Peacock Paradise Buildup!
- Thread starter sjmantis
- Start date
sjmantis
On the cliff by the sea..
Thanks! Yea it's some random polyps I got from my lfs. Ive been feeding them hikari marine pellets and they grow super fast.
That's just a scarlet hermit with a feather duster on his back. The macro is saw blade caulerpa
rachel060186
New member
Where are you getting yours from Moort?
ritter6788
Say no to clove polyps
Just wait. One day soon it will just decide to start tearing the tank up. Mine didn't do much for a week or so and then decided that there should be no sand on the bottom of the burrow. I'll have to take new pictures but I have about 6-8 inch pile of sand in one corner of the tank where my mantis kicks it out. It was a sandstorm for a few days. Mine also takes the shells and rubble rock that is doesn't use in the burrow and makes piles in the corners of the tank. He even makes coffee tables,
ashtree68
Active member
They're not super active at first, mine took a week or so to even start building it's burrow, but then built like mad (if I recall a molt was coming up) hid in there for a few days and then was out and pretty active, then my rock work collapsed and her burrow got ruined, and she couldn't rebuild it there. Flicked my arms a few times while I was trying to rebuild of all the rock work, now she has 3 different burrows that she runs between depending on her mood. One she doesn't have any sand in it, completely blew away about 4 inches of it to clear it.
I've got a coral banded shrimp in with mine, they've been together since I got my mantis and they've ignored each other completely.
I've got a coral banded shrimp in with mine, they've been together since I got my mantis and they've ignored each other completely.
sjmantis
On the cliff by the sea..
I take it that you have taken the two shrimp out of the tank, or are you leaving them in for expensive meals
They went in the sump before I even got the mantis. I'm actually thinking of returning or selling the fire shrimp.
Ash, Ritter, he actually has been flinging sand in the front and back of the rock pile and has dug himself in really good. I've heard a lot of clicking so he's definitely making a home for himself. There's also some broken up snail shells so I know he's eating.
Moort82
New member
He's a hitcher from a friends rock. Any day now:thumbsup:
sjmantis
On the cliff by the sea..
Any idea what kind?
sjmantis
On the cliff by the sea..
So mr mantis is doing good, has a complete burrow and everything. Yesterday I fed him a snail and noticed something kinda funny. What he was doing is he will hit the snail once, then grab it and slightly push it into the sand while rotating it, then hit it again. He did this repeatedly until the snail was ready to munch on. Anyone else have one that does this?
ritter6788
Say no to clove polyps
Yep, mine does the same thing. He will turn the snail to find the easiest place to crack it open. It seems to me like they start at the part where the snail comes out of the shell and break it, then pull the meat out rather than smash the whole shell. When he gets a little out he will break off another piece to get in deeper. He only hits small snails maybe twice during the entire meal.
ritter6788
Say no to clove polyps
They do that with crabs and even then the strikes are calculated. In my fiddler crab video, the mantis grabs the large claw first, pins it back and disables it. Then it starts to work on the rest of the crab. I think on things like hermit crabs that are a little quicker to get away they try to stun it and then go for the meat. Nearly all the snails that I have fed to my mantids are opened from the bottom part only. I rarely see a snail get it's whole shell busted up, just around the opening and then they pull the meat out. Maybe it's something they learn to do. I'm guessing it takes a lot of energy to bust a thick part of a shell so I think they learn to go the easy way in. Even when I feed shrimp on a stick my peacock has learned that is doesn't have to strike to get the meat, he grabs the shrimp and whips his tail to pull the shrimp off. My other peacock would do a barrell roll and twist the shrimp off the end but neither of them strike much at a piece of raw shrimp anymore.
sjmantis
On the cliff by the sea..
Oh he completely obliterated this snail, turned it into a million pieces. On a side note he has made a front burrow facing the front of the tank and a smaller burrow in the back. Don't know if this is because he is still shy but he spends all his time on the back. Also he knocked the legs off a larger hermit and kicked it out of his burrow leaving it for dead. I had to remove it so it didn't just decay
