sachabballi reef March 26, 2013 Share March 26, 2013 he's so cute!....and you are very welcome..glad to do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef March 26, 2013 Share March 26, 2013 Awesome build and creature! Can't wait for your dendrites or nps...whatever you put in there will be cool with him in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 27, 2013 Author Share March 27, 2013 I'm pretty excited about this build So happy how its turning out. The little guy is awesome, bit shy; but when he doesn't notice I'm there I can see him roaming around checking out his digs. He's already digging a little cave. I'm pretty happy with the Real Reef rock that I was able to get; pretty nice coloring and I know I don't have to deal with any leeching phosphates or die off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 28, 2013 Author Share March 28, 2013 Came home to this. So ******* depressed. Not sure what to do after a loss like this. Can't even tell what happened either. Nitrates and Phosphates 0, Salinity .025 on my Refractometer, Temp at a steady 77. Did a water change last night - 5 gallons of saltwater from Marine Scene. He ate a whole baby scallop two days ago. GODdarn. Beyond pissed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef March 28, 2013 Share March 28, 2013 Maybe he was just to little? I don't know much about mantis' sorry for your loss :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 28, 2013 Share March 28, 2013 Sorry to hear this man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef March 29, 2013 Share March 29, 2013 sooo depressing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 March 30, 2013 Share March 30, 2013 Did you change out all of the rock? The tank looked to be completely new from the pictures - was the rock live rock or dry rock when you added it? If it was dry rock and you began the tank with that much bioload right off the bat you need to be testing ammonia and nitrite, not nitrate. Nitrates won't kill a mantis unless it's incredibly high, and if yours are at zero, then that shouldn't be an issue. Ammonia and nitrite, on the other hand, will. Could be way off with this guess, but again, the tank looked to be brand new without the chance to cycle based on the coloration of the rock and then you swapped it out for rubble rock which might have caused a spike in the cycle. All of that said, if the mantis went through a molt recently and you moved it and caused it to begin molting again due to a change in water chemistry then that also could have caused its death. Most people lose their mantis shrimp due to issues with molting in my experience - they are not the best at being able to molt in captivity. Yours doesn't look like it was attempting to molt, but if you look closely you may find evidence of molting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 30, 2013 Author Share March 30, 2013 (edited) The new rock was all Live Rock from Marine Scene - Real Reef Rock. Not sure about the rubble rock. I'll have to check. Could it have been the sand bed? It was Carib Sea Aragonite dry sand. I made sure to rinse it thoroughly beforehand. Edited March 30, 2013 by Omair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef March 30, 2013 Share March 30, 2013 The rubble rock was in my sump since early December....it cycled at the same time my tank did ...my tank tests 0 for ammonia and nitrites and has for a long time...it had coralline on it when I took it out. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 30, 2013 Author Share March 30, 2013 He did seemed to be a bit swollen, like he was going to attempt a molt but it failed. :( Stress related? New aquarium? Too young? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k March 30, 2013 Share March 30, 2013 sounds like new tank syndrome. put the next one in a well established tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 March 30, 2013 Share March 30, 2013 Test your nitrite and ammonia. Even if it was live rock, if it dried for more than 10 minutes it can cause a cycle. The tank was not established enough to add a mantis is my opinion, or anything for that matter. The old adage of nothing good comes quickly in this hobby comes to mind. I have set tanks up in a matter of hours but kept the rock underwater the whole time and it was already established versus coming straight from a store. The rubble might have been more established but if it dried out or was insufficient for your load at the time you swapped it out then that could have caused the problem. It s also possible that you on't have ammonia and nitrite now as a mini cycle can complete within a day or two, long enough to kill livestock. On a side note, the amount of scallop you fed was excessive. Think of the size of the mantis and the portion should have been more appropriately sized. Unless the star got it afterwards, I would guess you have a chunk of decaying scallop in the PVC tunnels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 31, 2013 Author Share March 31, 2013 Lessons learned. I've added more live rock into my sump. Dosed bio-activ and I'm monitoring the PH/Phosphates/Ammonia and Nitrates. So far all clear. I've also seeded my sand with live sand from an established tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 31, 2013 Author Share March 31, 2013 No diatome bloom. Actually NO algae growth at all. The SeaChem SeaGel + BIO Pellets and the Skimmer seem to be doing their job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 March 31, 2013 Share March 31, 2013 I think that starting with these products is a mistake, but that is just my opinion. For me, these represent what to do for problems that come up for mature tanks, not for new tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair March 31, 2013 Author Share March 31, 2013 I think that starting with these products is a mistake, but that is just my opinion. For me, these represent what to do for problems that come up for mature tanks, not for new tanks. Got it, what should I do for a new tank? Carbon + Skimmer only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme March 31, 2013 Share March 31, 2013 I have a new tank and don't do a thing except water changes. It's almost 2 months old and I only have 9 snails and 2 occ clowns and am taking adding livestock slow, including corals. My plan is to only do what I need to do in reaction to how my tank looks. I don't test for NH3 or NO2 anymore. I can tell if there is something wrong by looking at the livestock. So far all look good, no stress. I only test for NO3 and adjust my wc's based on that. Phosphates, you can tell by algae growth. Once corals are in the picture, I will test for Alk, CA, etc. and adjust accordingly (maybe). I think your tank looks great and your set up is amazing but I do agree that there's a lot going on here like mini cycles and adding sensitive inverts before the tank matures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 April 1, 2013 Share April 1, 2013 Just let it run for awhile, I wouldn't even do many water changes to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair April 10, 2013 Author Share April 10, 2013 So I was at Roozens, and then things just went down hill from there ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF1veuSEG6k Day 1: Day 7: We have dubbed him SQUIGGLY EYES! WUT U LEWKIN' AT?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair April 10, 2013 Author Share April 10, 2013 Checking water parameters every 2-3 days, everything is solid so far. Squiggles is VERY ACTIVE. Like OMFG HE'S GOING TO BREAK THE GLASS active. At night we can hear him rearranging his den numerous times, plonking away at the rock and digging holes. He loves hermits by the way. And snails. He will not eat frozen food yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef April 10, 2013 Share April 10, 2013 (edited) Best of luck with this one and congrats!!! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Edited April 10, 2013 by sachabballi reef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair April 10, 2013 Author Share April 10, 2013 Best of luck with this one and congrats!!! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Thanks! Squiggles is much bigger then my previous Mantis. He seems to have settled in fairly quickly. I believe everything at Roozens is caught in the wild so he seems a little more hardy. I sometimes sit and watch him hunt and move around rocks. Absolutely fascinating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 10, 2013 Share April 10, 2013 He's pretty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM April 10, 2013 Share April 10, 2013 Nice. Good luck with him and the clowns. The tank looks great with a big dark cave for him to lurk in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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