ok decided i want to join your ranks be need to learn 1st!

Lunchbucket

Premium Member
ok, i really want to get a mantis. they are fansinating and beautiful...BUT i need to learn about them 1st! i am not gonna hop in w/ not knowledge and kill one or mess up. so are there any books specifically on them. or where can i read about what they need to be happy and so forth.

would i need an acrylic tank or is that just a scare tatic?

like a 10gal or less tank 4-6" sand bed of fine grain? 1 13w PC bulb, 5lbs LR, hot filter w/ media removed, 50w heater, the usual stuff for a tank.

what about a skimmer? is that a good thing since they probably have a high nutrient environmetn due to high feedings.

any websites or places i should go?

thanks for all the help
hope to have one sometime in the near future!
Lunchbucket
 
I have mine in a 6 gallon eclipse tank with bio weel, heater, the usual. You dont need an acylric tank they very rarely break glass but if you want an acylric tank you can get one. I dont have a skimmer manily because i dont have the money, but if you have a small tank like a 6 gallon you might want one beacause its hard to mantain water conditions in a small tank. Even though mantis are hardy if they have bad water conditions they mabe wont die then but when they molt. Mantis are extrenely vurnable during their molt. You can tell when they molt because they wont eat mabe a day or 2 before it. Here is a website with everything you need to know - http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/ Here is moviegeeks website, he posts on this board sometimes - http://www.softfrag.50g.com/ Mantis are kinda hard to buy, being not that common in local fish stores when ou get realy for one you can order one online here - http://www.anchofish.com/inverts_shrimps_lobsters.htm
 
thanks death shrimp. hopefully i will have a set up early next year.

what kind of DSB do you use? can they make thier homes in the fine stuff like southdown?

nah i won't order from www.anchofish.com they screwed me too many times. i think ffexpress has them too.

thanks
Lunchbucket
 
Hey when youre ready get your animals from fcamdog.Hes got ciliata and mutatus he catches in Hawaii.Unfortunately I have to wait till I get in my house and get set up.No sense plumbing in more tanks only to rip it all apart and re do it when I move.
Personally I like acrylic,easy to drill.I dont like small tanks,bad things happen WAY too fast for me,especially with animals capable of eating quite a lot.My mantis are all in small tanks 20s 10s and 5s with outflows and returns hooked to my 125 reefs sump.As long as you watch the water quality and dont "forget" to do water changes any size is fine.Dr Caldwell posted he has animals in half gallon containers with no filter,just twice weekly water changes.
 
cool, so i wouldn't NEED a skimmer. i have a 10gal nano that is rocking and i do 2gal weekly water change so if i had to do a 1-2gal on a mantis it wouldn't be a big deal!

i will check out that site and try to learn
these things facinate me!
later
Lunchbucket
 
Hey, Lunchbucket.....I thought you were trying to save money....but it seems you've gotten the "fun tank" bug: nano & mantis!

In addition to my 10 & 12 gal nanos, I also nahe a 6 gal Eclipse mantis tank....I run it with the stock flourescent lighting, removed the bio wheel, added 2.5" Southdown substrate and one large, and one small piece of live rock. My bug is a 2" smasher: lollipop green with turqoise highlights. He's a real ****er.

Granted, I only have the mantis & a clean-up crew in there (sand-sifting clams, snails, worms, hermits), and no corals. Doing a weekly water change is fine...

I'll get some pics up soon, since, as you know, I just got my digital camera. I've held off on this tank, since it's got a pretty ugly case of valonia, but no corals to harm. Pic within the next two or three days.
 
i am just planning!! maybe w/ the extra money from working over x-mas break and spring break!!

yeah get pics that would be great!

later
Lunchbucket
 
ok, just planning as of now...hope to get one by summer.

gonna make my own tank!! out of 1/4" acrylic. or should i use 1/2" or just buy a eclipes 12? i would rather let the guy have some room 12gallons.

i will use sand that is fine like southdown but bought from www.purearagonite.com i have 40lbs just begging to be used. so i will use a 4-6" sand bed.

as for a tube for my "bad ***" i was thinking of a PVC drain waste tube

it looks like this kind of

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the up and down part is 3" PVC and is 6" long maybe. and the horizontal is 2". the top and bottom ends are 3" open so it is kind of like a T-type fitting for PVC. i figured this should make a cool hole for them. i could place one of the 3" (top) sized up against the glass under the sand so i could look into the tube if need be...but i would cover it w/ black paper as not to disturb it all of the time. then it could use the other end 3" or the 2" ends for chamber entrances or i will "cap" the other 3" end and let it use the 2" one and angle it up toward the surface of the sand. thought that should work awesome!

i am thinking i will get a cheap skimmer like a prizm to help w/ water quality and will do 1-2gal weekly water changes so it has the trace minerals it needs. i don't want the water to get out of hand since they would require meaty raw foods. thinking i will feed shrimp from the Local super market.

anything else for circulation?

am i missing any detail?

oh yeah i would add a lot of shells, snail and others for him to use and play w/

add a few pieces of LR for it to utilize and for some filtration

thanks
Lunchbucket
 
For some reason I just never thought of linking all the tanks' water systems...i.e., mantis tank(s), reef tank, agressive FOWLR tank...

I've got four 5.5 gallon tanks currently serving as fry tanks/QT tanks. If I set up overflows that piped down to the sump with the heaters, skimmer, etc., that also served a large tank (75+ gallons), that would make controlling the water quality easy in comparison to independent little tanks...yes?
 
Only bad part is disease,if it hits one it gets them all.Just plan things out first and make provisions for future expansion otherwise the whole system gets shut down while the pvc glue cures.I like my system,very easy to maintain.
 
For behavioral observations, we sometimes set up Lysiosquillina in giant "ant farm" tanks, 30 inches long and tall, 5 inches wide. We then fill the tank with sand 20 inches deep around a clear burrow. The sides are covered with black plastic that can re removed for observation. I then couple this tank to a 100 gal system using a small pump and return siphon. The water quality is great and I suspect that the super thick sand bed even functions partially to reduce nitrate. If I nee to tear down the observation tank, I don't have to muck up a functioning 100 gal system. Also, there is no run-in time. If you have a large system, you might consider these smaller satellite tanks.

Roy
 
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