New peacock
- Thread starter nikesb4l
- Start date
micstarz
New member
I'm so sorry. If it makes you feel better, I've been through it too.
Mine went from this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRqp58wNW2U
To this
Mine went from this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRqp58wNW2U
To this
Mentat
New member
Sorry. I would try and pinpoint what caused death before replacing Mantis.
Recommend look at questions Tangalong & myself asked and see if any sound a bell. Thinking it has to be something in water or LR, or the acclimation process and stress. Recently I lost a Leaf fish on second day of QT. No idea what happened for a while, but after reading a lot about them found out Leaf Fish are allergic to a medication had used previously in that QT and it probably leached out of substrate and rocks.
I see question about "Lady Crab;" is that unrelated or where there predatorial preys in tank that could hurt a newly arrived & stressed Mantis?
Tangalong
New member
Mentat, just prior to Stomatopod falling ill, nikes said she ate a quarter-sized lady crab that had no claws. I had never heard of one of those and wondered if it were FW or what or if crab was carrying something toxic to the mantis.
nikes, I am so sorry...hope we find out the problem. She sounded like she was doing so well. The cause will probably show up. Just keep looking.
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Curly
nikes, I am so sorry...hope we find out the problem. She sounded like she was doing so well. The cause will probably show up. Just keep looking.
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Curly
Tangalong
New member
nikes..this is important...from the time you opened the bag, exactly what did you do? Did you empty her and shipping water into another container? Did you then measure water salinity in bag and ph and start drip acclimation? How long did it take? The reason, is, a rapid change in either salinity/ph can devastate an invertabrate. it is important to keep their temp constant also and make sure they are getting fresh oxygen as the bag's is polluted from being closed during travel. I had to shorten Bree's acclimation because she kept climbing up the air tubing and almost getting out, but still had enough time for her to adjust...I was very worried though.
From this, I learned to use a bigger container and cover next time.
We all make mistakes.
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Curly
From this, I learned to use a bigger container and cover next time.
We all make mistakes.
----------------
Curly
nikesb4l
YJ true wrangler.
there pretty common to NC water. the small ones just swim and you can scoop them up with a dip net. They only thing i can think of is maybe there was some toxins on the pvc but the tubes said drinking on the side, and I rinsed them out. I dont add anything except for some ph buffer and that was the tiniest about. I have added liquid calcium before too.
I don't think it was the acclimation process because she was very active when i fist put her in the tank. She was trying to catch grass shrimp. she seemed very healthy. It must have happend over night. cause the next morning she just got worse throughout the day.
-i Just let her bag float in the tank. untill the temp was the same. then i poured her and the water into a bucket then I placed her into the tank. I guess the process was not the correct one. I was overly excitied, I never drip acclamated anything before. I deff going to start.
I don't think it was the acclimation process because she was very active when i fist put her in the tank. She was trying to catch grass shrimp. she seemed very healthy. It must have happend over night. cause the next morning she just got worse throughout the day.
-i Just let her bag float in the tank. untill the temp was the same. then i poured her and the water into a bucket then I placed her into the tank. I guess the process was not the correct one. I was overly excitied, I never drip acclamated anything before. I deff going to start.
Last edited:
Mentat
New member
IMO this Mantis death was probably related to acclimation, or for better words, the lack of it (only temp was matched). Obviously, without comparing the actual water in shipping bag and the one in your tank it's impossible to say with certainty.
The reason we acclimate Mantis (or other SW organisms) is so that if there are differences in salinity, pH, etc. they can go over it slowly without a stressful shock. That the Mantis ate or looked alive right after release does not mean it's physiology and all systems were all ok. Acclimation becomes more important when shipping is involved, since the water quality in that small volume can go out of specs very fast and be very different to your good tank water.
Again, no way to tell for sure, but would recommend you read a bit on drip acclimation procedure and use it on next Mantis. It's easy, there is no science to it, and very cheap to set-up. Will need a small bucket or container, some airline tubing, an air valve (set drip 1-4 drops per second depending on species and volume of water in bucket), and a small air pump with air bubbler.
Sorry again for the loss and better luck with next one.
Tangalong
New member
Most likely, I agree....but to prevent it, nikes, it could have been the crab also...anything fresh caught and given to your stomatopod, or , for that matter, any fish...should be caught far out from the shore to avoid transmitting toxins they can carry or disease. Also, they should be QT'd. A shame, as it seems so good for them and so accessable. I keep Bree's snails and crabs in a QT tank for a couple of weeks before she gets them.
Chin up, buddy, a lesson learned well is not forgotten and won't be made again.
You are brave to have gone through this with us. I commend you for that. We are here to help and support each other.
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Curly
Chin up, buddy, a lesson learned well is not forgotten and won't be made again.
You are brave to have gone through this with us. I commend you for that. We are here to help and support each other.
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Curly
Do you have the params of both your tank and shipping water at the time? Differences is the big issue and it would put all of our minds at ease to actually see the numbers from your tank. No offense, it's just that a lot of times people say their params are "OK" or "fine" when something is actually off. for the record it is always good practice to take a sample from the shipping water before acclimation. That way if something goes wrong, you can test afterwards to eliminate the possibility that it was simply soemthing that happened in relation to the shipping water. IMO just temp and pH matching is sufficient for fish if your params are known to be close to the lfs'; inverts are a lot more sensitive to salinity though so invert acclimation must take that into consideration.
also, when the bag was floating in the tank to temp match, was the bag sealed? how long had the bag been in transit? was there much air in the bag? Just trying to rule out suffocation via low dissolved oxygen.
I'd also like to know the history of the lady crab. that said, the mantis was exhibiting the laying on the back behaviour prior to introducing the crab wasn't it?
also, when the bag was floating in the tank to temp match, was the bag sealed? how long had the bag been in transit? was there much air in the bag? Just trying to rule out suffocation via low dissolved oxygen.
I'd also like to know the history of the lady crab. that said, the mantis was exhibiting the laying on the back behaviour prior to introducing the crab wasn't it?
