New to mantis

[PiXieCath]

Here is pics of is new home(on 2 of the 3 visible side) and some of my little guy!;-)

The little AquaticLife skimmer do a really great job for is size, it's amazing! But since it only have sand dust to skim at the moment (I've my mantis at home for only 2 days...and he dig a lot!lol) and I've empty it this morning, I don't have any pics of the cup yet...maybe tomorow morning...

My little baby is just too amazing and interactive. I just have to knock on the opposite side of were he is in the tank to watch he come and see me! He is really funny, I like this little guy a lot!

 

[Tangalong]

You've made a really nice home, Cath...love it !!! She/he is gorgeous...looks like mine...I still haven't figured out where the meral spot is on them though. Great pictures also...congratulations!!

 

[lionbacker54]

add my to your fan list. beautiful peacock and tank, and super pics too. is charlotte now "charles"? also, i think your avatar is hilarious. is that a piece of cheese on the cat's head? is it your cat?

 

[PiXieCath]

Hihi! Tanks for kind words guys!

Tangalong: Sorry about my ignorance, but can you tell me what is ''meral spot''?

Lionbacker: Hihi! Yes, this is a piece of cheese on the cat head. But that's not my cat. I've found it on lolcats or failblog.org, don't remember...For my mantis name, I still don't know...Maybe Felix...if you have suggestions, feel free to post it!;-)

 

[micstarz]

I love him from the other side of the world

Nice chaeto! With your experience I'm willing to bet that your tank is going to surpass mine in aesthetic quality and function...but I would suggest not running the skimmer. I actually dump skimmate (I emptied a whole 500ml bottle of skimmate into my macroalgae tank from my mantis shrimp system to speed up the growth for a while. The water quality is as good as spaghetti carbonara

Yesterday I was re-aquascaping my tank (with my G. glabrous lounging around in the tank) and suddenly before I knew it...POW! I heard a click against my hand but didn't feel anything. As soon as I saw her near my hand, I jerked it out of the water at the speed of light. It was only then that it started burning (at the core of the thumb)

It was O.K though. I think she wanted me to go away but judging by how she smacks snails and shapes the rock around her, I'm glad she held back from a full blast...


BTW, just like in my tank, I think the PVC tube for your mantis shrimp is very close to the front glass (this can be uncomfortable for both viewing sense and the mantis entering/exiting)

Tomorrow (if I don't procrastinate) I will find a drill to put the tube into my live rock so the entrance to her tube will be further from the glass...

I think she loves the new decor! Her active hours are 6-9am (this is the time I see her before school and on the weekends) and when I get home at 4pm she is usually in her burrow.

 

[Tangalong]

OMG...this is hilarious !!! I wasn't looking closely at your Avatar and thought it was a potbellied pig. LOL..shows how good my eyes are now...used to have one...I see the cat's mouth now..

The meral spot is (I believe...you might check Roy's sticky to be sure) is on the upper part of the rapt appendage...each species more or less has it's own signature colors I guess. I just can't seem to find them...maybe you can with your younger eyes.

Someday I will get a camera and learn to do pics...need to rent-a-kid for about a week to learn all this technology you all grew up with.

 

[Koshmar]

Great tank! I love the lighting, it makes it look realistic.
Tangalong, if you find a rent-a-kid store sign me up too because I can't even text message! Crazy, all my peers can do all of this texting stuff and are on myspace and all that. I mean, I can cultivate bacteria and isolate species into purified colonies but I can't text message, quickly anyway. It takes me like 5 minutes to type a sentence. Kids now-a-days, I tell ya...
BTW you won't see the meral spot unless you get close to your mantis and then if it opens up the raptorial appendages a bit to do a threat display or cleaning you'll see a colored circle on the upper portion. If you look at Lionbacker's avatar you can see his mantis' meral spots quite well. Just have to look at the inside of the raps. Think colored circle and you will remember.

 

[micstarz]

I can't text message either! I don't believe in phones...it's strange how all my friends rely on phones to meet up...
It's like
"12 o clock outside the cinema"
"I'll just call you, dude..."
"I don't use my phone"
"Why not?"
"I don't even know where it is..."

But I'm still adept at the other technology stuff even though I don't use gaming consoles...

Cath, how's your mantis doing today?

 

[PiXieCath]

Hahaha! I can't text message too! Probably because I'm too ''old''!LOL(I'm just 29!) Too much technology for me!!!lololol

Micstarz: He's doing really fine!!! For the skimmer, I prefer to keep it in place since my goal is not to grow macro, but to provide the better water quality I can achieve for my mantis tank. So, I think that skimmer+macro is a good combination!;-)

 

[Tangalong]

I don't feel quite so dumb now..HA!!! I don't know what those letters with colons by them in posts mean either..I don't even own a cell phone...just a regular phone with dial up...not by choice though...that's why I can't always get your pictures.

Thanks Koshmar...now we know where to look for the "spot".

Looks like you are really set Cath...the tank looks so good. I agree with you on the skimmer...get all the yuckies out..I clean mine every week..it gets orangish yunk in it I think from Bree. I haven't seen her do the handstand but have seen her do her business in front of the Damsels den in front of the skimmer. They exited really quick...lol.
Time for this old lady to retire..,.good night my friends...I am so glad all and pets are well.

 

[micstarz]

Glad to hear...and yes, that's probably the better option now that I think about it...no wonder you're always one step ahead of me

How come your 30gal tank looks the same size as my 7gal long newt tank?!

 

[PiXieCath]

Haha! Don't say that Micstarz...even if I've more experience than you in reefkeeping, I'm totally newb in mantis husbandry...and you have help me a lot to setting up my new tank. I'm really thankfull about it.;-)

For the tank, that was probably just the pic effect...in fact, it is 30'' long!;-)

So funny this morning...my little boy had took macroalgae this night and put it all around is tunnel entry...

What about silverside soak in vitamines to feed my baby occasionnaly? I know I've to give he shell for the health of is raptorial appendage, but is silverside once in a while is ok???

 

[micstarz]

The silverside once in a while should be good if it is soaked in selcon...

So you sexed him and he's a boy then? Watcha gonna name him?
How adorable with the macroalgae...be careful of it dying and stinking up the water though.

Haha you're exaggerating about my helping you...the only thing I've done is suggest you use macroalgae...

I found a P. ciliata today!!! Wooohoo!

 

[PiXieCath]

Mouhihihi! Mic, read my thread for the beginning, you have been more helpfull than you think!;-)

And yes, it is a boy but I'dnt know either how I will call it. I like Felix...

Here is some new pics of Felix!(maybe) First live meel today. 1 blue leg hermit and one margarita. Just taking few minutes to Felix to smash and eat it!;-)

Haha!I already think about setting up a new tank and buying an other one!(I would like a G.Smithii or a G.Ternatensis) It's official, I'm stomatolic! lololol

 

[micstarz]

Felix is so adorable! He seems to have a lot of white color (which is good)

I like how his eyes are so alert and looking upwards even while he is handling the snail

I think I will name my G. glabrous Taigresa...
Help me choose from:
Taigresa/Taigressa (As in tigress-a)
Tagresa (Tah-greese-a)
Tamiera


My late peacock mantis is now Satira...

I wish I could sex my G. viridis and P. ciliata...both are same color, similar size and reclusive...><

Cath, I almost cried yesterday...I would have paid the total removal of all my fingernails and toenails for the means and money to accomodate all those cute chiragras, smithiis and unidentified "Odontodactylus-like" mantis shrimp...

G. glabrous is a very good choice as well! Or wait for a P. ciliata or something similar.

BTW, I still haven't managed to get my stomatopod page updated yet (and I'm kinda glad, because you keep producing cuter pics of Felix)

He looks like the cute deadly type just like Puss in Boots

 

[PiXieCath]

Why it's good for a peacock to have a lot of white? (I'm curious, I want to know!lol)

For your new mantis name, I like Taigresa and Tamiera (this one is my favorite)

I'm currently searching for a Smithii...but not sure it's easy to find in my country... Anyway, I've to buy another tank before doing anything else!lol

 

[micstarz]

I don't know, I guess it just looks very nice for me...it stands out well

I think I'll ponder the names for a while more...

My 15gal mantis sytem (G. glabrous and G. viridis) is being hit by some brown fuzzy algae (mainly in the refugium) because the new season brings back the ridiculous sunlight. I have plucked out most of it and shaded the main tank. Because the macroalgae needs light, I put some translucent board behind it (both tanks are on the windowsill)

Any other suggestions to starve out the brown fuzzy algae?