (Minnie), the fish took a few more strikes before finally slowing enough for Minnie to wrangle it down and finish it off, I got some of it on camera but her now fully grown and clustered Macro Algae Forest is very good camouflage which makes it difficult for the camera to focus.


More to come!

 

[Kharn]

Something different for a change...I offered a potential predator to one of my smaller smashers...

This particular type of fish enjoys eating crustaceans as they are caught on prawns and crabs for bait amongst other creatures, although it's small but it's still larger then the stomatopod (Rocky - G.graphurus) who took it down.

I was nervous introducing it wondering if it would just go crazy for the stomatopod and as it entered the cavity entrance to the PVC DIY burrow a little my heart started to slow...then the confirming whack from Rocky which sent the fish into darting like crazy around the tank, Rocky emerged, latched onto the fish practically instantly and then continued his barrage until the fish gave in and they both landed, Rocky then dragged the fish aggressively into his cavity.




More to come, I really want to get some more of them small squid or even octopus and offer them to the much smaller stomatopods like Rocky. :thumbsup:

 

[Kharn]

STAND A - Update

Today I finally pulled my thumb out and placed Adams DIY PVC burrow into his compartment after it had been cooking in the live food tank for...about 6 months (this is NOT necessary lol, a few days is all it takes normally, I just got lazy all of a sudden).

Anyway I felt energetic today so I went about removing the live rock from his tank to replace it with the DIY PVC burrow, it was all a swift process and the burrow fit snug wall to wall of Adams compartment. I then placed the live rock back into his compartment with some macro algae, the place is for the Top Tank of STAND A to effectively be a refugium (both compartments) so Live Rock and Macro algae take the place of corals in this tank/compartments.

Here is Adams (male G.smithii) compartment now, soon the entire DIY PVC burrow will be completely concealed by macro algae ...just like Eves compartment beside him.


This is Eves (female G.smithii) compartment, as I said earlier I was feeling energetic so I pruned back a lot of the macro algae that was around the very top level of the PVC DIY burrow at the surface).


With Adams compartment now completed and with the new filtration upgrades now truly set in place and decisions finalized (all I am waiting on are the HOB overflows from LifeReef), it has come to my attention that the final compartment in STAND A where the current FX5 input hose sits (input to canister) will soon sit at equal water levels due to this compartment housing the overflow which I need only alight the internal box teeth with the dividers teeth for the tank separating the two compartments.

Once the last compartments DIY PVC burrow is completed and in place, that stand will be officially completed, layout wise, all that will be left is to stock the middle & bottom tank with coral ...Megatron (G.chiraga) who hosts that last compartment will get a DIY PVC burrow similar to that of Rocky (G.graphurus) simply because the bottom tanks are 100mm taller then the middle tanks allowing for another 'level' in the DIY PVC burrow.

Here is an overall look of how STAND A now looks with Adams compartment now finished (P.S. Do not forget the 4L nano HOBs at the rear, 1 houses Shockwave (G.falcatus) the other houses Trispin (H.trispinos).


More to come as the next DIY PVC burrow to be cooked is for the Juggernaut, the largest most elaborate DIY PVC burrow to date !

 

[Kharn]

Got a couple of snaps of Adam (G.smithii) inspecting his new compartment layout.



More to come

 

[Kharn]

Got some great footage in a short cluster this evening (normally the good stuff is 1 lucky recording in a week), hopefully going to make another High Speed video like the last really soon if not today .

So far I got some great High Speed footage of Nicole (female G.ternatensis) taking on a crab, I was lucky enough to get 4 strikes in High Speed, in the last clip of her rampage (so glad I recorded it) you can see her strike the now practically submitted crab with both her appendages, but she opens the dactyls, impaling both into the crab, the left dactyl gets stuck and there is a quick jolt to free it as she darts off...the crab is left utterly destroyed.

Minos also had some more footage going from "Hope he survives & builds a burrow..." to, "This is now the most active and ferocious spearer I own", so much so that as I took the lid off his tank for easy access he lunged upwards and struck the surface of the water...When the fish went in, Minos went about the usual, instantly recognizing the fish like some child at a zoo pointing to a giant eagle, then waited as the fish got close enough...and struck...this time in a little more brutal fashion then the last, if you recall last time he struck the fish in the eye, hooking around the socket as leverage, this time...he struck through the eye the dactyl penetrated through a good 1-1.5cms...

Going to tempt others so as to make a good video with many species, footage inc.

 

[Kharn]

A few pictures I took throughout today as I tempted various crew members...along with a small update on the latest DIY PVC burrow.

First up the DIY PVC burrow, I disassembled it and placed it into the live food system to 'cook/cure' for a few days, then I'll go about placing it into The Juggernauts tank (O.scyllarus).


Up next is Eve (G.smithii), poking out of her burrow to see what all the commotion from below is about, her compartment has become half of that tanks refugium .



Finally, it's The Juggernaut...I gave him a large live crab to beat on today and he certainly made quick work of it, here is an end result pic .


More to come as I am slowly putting this HS video together

 

[Kharn]

Short video detailing The Juggernaut and his very fast swinging appendage!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JRfnCXx6_H8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

More to come!

 

[Kharn]

Today is the day that Juggy gets his new and permanent home, it had been sitting out of the water finished for over a month, now it has sat in water overnight to cure and nothing in the tank has been affected by it.

So yeah, today the big guy gets his big home

 

[MBC2012]

can you update us with pics?

 

[Kharn]

Well it took a little over an hour but I managed to get the large DIY PVC burrow into the Juggernauts tank , it was REALLY frustrating but I knew it would fit cause I did the dimensions before hand...the coarse substrate grazed my hands repeatedly and the salt made it all sting more!

Pics inc

 

[Kharn]

Well here it is ...

The Hammer Kings Keep, this large DIY PVC burrow took a long time to finish (mostly due to me being lazy and it being boring work), but I finally let it soak over night in the Live Food tank without any problems to the inhabitants of that system or the structure itself.



This is the current coral placement layout



More to come! :bounce3:

 

[Kharn]

It's been a few hours now and night has fallen on the system, The Juggernaut (O.scyllarus) has yet to find the entrances to his new home he is busying himself substrate level looking around for things, I am sure by morning he will be poking his bulky head out of 1 of the 3 entry/exit holes .


Everything is going as intended for Juggys tank he isn't showing signs of stress just, confusion/searching, he took the whole incident rather well, I was capable of removing the old PVC tube he used as a home with him in it and placing the whole thing in a bucket then doing the reverse once his new home was in place , If I change anything it might be to upgrade the 2 tiny pumps on either end of his burrow to larger models rite now they are only tiny Eheim compact 300's, we'll see how they go for now .

Adam (G.smithii) however has not only found the entry/exits to his DIY PVC burrow but is now very very aggressive towards defending it , however Adam did have a 1 day head start on Juggy as far as figuring out the labyrinth of their homes.


More to come as always! :bounce3:

 

[sklego]

It's been a few hours now and night has fallen on the system, The Juggernaut (O.scyllarus) has yet to find the entrances to his new home he is busying himself substrate level looking around for things, I am sure by morning he will be poking his bulky head out of 1 of the 3 entry/exit holes .


Everything is going as intended for Juggys tank he isn't showing signs of stress just, confusion/searching, he took the whole incident rather well, I was capable of removing the old PVC tube he used as a home with him in it and placing the whole thing in a bucket then doing the reverse once his new home was in place , If I change anything it might be to upgrade the 2 tiny pumps on either end of his burrow to larger models rite now they are only tiny Eheim compact 300's, we'll see how they go for now .

Adam (G.smithii) however has not only found the entry/exits to his DIY PVC burrow but is now very very aggressive towards defending it , however Adam did have a 1 day head start on Juggy as far as figuring out the labyrinth of their homes.


More to come as always! :bounce3:

Nice! Keep it coming! :inlove:

 

[Kharn]

Nice! Keep it coming! :inlove:

This thread will always keep growing I'm keen to see what it will be at this time next year and after being 'shunned and shammed' by my own people (Australia)...ReefCentral (U.S.) has been my headquarters for over a year now.

And considering the love and appreciation I get from the U.S. community...I do NOT plan on going anywhere , this thread will ALWAYS be updated and it's my aim to always show new and exciting things either species recently obtained or a new strange film, one way or another everything I do on here is for people like you .

Thanks for following and please continue to, you never know when something utterly jaw dropping will pop up in my thread ...

 

[Kharn]

Really need to get this upgrade finished...its grinding on me but I have been strap for cash for about 2 months now and I have been prioritizing where my money needs to go...regrettably the 3 Overflows I very much need are at the bottom of the list...

Might be 2-3 months till I can finally get it all up and running the way I want it too...but if there is one thing that aquariums have taught me over my 15yr running...it's patience.