Possible C. Dubia pair! is it possible

[mattyice]

Well i think a LFS has a pair of C. Dubia, both are in the same tank are pretty close to eachother, i saw no aggression for the almost 2 hours i observed them in their tank, is it possible that they could be a pair or is there more of a chance they since they are spearers that there is not much aggression towards eachother?

 

[Uriel]

Dr Roy has said that the spearers (Except for P cilata, which was once a smasher) are less aggressive towards each other. A mated pair, wouldn't that be awesome?

there is a species of tiny spearers that he mentioned once, they live in close proximity and you can keep them together in 'ant farm' mode, as he mentioned it.
I would love to have a tank of a tiny mantis 'City' like this.

-Uriel

 

[mattyice]

that would be awesome, im going to try and get a deal for them i already could have a tank setup in a few hours and they would give me established water from their system to start it out, they also had a very ****ed off and very large (approx. 4") N. Wennerae, they were all very expensive at $60 each im going to try and get both dubia for 90

 

[Msby12]

whoa dang! $60? but a mated pair would be awesome! let us know how that turns out

(Can you imagine a Mantis Shrimp Ant Farm like Uriel said?) ^_^

 

[Gonodactylus]

Don't get too excited. They are not a pair, They may even be the same sex. Squillds, particular when stressed by being in captivity and not in a burrow often can be kept together with little or no aggression. What you are seeing is most likely an artifact of the situation.

Roy

 

[justinl]

gee. that was a let down.

 

[justinl]

hey matty, even if you can't get a pair, I would still definitely take one of them. C. dubia are far from common place and if they're like the ones in Dr. Roy's ID site, then they are wicked beautiful. Wish I had a chance at one of them.

 

[mattyice]

they are just as beautiful if not more

 

[mattyice]

im thinking about going up next weekend to get them and maybe setup my 20L for them, they are extremely active during the day up at the LFS so im hoping they will be the same at my house, Dr. Roy would a 20L be big enough for 2 of them at about 3" long? also you said muddy bottom for them (do i have to use miracle mud? or can i use some really fine sand for them? or can i just use dirt from homedepot?
i shouldnt need a heater, my house is a constant 70-73* that should be enough i remember you saying that they were a cooler water species

 

[Gonodactylus]

First, sand will not work. They cannot burrow in it. Use mud or pvc. I don't know hat filtration you are using, but a mud substrate aquaium with two squillids seems awfully small. THis is just 5 gal. In a perfect, well run it aquarium you might get buy with it. You are talking about setting up a new system with no time to run the system in. Sounds like a very bad idea to me.

Roy

 

[mattyice]

ooo sorry i didnt mean 20 liters i meant a 20L there would be run time, by getting them i mean seeing if they can hold them for a few weeks, so what mud do you recommend, something like refugium mud? or will normal dirst work?

 

[Gonodactylus]

The various refugia muds seem to work, although given the expense, I keep my C. dubia in pvc burrows. They are doing fine.

Roy

 

[mattyice]

alrighty thanks, i will keep a small 50W heater in the filter and im guessing that frozen silversides with some selcon dripped on them will be fine?

so PVC burrows in the sand it is and should i add some bends or will the be pretty active during the day?