Please let me know if I have a suitable mantis home

[ninjafish]

Hello all. I have been lurking in this forum for some time and am thinking about getting a mantis for my 2gal cube. I am not worried about my water parameters at all, but I have a really shallow sandbed and I know that these guys like to burrow. Check out the video I made of my tank and let me know if there is any way that it would work in my tank. And yes, I would move all my inverts out if I got one.
Thanks for you help.

- Chad

 

[rwhhunt]

I dont see the video, but if you inserted ome pvc or abs plastic piping about 1-2 inches in diameter and covered it with rock and sand a mantis would be fine as long as you got a small wennera or something... 2 gallons is mighty small though,...i've heard 5 is about the minimum...But I have also heard success stories with smaller... You also would not have to remove ALL of your inverts...I would keep some snails and hermits to help with clean up, and they may be eaten after a while, but my 6 in peacock doesnt even really mess with my small blue legged hermits.

 

[Carinya]

Hey. I've been a fan of your tank on n-r. I wonder if you'd have any trouble with it trying to swim down the pipe to your sump-in-a-can. I forget if you have any type of cover over that pipe. Also, yes they like to burrow but you could maybe rig up something with pvc, as suggested. I'd only try the smallest of small mantis in that setup. Starfire glass, right? I know it's more optically clear...is it any more brittle? Susceptible to getting shattered by a smack with a dactyl? Just a thought.

 

[ninjafish]

rwhhunt,
you can check out the video by clicking on the red house above my posts. I usually watch it with madia player in skin mode so I can adjust the size of the screen. Good point about the plastic pipe-cave. I know that privacy and stress might be a concern in a tank that has 360 degree visibility.


- Chad

 

[ninjafish]

Carinya,

Hey thanks . I'm glad you like it. Yes the intake bulkhead has a plastic cone-shaped filter screen threaded into it. The slots in the screen are fine enough that even my sexy shrimp are three times too big to fit through!
I don't know how starfire compares in strength to regular glass but I made this tank with 5/16" glass which is thicker than my 20gal came with. Hopefully it would stand up to a dactyl strike from a really small mantis.

I agree that I would need the smallest mantis possible. The problem is, my LFS cannot order specific species and it may be quite a while until they get something suitable. It seems like they usually get in peacocks .

- Chad

 

[rwhhunt]

That is One Sweet tank! I thin ka colorful mantis would be extremely cool in there! You could probably keep a decent clean up crew, of hermits, snails, and urchins. without having to replace the eaten ones too often.

 

[ninjafish]

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with how it all turned out. I think a mantis would just make it perfect though. I was thinking about a small Gonodactylis (don't know if I spelled that right). What do you think?
As I said, I am at the mercy of whatever the LFS can bring in, but I will try and buy the smallest specimine I can.

- Chad

 

[rwhhunt]

I would go with the list of medium sized mantis: wennera, smithii, viridis etc.. That could be an extremely cool set up!

 

[ninjafish]

Thanks for your help! I will get photos and use your list to make my purchace.
Hopefully soon I will have some good news...

- Chad

 

[Uriel]

Ninjafish, sweet tank!

I had my little n Wennerae (2") in a 1.5 gallon hex for a month or two before moving him up to a 5 gallon (He just died, and now the 5 gallon
is home to a blue/gold damsel,an emerald mithrax and the soon to be introduced goby/pistol shrimp team...but I digress).

Anyways, if you go over to grimreefers.com, in the mantis forums, Slylie (one of the mods) is in Canada. He might be able to help you locate one up there.


-Ron

 

[ninjafish]

Ron,
Thanks for the tip, I will see if I can track one down there. Another good thing about getting a mantis is that it will be my ticket to being a mamber of this forum, everyone here is really helpful.
Cheers,

- Chad

 

[Carinya]

Would Tampa Bay Saltwater ship to you in Canada? The carry N. Wenneras.

 

[ninjafish]

Thanks for the tip. I have just fired off an email to them to find out. That's the 4th online vender that I have contacted... hopefully someone comes through.
I'll keep you posted.

- Chad

 

[sharkdude]

Cool video expose NinjaFish!

so the cannister has been replaced by the dosing pump that comes up trhough bottom bulkheads?

 

[ninjafish]

Would Tampa Bay Saltwater ship to you in Canada? The carry N. Wenneras.

I'm talking to them right now but I don't think it will be feasable. When I was getting a quote for price I suggested "so, it might be around $100 after shipping?"
The reply I got was "no, it will be very expensive" :eek1:

I guess we will wait and see...

- Chad

 

[ninjafish]

Cool video expose NinjaFish!

so the cannister has been replaced by the dosing pump that comes up trhough bottom bulkheads?

No, the cannister filter is the heart of the system, it is a chaeto 'fuge that provides all of my water movement (40X turnover) and much of my filtration. The dosing pump is connected, via a t-fitting, to the intake hose for the cannister filter. It adds 3/4 of a milliliter every three minutes and makes it so that I don't have to do water topoffs... just fill the bucket every 20 days. Hope this makes sense, I didn't capture it very well in the video.

- Chad