Today is the day!
- Thread starter dustin.chirico
- Start date
Cloudburst2000
Active member
When I order my rock, I'm actually hoping for a mantis. I would love to set up a separate mantis tank.
StephLionfish
New member
Your tank is looking awesome! That's a terrifying wave going on there.. :uhoh2:
What are you doing with your mantis shrimp?
What are you doing with your mantis shrimp?
PorkchopExpress
New member
i had one as well and thankfully he didn't bother anyone...after 2-3 months was the first time i saw him...i had no idea what it was so i left it alone then did some research to find out it was a polyclad flatworm that i should have taken out...so i was bummed that i didn't remove him when i had the chance
i didn't see it again until a month later when i opened the tank and there he was at the top of the glass just chilling...so he's out now
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v637/branas/?action=view¤t=IMG_0399.mp4
dustin.chirico
New member
We did too! We caught him on day one! Then came the others...
dustin.chirico
New member
I already have one.
Lime green! Handsome. Ours are all purple tops, orange bottoms, and teal strikers.
dustin.chirico
New member
Thanks for your appreciation! I really have to get some new pics up.
I spent some time really honing that wave! With the Elos drain setup and my return pump on full, it'll get within a half inch of the top while waving! Since the drain can handle more than the flow, and I don't run the pump all the way up, it never gets up that high! So, it's totally terrifying when you first see it, but it just can't go over the top. It'll fluctuate a little over an inch when the waves go by, just awesome! I don't run it like that all the time, maybe for a few hours twice a week, while conducting Nutrient Transport Mode.
One small mantis lives in the refugium rock, number two was gifted out, and the third, well he has yet to be apprehended.
dustin.chirico
New member
That's the magic carpet I saw, right there! Thanks!
AlexS95
Active member
How did you get one and two out?
dustin.chirico
New member
During the TBS Part 1 install, I saw #1 looking at me :wavehand: out of a pencil diametered hole. Just luck of rock placement really. I picked up the rock and he jetted out, where I netted him. So easy...
#2 attempted to eat my finger while I was adjusting a sponge. It was at moonrise, and he was hard to see. That may have helped me too though. He was in a rock topping deep one-way hole. I grabbed some raw shrimp, stuck a chop stick through it, and waved it in front of him for like ten minutes. He got hungry and would grab it, but his back end was wedged in the hole entrance. Any fast movement and he would zip back in. I ended up grabbing the whole rock and holding it over the sump, while my wife squirted fresh water from the top off into the hole. Eventually, he took the dive into the sump.
#3 is in the back center, between the wall and the rock. This happens to be a huge, heavy, bottom rock with a relatively happy Condy and some yellow sponge on it. I don't want to pull it only to find he has a back door or two. If I can verify his existance, I'll do what I have to do.
dustin.chirico
New member
A few recent pictures and updates!
This is my big decorator crab that lives in the fuge. I noticed she has a "trap door" on her belly that she opens and fiddles around in. Looks like it's full of little red eggs? Eating supermarket shrimp:
Going for a chaeto ride:
Starburst Polyps
Sponge
Some of the coral that came with my TBS order. I have maybe six large specimens, and dozens of small:
My peppermint shrimps. "They" are also carrying eggs <3 <3
Frogspawn
White Pulsing Xenia that doesn't pulse LOL. I have the rock isolated and hopefully can keep it there. I just think it's amazing.
Torch
FTS, a little stirred up
The condy always moves to the shade and is behind an island now.
The flame scallop has selected a nice cave by the drain and filters there all day and night.
The candelabras have all turned a nice milk chocolate shade of brown. My son calls them "bones" because of their skeleton hand-like appearance when all the polyps are in.
The clowns are just a ball to watch, surfing and eating all the time. The #3 Mantis seems intimidated by them and mostly hides in his lair when they coast by. Hopefully they don't let their guard down before I can catch him!
I bought some nerite snails to fill in for some lost soldiers (to the mantis or polyclad flatworm). I did notice however that some of them have been hijacked by the larger hermits.
The cukes are getting huge!
We couldn't be happier!!
This is my big decorator crab that lives in the fuge. I noticed she has a "trap door" on her belly that she opens and fiddles around in. Looks like it's full of little red eggs? Eating supermarket shrimp:
Going for a chaeto ride:
Starburst Polyps
Sponge
Some of the coral that came with my TBS order. I have maybe six large specimens, and dozens of small:
My peppermint shrimps. "They" are also carrying eggs <3 <3
Frogspawn
White Pulsing Xenia that doesn't pulse LOL. I have the rock isolated and hopefully can keep it there. I just think it's amazing.
Torch
FTS, a little stirred up
The condy always moves to the shade and is behind an island now.
The flame scallop has selected a nice cave by the drain and filters there all day and night.
The candelabras have all turned a nice milk chocolate shade of brown. My son calls them "bones" because of their skeleton hand-like appearance when all the polyps are in.
The clowns are just a ball to watch, surfing and eating all the time. The #3 Mantis seems intimidated by them and mostly hides in his lair when they coast by. Hopefully they don't let their guard down before I can catch him!
I bought some nerite snails to fill in for some lost soldiers (to the mantis or polyclad flatworm). I did notice however that some of them have been hijacked by the larger hermits.
The cukes are getting huge!
We couldn't be happier!!
StephLionfish
New member
Do we get a shot of that sump? From the shot it looks very tidy ( if sumps can be tidy...) That decor crab on the chaeto is too funny...does your chaeto tumble? Cause that would be a hilarious video of the crab hanging on while it spins.. The torch is pretty. Again, I love the way your tank looks!
mndfreeze
Invert Sexy Time!
The mantis you posted was gorgeous. I couldn't tell if it was a Wennerae or another gulf species but do send it to a good home if you catch it! The mantis forum people will be angruh if you 'lose' it like the gorrilla crabs.
My new tank being built, soon to be full of TBS rock, yay, is a mantis species tank. I actually have to ask Richard to try to NOT send me a mantis so my current one doesn't fight with it.
My new tank being built, soon to be full of TBS rock, yay, is a mantis species tank. I actually have to ask Richard to try to NOT send me a mantis so my current one doesn't fight with it.
dustin.chirico
New member
The mantis you posted was gorgeous. I couldn't tell if it was a Wennerae or another gulf species but do send it to a good home if you catch it! The mantis forum people will be angruh if you 'lose' it like the gorrilla crabs.
My new tank being built, soon to be full of TBS rock, yay, is a mantis species tank. I actually have to ask Richard to try to NOT send me a mantis so my current one doesn't fight with it.
All 3 mantis shrimp are the same species to my eye. Although they appear really purple under the LEDs I believe they are all Wennerae. I still have the first, the smallest, living in my fuge. I feed him certain crabs I catch and raw supermarket shrimp. The 2nd went to a good home. I haven't caught the third yet, but will do the same when I do. Odd thing is that at one time all 3 lived in the same tank, in harmony for some time, as far as I know. In fact I may have recently seen two (number 4????) in number 3's home. Mantis lovers? I wasn't sure if it was an optical illusion with the headlamp, so I'll wait until I know for sure...
dustin.chirico
New member
Thanks, I try to keep it looking good down there. I'll take updated sump shots soon - the originals are in my build thread on the Elos page. Sometimes I get the chaeto rotating, and yes, the deco rides it (he has some personality for sure). I can't keep it going for long though, it gets caught on the live rock...
Cloudburst2000
Active member
I love your tank. I can't wait to get my Elos Midi. Work has been so nuts for the last several months that I just can't keep up. Too many pharmaceuticals to test and not enough time. Not to mention that my project's workload is doubling in the next couple months. I don't know when I'll ever have time to get it set up 
I have to live vicariously through you :lol:
I have to live vicariously through you :lol:
dustin.chirico
New member
I had some downtime during Hurricane Irene and went after Mantis #3 and a big rock that just never was able to fit into my aquascaping. A few great results:
I caught Mantis #3!
I found not 1, but 2 Polyclad Flatworms on the bottom of the rock. Nasty.
I was able to create much more swimming (and viewing) room over the rocks.
A delay on my DD order this week due to the weather event, but things could've been much worse, so I am thankful!
I caught Mantis #3!
I found not 1, but 2 Polyclad Flatworms on the bottom of the rock. Nasty.
I was able to create much more swimming (and viewing) room over the rocks.
A delay on my DD order this week due to the weather event, but things could've been much worse, so I am thankful!
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