mikebok August 28, 2007 Share August 28, 2007 Hello, I've been living just south of Baltimore and attending graduate school for molecular biology(studying mantis shrimp vision) for the past year. I had to break down my last reef tank, a 50g, just over a year ago when I moved to Baltimore. I've managed to suppress the reefing bug since then, but I think its time to get back into the hobby. Being a starving grad student, I've decided to go with a very small display tank, no larger than 10 gallons. I intend for this to be a heavily DIY project, making use of as much of my old hardware as possible. (If anyone has any useful hardware lying around you want to offload cheap, I'm your man.) I'm also gonna need some serious advice since this is my first true DIY reef; especially regarding lighting, and sump/fuge construction(I have a 15g I want to use for this). Any advice on how to begin planning such a project would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcerna August 28, 2007 Share August 28, 2007 Welcome Mike, If you want the best deals for equipment they are located in the for sale/trade section of the boards. Members have access to the postings and I bet you will save even after membership fee. You can also access other discussions and group buys going on in Virginia, DC, and Maryland. I have not heard of anyone yet to complain about their memebership. Good luck and welcome back to the hobby. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak August 28, 2007 Share August 28, 2007 (edited) David pretty much nailed it. JOIN US!! FEED THE ADDICTION! Ok all kidding aside, there are soo many benifits of becomming a full member of wamas, lots of adivce, cheap equipment, great people, great functions, and cheap too. Oh and great people. Take a look around you'll find plenty of ideas oh and You have a pm from me Edited August 28, 2007 by jason the filter freak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite August 28, 2007 Share August 28, 2007 Hi, wlecome to WAMAS. Jason is the DIY king - I bet you can get lots of ideas from him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L August 28, 2007 Share August 28, 2007 welcome to the boards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 28, 2007 Share August 28, 2007 Mantis shrimp vision, eh? Maybe you can help Sarah catch her mantis shrimp! http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...5240&st=125 Welcome aboard! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfish August 29, 2007 Share August 29, 2007 (edited) Welcome to the board. What aspect of a mantis shrimp's vision are you look at and for out of curiousity? What makes a mantis vision uniquie? Edited August 29, 2007 by kingfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 August 29, 2007 Share August 29, 2007 Hi and welcome! I'll second, third, or whatever about joining. As far as a DIY 10 gallon reef, a lot of that depends on what you're going to have in your tank. There's a ton of variables that will come into play such as what types of corals you want to house, what type of setup you would like to have, what you envision as your other inhabitants, the list goes on and on. This will effect the type of flow you have, the type of lighting you have, and how you design your system. There are tons and tons of things you need to consider, but in a smaller tank, often the best solution is to make it as simple as possible. A small HOB filter is very useful and can take the place of a sump. You can easily take a small tank and forego any skimming and supplementation by simply doing small water changes very often. Check out the nano forum here and get in touch with Sugar Magnolia. She has some of the best husbandry of nano and pico reefs around and has a lot of DIY ideas that pertain to smaller systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebok August 29, 2007 Author Share August 29, 2007 Welcome to the board. What aspect of a mantis shrimp's vision are you look at and for out of curiousity? What makes a mantis vision uniquie? Believe it or not, those little death machines in your tank have the most complicated visual systems ever described. They put other invertebrates and vertebrates like us to shame. Some species have at least 16 different classes of photoreceptors, compared to our 4. They can see at least 8 colors, 6 UV wavelengths, and polarized light as well. In addition each individual eye has tri-nocular vision, made possible by the midband and two peripheral lobes. Humans have binocular vision provided by both our eyes together, so with both eyes mantis shrimp technically have hexa-nocular vision. Their compound eye morphology is completely unique compared to other crustaceans, so we are interested in the genetic and evolutionary basis for it. I am looking at the different types of opsin proteins expressed in their photoreceptors that transduce visual signals. They are incredibly interesting animals all around. Their behavior and bio-mechanics(pertaining to their raptorial appendage strikes) are also studied by many people around the world. Lemme know if you want to know more, I can talk your ear off or direct you to some great literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal August 29, 2007 Share August 29, 2007 Wow! You lost me right after "each individual eye has..." Sounds very interesting though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman August 29, 2007 Share August 29, 2007 Believe it or not, those little death machines in your tank have the most complicated visual systems ever described. They put other invertebrates and vertebrates like us to shame. Some species have at least 16 different classes of photoreceptors, compared to our 4. They can see at least 8 colors, 6 UV wavelengths, and polarized light as well. In addition each individual eye has tri-nocular vision, made possible by the midband and two peripheral lobes. Humans have binocular vision provided by both our eyes together, so with both eyes mantis shrimp technically have hexa-nocular vision. Their compound eye morphology is completely unique compared to other crustaceans, so we are interested in the genetic and evolutionary basis for it. I am looking at the different types of opsin proteins expressed in their photoreceptors that transduce visual signals. They are incredibly interesting animals all around. Their behavior and bio-mechanics(pertaining to their raptorial appendage strikes) are also studied by many people around the world. Lemme know if you want to know more, I can talk your ear off or direct you to some great literature. So you're saying they can find food, kill it, eat it, and watch out for other predators - REALLY WELL! Even in the dim light in my sump! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger August 29, 2007 Share August 29, 2007 Dude this is awesome to have another reef related expert in WAMAS! I have always enjoyed seeing Peacock Mantis shrimp tanks hopefully one day I will set one up. BTW welcome to the Club!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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