extreme_tooth_decay January 2, 2009 Share January 2, 2009 (edited) Well, I've been busy setting up a dedicated Oak-theme mantis shrimp tank for a while now. Oak floor, oak stand, oak trim tank, oak trim lighting. Here is a picture-by-picture story of the progress: 1) I have an oak stand that I paid too much for a long time ago, so I'm going to use it. For this sole reason I am going to use a 29G tank for this build (I could of used a 20L but wanted extra height in case I really go crazy with sand depth or tall rocks). Unfortunately, the stand is a standard too-short height. So, first task: make it taller Perfect height, but a bit too ghetto even for me: So, to the wood shop... Voila! Now let's see if this thing is level (they never are): Close enough for me! Got lucky on that one. You can't see in the previous pics, but I've run several tubes up from my basement. One of them is for filling the tank (another is for ATO). I put the tube in the tank, started the pump, and this is what I got: Dang it. Just needed another 1 vertical foot. I already have the water in the basement as high as I can get it. I guess I need a pump that can handle more head. Ah well. I'll just use buckets. I needed to lift more weights anyway to keep the ladies swooning. Sandstorm! (Note water on floor from those stupid buckets. bah!) Yeah, I have 4 heaters in there. What of it? I'm impatient. Ok, just 1 heater now. That's a 5+" sand bed. A couple inches are below the trim of the stand. Amazingly, with only sand that I cleaned in the tank, after being plugged in for 1 hour, the remora is actually producing skimmate (no LR, no fish, no inverts, no food, etc). Light in color, but foaming nicely. I do have it adjusted to the wettest possible level at this time. Time to add LR. I saved a couple nice pieces from my recent downsizing. Lawnboy gave me 2 oak strip lights to go with the oak theme. Thanks man. I was able to use parts from both of them to make a single dual-strip light. Works well. I put in a single 20W NO daylight and a single 20W NO actinic. OK, OK...what's a mantis shrimp tank without a mantis shrimp!? I'm amazed that, after being in total darkness for 2 weeks, the GSP and mushrooms on this rock came out after 1 hour in 20W of NO light. I wonder if they will make it? I had not intended that they would. I plan to have 20W of NO light on for 4-5 hours per day only. When feeding, I will turn on the other 20W of NO light. Will be interesting to see if the GSP and shrooms make it. Bets? This chromis I have had over 5 years. I used him when I set up the 75 Dave Lin now has at Floris, then I used him when I set up my 125, and now he has baptized the oak manterium. I bought him from Petco for $3. He hasn't grown much, but he is a great fish and eats like a pig. Check out the peppermint shrimp in the upper left. He was formerly making his house in the rock where the mantis shrimp went. I guess he decided discretion was the better part of valor. Poor guy. I wonder if he will mount a fight for that hole. He can recruit the other peppermint shrimp, the chromis, and some snails. Edited January 2, 2009 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octopus January 2, 2009 Share January 2, 2009 Wow man that looks great! I have wanted a Mantis tank for sooooooo long! Is that chromis gonna survive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 2, 2009 Author Share January 2, 2009 Wow man that looks great! I have wanted a Mantis tank for sooooooo long! Is that chromis gonna survive? Mantis shrimps are indeed very fun animals. The chromis will be fine, because I have a smasher in there, he doesn't really go after fish (he eats snails and crustaceans). If I had a spearer, the chromis would probably be dead already. I've been expecting for 6 months that the mantis would eat the peppermint shrimps, but he just doesn't for some reason. I've even seen one of them grabbing at food the mantis was holding at the time. Suicidal! tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octopus January 2, 2009 Share January 2, 2009 darn cool! Is that a peacock mantis? I'm thinking it's about time I get one. Also how often do you do a water change? Do you feed him any frozen foods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 2, 2009 Author Share January 2, 2009 Yep, it's a peacock all right. Medium sized. In my old (full blown reef) system, I would do about a 10% water change per week, but I may do less now because I only feed him about once a week. Usually I feed him frozen shrimp from the grocery store. I chop it up into marble sized pieces, and freeze each piece in a separate plastic bag. Then I just thaw it and give it to him. I like to skewer it on a feeding prong and wave it around when he's trying to get it. When I'm inspired I feed him a live crab. You can see him in action in my Crustacean Wars videos. Here are the last couple: Crustacean Wars III tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octopus January 2, 2009 Share January 2, 2009 I've seen the videos before.......and they are inspiring! Im sure when you mention to people that you have a Mantis they allways have no clue what you are talking about. I talk about them all the time and I have never met anyone who has heard of one. What do you think the minimum size tank I could buy for a peacock is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 2, 2009 Author Share January 2, 2009 I've seen the videos before.......and they are inspiring! Im sure when you mention to people that you have a Mantis they allways have no clue what you are talking about. I talk about them all the time and I have never met anyone who has heard of one. What do you think the minimum size tank I could buy for a peacock is? Opinions vary, but it seems common to use 10G, 12/14 Bio/Nano cubes. This 29 is way too big. I just wanted to use that stand. tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 6, 2009 Author Share January 6, 2009 Well, he made his house in the very back of the tank where I couldn't see him well, so I reorganized the rocks so he couldn't do that easily, and I dug out a nice beginning of a burrow where I wanted him. He took it! He has now even dug out a back door in a perfect place. That was easy. Here he is looking out the front door, front and center. Here's a view showing the front and back doors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 7, 2009 Share January 7, 2009 Nice job "tooth". It's great to see someone enjoy this all so much. I do hope you completely leveled the tank before adding water, it looked an rch off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onyx January 7, 2009 Share January 7, 2009 Awesome setup man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanCallan January 7, 2009 Share January 7, 2009 Sweet setup! I've always wanted a mantis tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 9, 2009 Author Share January 9, 2009 I do hope you completely leveled the tank before adding water, it looked an rch off. Indeed, I calculated it was almost exactly a thong's width off. Unfortunately, I don't own anything that size (yet), so I had to leave it askew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 9, 2009 Share January 9, 2009 Looks pretty good, any plans for more elobrate corals, maybe a condy anem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 9, 2009 Author Share January 9, 2009 Looks pretty good, any plans for more elobrate corals, maybe a condy anem? I didn't plan to keep any corals in this tank, because I don't want to worry about screwing with lighting, heat, algae problems, etc. However, it appears the GSP and mushrooms on my LR are surviving (at least at this early point) and looking nice under 20W NO with a 5 hour photoperiod (which was just intended to be enough to see my tank). If these corals do survive, I might try adding some sinularia or leather. Bigger lighting is out of the question, but I might also be willing to go 20W NO for 5 hours and 40W NO for a couple hours within the 5 (currently I have 2 bulbs in the hood, but only use 1). I have separate power cords for them, so I could set up 2 separate light periods. A condy is an interesting idea. Do you think he would survive with that lighting? I'm surprised the GSP and mushrooms seem to be doing well tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capsfan January 10, 2009 Share January 10, 2009 I love this tank! Following along... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzekunoi January 10, 2009 Share January 10, 2009 I'm watching the progress as well. So far looks great. I want a Mantis of my own It's in my plans in the nearest future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 I put in 5 margaritas yesterday to see if he would go after them. This morning, I could not find a single one, not even an empty shell, and I looked for a long time. Maybe when the lights come on I'll be able to find them. So, I looked in his burrow, and I saw him eating the lone turbo snail I put in when I first set up the tank. I had figured the turbo was safe by now, but I guess not. Still don't know where the margaritas are. I didn't see any evidence of them in his hole. Eating turbo snail (seems like a big meal): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 Oh, I also put in a couple small frags I picked up at Marine Scene yesterday. Some small zoos and button polyps. I couldn't get a good pic of them. I just added them to see what happens. They look nice now, but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 12, 2009 Author Share January 12, 2009 (edited) AHA! I think I found out what happened to all my snails. About 10 times today I looked at the tank, and I could not find any evidence at all of my 5 missing margarita snails. They just aren't there. They all disappeared over the course of about 12 hours. During that same time, my big turbo above was apparently caught and eaten. I was looking in the mantis' burrow just now and I saw something that wasn't in the pic of his burrow above from this morning. It was the turbo snail he was eating this morning (I know because it's the only turbo that was ever in the tank), and it was almost totally buried. I had no idea mantis shrimps buried their food. I guess he caught and buried the 5 margarita snails. For later maybe? Like a fox? I'll need to research that. Because I'm a masochist, I decided to try to get the turbo snail shell out of his burrow. Don't try that at home, kids. That was not an easy task. The mantis isn't afraid of my finger or the feeding prong or the turkey baster like he once was. But I eventually did get the turbo shell (and didn't get thwacked this time). The snail was about half eaten...making me think the mantis was full and was going to eat the rest later. I'll never know, though, because I didn't put it back. I'm a little concerned there are 5 dead margarita snails rotting in my sand. I hope they don't foul my tank. I will not be putting any more snails in, at least not more than 1 at a time which I intend for him to eat. The turbo snail remains didn't stink bad, making me think he must of been murdered recently, not laying around dead for a long time before the mantis got it. Also, look just to the top right of the mantis shrimp in the below pics, and compare them with this mornings pic above. You will see he picked up a white shell and wedged it in the opening. I recall seeing it on the bottom outside his burrow yesterday. Pics of the buried turbo shell and it's angry keeper: Edited January 12, 2009 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 Too Cool. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fosterspike January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 man i need to get a mantis shrimp soon, these guys are so awsome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Reefs January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 nice mantis set up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 James can stitch you right up, or glue it back together when the day comes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 12, 2009 Author Share January 12, 2009 James can stitch you right up, or glue it back together when the day comes... Heh, I haven't gotten there...yet. In all this time I've had him (2 years?), he has only hit me once, and that was about 2 weeks ago. I was moving around some of the rocks around his house, and he managed to sprint over 12" across the tank and thwack me before I knew what was happening. It hurt. Afterward he flicked his antennae at me many times all triumphantly. I found a few links that said mantis shrimps like to bury uneaten food, and their moltings as well. Who knew. tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 12, 2009 Author Share January 12, 2009 Ever since he's been in this new tank, he has been out and active a lot more and posing for the camera quite a bit. I'll post some pics later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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