RIP Godzilla

L

lisajulia

Member
Awhile back I posted pics/story about 'Godzilla', my GF Mantis.
We have been packing for vacation and I checked his water and thought I would do a water change before leaving...
Within minutes of the water change, Godzilla curled up in a ball and DIED! I am am beside myself. This creature has proved to be indestructible...and I can't believe I killed him!!! I feel soooo horrible right now, as I should.
This just happened within the past half hour...we have had him for about 3 years.
WHY did I change the water?? WTH was I thinking??? Dh said...the old saying is true..if it ain't broken, don't fix it.
I feel terrible...and my 3year old daughter is going to flip.
I really NEED another one soon...but am leaving for a week to the Outer Banks, NC...anyway..I just had to vent to those who would understand...fwiw, Godzilla obviously PREFERRED less than perfect water quality and I obviously shocked him with too big of a water change...
I have been in the fish hobby for over 20yrs with FW and reefs...I can't believe what an idiot I am...and to think I WANTED to kill Godzilla when we first discovered him in my display a couple years ago.
Okay...venting over...anyone have a GF they would like to part with?
:sad1:
 
i know how you feel. i've made so many stupid mistakes involving water changes, and top-offing. it happens to all of us, don't beat yourself up about it. i'm sorry to hear about your mantis, it was a beautiful creature. hopefully you will find another one soon to replace it.
 
Sorry about your loss. I know just how you feel. Two weeks ago I was going on a buisness trip and did a big water change in my Reef. In doing so i moved a piece of hammer down onto a thorny oysture that my Solerinsis Fairy wrasse slept in. You got it, he was in their and I didn't move the coral back until I was back and had the sickening feeling he was in their as I hadn't seen him.
 
oKay....YOu will NOT believe this....but after I posted this, I went back down to make sure Godzilla was still 'resting' in his tube because my 3yo was on her way home from a play date...I went down and almost had a heart attack...GODZILLA ISN'T DEAD!!! He wasn't moving a lot, but he WAS NOT dead...so I left him alone..we ran some errands..and sure enough, we just got home and he's acting like nothing ever happened. I am SO glad I didn't take him out of the tank...I mean I poked him with a chop stick and he was STIFF and NOT moving AT ALL...but I left him in there thinking my daughter might not realize he died till we were able to replace him...Anyway..thank you for the support....but it seems Godzilla has been misnamed...Seems to me like he should be called Lazarus! We just added it as his middle name lol.
Thanks again! WOHOO!!!
 
haha i'm so glad he pulled through. i've seen behaviors like that at a LFS once where the mantis would play dead when it's added to a new environment. :D i guess they really are tough little critters
 
what kind of water did you use for the water change? hopefully not tap?
Usually people use Reverse Osmosis water or Deionized water for salt water mix?
Personally, the water I put in my tanks must be water can I regularly consume or better (i never drink tap).

You seem pretty experienced, so there are articles on reefkeeping addressing the toxicity on freshly made saltwater, maybe that was the cause.

I am just speculating from little information, and its great that your animal made it through, but hopefully this never happens again. :rollface:
 
This reminds me of the time, when I was a newbie SW hobbyist. I came into my room to find my coral banded shrimp dead at the bottom of the tank. I pulled his limp body from the tank and threw him in the trash. I came back and there he was in the fish tank. I nearly had a heart attack. :eek1: :eek2:

I didn't realize at the time that the molt could be an entire replica of the original without a break, including the long white antennae!:lol:
:rollface:
 
I threw away a "dead" Kole tang one time...glad it was in the garbage and not the porcelain throne cause a couple of minutes later he was thrashing around...seems they can be sound sleepers and the lights hadn't come on in the tank yet...I spotted his "corpse" by the grow light on my orchids...now I double check everything to make sure it's really gone. Love my mantis, glad to hear Godzilla is okay!
 
good to hear he's OK. Mantis don't need optimal water quality. You can easily use water out of your 72 to do your water changes.
 
My mantis survived a complete cycling... up to 5PPM Ammonia. They are impossible to kill... trust me I have tried.
 
Not all are impossible to kill!! Some are very intollerant to bad water parameters! But yes, some are very very hard to kill!! I dropped the salinity in my mantis tank from 1.031 (yes, i know, really high) to 1.026 in a matter of 3 hours, and he is doing better than ever!! Even snagged a quick dwarf hermit snack yesterday as soon as he was dropped in!
 
Thanks everyone!
I am happy to report Godzilla is still doing well...We were on vacation for a week, and came home to him leaping and flipping...like he was happy to see us :lol:

Oh..and yes..I only use cured RO/DI water....I think it's because I changed SO much at once that it shocked him...won't make that mistake twice. I consider myself VERY lucky...

And LOL about the coral banded shrimp story! SAME THING happened to me! I thought for sure I killed it...removed the corpse...was totally bummed out...only to see him come flying out behind a coral at feeding time...I could not believe the molt included the ENTIRE body! Pretty fascinating!
Thanks again for the support!
Lisa
 
I changed my water with what was said to be 'saltwater'. It wasnt, but I was nearly done by the time I noticed the swirly quality of freshwater. I tasted it, and sure enough, it was. I was freaked out (and out of real saltwater) so I had to rush to the fish store and get super salted water and gosh, it was a mess. My mantis pulled through, but it gave me a scare. Glad Godzilla is doing well!
 
Hey Lisa,

Where did you "find" godzilla? I have been looking everywhere around here and can't find one at all!! Both Fish Safari and Animal Jungle, as well as a few i between.
 
Godzilla came in on some live rock when I first set up my tank. I had NO idea he was there till I saw him one day....and it TOTALLY freaked me out..he vanished in a flash, so I didn't get a very good view...then I heard some clicking sounds, and I posted to one of the 'fish' forums. I described what I saw and heard, and sure enough it was a mantis!
I battled for a LONG time trying to get it out of the display tank. It was eating my cleaning crew and I was sick and tired of scrubbing my glass because my snails were gone.
I had a terrible time getting him out, and ended up having to take the entire tank apart. It was a HUGE pain in the *ss, and I thought for sure I would just squish the little bugger...but I relented...and now he dwells in my former 10g QT tank.
I think I posted his 'story' somewhere on this board.
I love him now...but not when he was creating havoc in my display.
 
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